The Wake Up Call

"The Wake Up Call"

"The Wake Up Call" is episode 124 of The West Wing.

Plot

When a British passenger aircraft is accidentally shot down over Iran, causing an international crisis, C.J. battles with the First Lady over the how much to let Bartlet's MS affect his schedule. The situation is made worse when the President berates C.J. over not waking him; this is on the express instruction of the First Lady and Kate Harper, for one, is confused. The press get a sniff of the President not getting his "wake-up call", but Annabeth comes up with a diversionary tactic. It is Valentine's Day, and she is in a playful mood.

Toby and constitutional scholar Lawrence Lessig work with Belarusian diplomats on a new constitution. Toby insists the US constitution is a disaster to work from, especially in a former dictatorship, but Lawrence Lessig (played by Christopher Lloyd) insists they need something as a base, as they can always improve on the model.

Lord John Marbury makes an appearance as the British Ambassador; he expresses the doubt of the British Prime Minister in trusting the Iranians.

C.J. comes up with a diplomatic solution that the President goes with, but the two clash over his treatment of her in front of other White House staff.

Prime Minister Maureen Graty

Maureen Graty is the fictional Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland portrayed in the episode and mentioned in a few others. She was played by British actress Pamela Salem.

During the episode when the Iranian Air Force shoot down United Britannia Airlines (a fictional British airline) Flight 101, a Boeing 737 passenger jet with 109 people on board, and the Bartlet White House try their best to prevent the Graty government from using the act as a pretext to possibly unjustified military action against suspected Iranian nuclear facilities.

We are told that PM Graty is prone to overreaction, quoting Churchill, and is battling factions within her own party, the implication being that she is in the mould of Margaret Thatcher. On the Iranian Nuclear issue in particular, many in her government believe she is too soft. We are also told that her Government is unstable, suggesting she may have only a small majority in the House of Commons, and she is subject to "shifty coalitions." It is also said she doesn't think very highly of President Bartlet, who she views as a snob and an elitist. The political party of PM Graty and her government is not directly stated, but it seems most likely that she is Conservative due to Graty's similarities to Thatcher, her government's hawkish stance and its somewhat strained relations with the left-wing Bartlet Administration.

She must have become Prime Minister sometime between November 2003 and October 2005 (when we hear her), as the British Prime Minister mentioned in the episode "Shutdown" is male. (It is said "the British Prime Minister and his wife are coming to dinner"). Her husband's name is Reggie. She is also heard speaking to President Bartlet on the speaker phone after American Peacekeeping forces have been killed in the Middle East in the episode "The Dover Test" which takes place around October 2005.In September 2006 she also attended alongside Bartlet, with the French President and the German Chancellor the funeral of the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Nizar Farad. A few days after Matthew Santos won the 2006 Presidential Election Prime Minister Graty phoned the President-elect to congratulate him on his victory.

Quotes:

• In televised address after the loss of Flight 101: "We condemn the attack by Iran against 109 innocent men, women and children aboard an unarmed United Britannia plane. This is a barbaric, monstrous crime committed against Great Britain, against Europe, against the United States, against humanity. There can be absolutely no justification. This shall not stand."

External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide