Clinton, episode one, PBS, review The attraction, said friends, was instant - although, rather touchingly, both were a bit mystified as to what the other person saw in them. Not long afterwards, Hillary threw up her own promising Washington career and, much to the dismay of her feminist chums, joined Bill in Arkansas - a place that ranked 49th in most indicators of the well-being and prosperity of American states. Hence the Arkansas catchphrase, "Thank God for Mississippi." As you might expect, the Clintons" marriage featured prominently last night. Yet, even with the best efforts of those amateur psychologists, it remained irreducibly mysterious. In the end, the best that a selection of exasperated aides could offer was that "they really love each other." Meanwhile, the 28-year-old Bill stood for Congress - and, although he narrowly lost, it was clear to Arkansas's leading Democrats that this was a politician of unusual brilliance and charm. By 32, he was the state governor - but only for two years. Being voted out in 1980 marked the first time that his political career was generally agreed to be finished. Two years later, he was back as governor, thanks to a campaign masterminded by Hillary. It was now time for Democrats nationwide to realise that he was "the brightest boy in the school." At that stage, the plan was to run for president in 1988. But then, in one of the episode's great set-pieces, his female campaign manager sat him down and produced a long list of the women he was known to have been "involved with." "I don't think that you can run," she told him firmly, after going through every one of them. Clinton's political career was, it seemed, finished. Except that four years later, he was back as a Democrat candidate and well ahead in the polls. Then came the appearance of Gennifer Flowers who, to the unconcealed delight of the press, was a lounge singer with tapes of their phone conversations. As the journalist Joe Klein put it last night, "The general thinking is that he was dead. Politicians don't survive this thing. A few months later, Clinton accepted the nomination - although he was felt to have little chance against the Cold-War winning incumbent George H. W. Bush. Which of course brings us to that swearing in of January 1993... Clinton continues for the next three nights - and my guess is that so will the same winning mix of impressive talking heads, well-chosen footage and one of most extraordinary political tales of recent times. Clinton begins on PBS on Monday 20 February at 10.15pm.