水曜日の夜はNBCのドラマ『The West Wing』の日。ホワイトハウスで働く補佐官達が主役のドラマで、日本でも放映され始めたと聞いているが、渡米以来帰国していないので、日本版は見たことがない。大統領(マーティン・シーン)が主役ではないところがいいドラマ。不思議なことに、イギリスでもこのドラマが人気だと聞いた。イギリス人はアメリカの政治を嫌っていると思っていたので意外だ。イギリス経験者の人に会ったら聞いてみたいものだ。
Disgraced peer Lord Archer has been released from jail after serving half of his four-year sentence. He left Hollesley Bay open prison near Woodbridge, Suffolk, about 0815 BST on Monday, two years after being jailed for perjury and perverting the course of justice.
Wearing a blue shirt, and said to be frowning as he passed the scrum of journalists gathered at the jail, Archer was driven away in his son's BMW, followed by cameramen on motorcycles.
He arrived at his £1.5m home in Grantchester, Cambridgeshire, about 0955 BST and was reunited with his smiling wife, Mary. The pair posed for photographs for the waiting media scrum, before heading into their house arm-in-arm.
There were no obvious preparations at the house for a party to mark Archer's release.
Archer was later driven to his luxurious London penthouse flat by son William, arriving at 1337 BST.
Archer did not speak to the press, instead hurrying into the block past two policemen. An hour later, the peer travelled to meet his parole officer in Stockwell, near Brixton, south London.
There he was in trouble again as the BMW his son was driving was left parked illegally on a red line, before police asked that it be moved.
Local Labour councillor Donatus Anyanwa, who had informed on the Archer car, said: "This is illegal. It's antisocial."
But Mr Anyanwa said he hoped Archer would gain from his parole experience in south London.
"I hope it's a learning experience for him. I hope he'll understand that Brixton has a lot to offer."
Archer eventually emerged from the meeting with his parole officer about 1550 BST and amde his way through the crowd of journalists outside the building.
The jury at his trial found the novelist had lied under oath during his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star over allegations he had had sex with a prostitute. On the eve of his release, the disgraced peer thanked his family and members of the public for their support during his imprisonment.
He is waiting to discover whether he will keep the right to sit in the House of Lords after calls for rules changes relating to convicted criminals.
The government is being asked to close a loophole allowing peers who have been convicted of a criminal charge and jailed for more than a year to resume their seats.
Archer must live in premises approved by his supervisor.
Archer, 63, is understood to have requested his multi-million pound London address to be registered as his home, although he will also want to be able to spend time at his residence in Grantchester, where his wife normally lives.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/3082627.stm