1990 British television serial
House of Cards
is a 1990 British
political thriller
television serial in four episodes, set after the end of
Margaret Thatcher
's tenure as
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
. It was televised by the
BBC
from 18 November to 9 December 1990. Released to critical and popular acclaim for its writing, direction, and performances, it is considered one of the greatest British television shows ever made.
The story is centred on the sudden and manipulative rise to power of the
machiavellian
Chief Whip of the Conservative Party
,
Francis Urquhart
. Urquhart, on the party's right wing, is frustrated over his lack of promotion in the wake of
Margaret Thatcher's resignation
and the moderate government which succeeds it. He conceives a calculated and meticulous plan to bring down the new Prime Minister and replace him, on the same lines as
Shakespeare
's
Richard III
(which he often quotes). During this drawn-out and ruthless coup, his life is complicated by his relationship with young female reporter
Mattie Storin
, whom he uses to leak sensitive information in confidence. The question of whether the serial's ending is a
tragedy
(in the same vein as plays such as
Macbeth
) is
left to the viewer
.
Andrew Davies
adapted the story from the 1989
novel of the same name
by
Michael Dobbs
, a former chief of staff at
Conservative Party
headquarters. Neville Teller also dramatised Dobbs's novel for the
BBC World Service
in 1996, and it had two television sequels (
To Play the King
and
The Final Cut
). The opening and closing theme music for this TV series is entitled "Francis Urquhart's March", by
Jim Parker
.
[1]
House of Cards
was ranked 84th in the
British Film Institute
list of the
100 Greatest British Television Programmes
in 2000.
[2]
In 2013, the serial and the Dobbs novel were the basis for
a US adaptation
set in
Washington, D.C.
, commissioned and released by
Netflix
as the first ever major streaming service television show. This version was also entitled
House of Cards
, and starred Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.
Overview
[
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]
The antihero of
House of Cards
is
Francis Urquhart
, a fictional
Chief Whip
of the
Conservative Party
, played by
Ian Richardson
. The plot follows his amoral and manipulative scheme to become leader of the governing party and, thus,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
.
Michael Dobbs did not envisage writing the second and third books, as Urquhart dies at the end of the first novel. The screenplay of the BBC's dramatisation of
House of Cards
differs from the book, and hence allows future series. Dobbs wrote two following books,
To Play the King
and
The Final Cut
, which were televised in 1993 and 1995, respectively.
[3]
House of Cards
was said to draw from
Shakespeare's
plays
Macbeth
and
Richard III
,
[4]
both of which feature main characters who are corrupted by power and ambition. Richardson has a Shakespearean background and said he based his characterisation of Urquhart on Shakespeare's portrayal of
Richard III
.
[4]
Urquhart frequently talks through the camera to the audience, breaking the
fourth wall
.
[5]
Plot
[
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]
The ruling
Conservative Party
is about to elect a new leader.
Francis Urquhart
, the Government
Chief Whip
in the
House of Commons
, introduces viewers to the contestants, before
Henry Collingridge
, the
Secretary of State for the Environment
, emerges victorious. Urquhart is contemptuous of Collingridge, who embodies the
Thatcher
-era rise of the
lower-middle classes
. Urquhart feigns respect and expects promotion to a senior position in the
Cabinet
. After the general election, the party narrowly retains power. Urquhart makes suggestions for a
hard-right
reshuffle
, including his own desired promotion to
Home Secretary
. However, Collingridge effects no changes at all, relying entirely on the advice of his party chairman,
Lord "Teddy" Billsborough
. Urquhart resolves to oust Collingridge.
Urquhart begins an affair with Mattie Storin, a junior political reporter at a Conservative-leaning
tabloid
,
The Chronicle
. This allows Urquhart to manipulate Mattie and skew her coverage of events in his favour. Another pawn is Roger O'Neill, the party's
cocaine
-addicted public relations consultant, whom Urquhart blackmails into leaking planned budget cuts, thereby humiliating Collingridge during
Prime Minister's Questions
. Later, Urquhart blames Billsborough for leaking a poll showing the Conservatives' declining rate in voting intentions, leading Collingridge to sack Billsborough.
As Collingridge's image suffers, Urquhart encourages
Patrick Woolton
, the boorish and lecherous
Foreign Secretary
, and the equally unpleasant
Chronicle
owner Benjamin Landless to support his removal. He also impersonates Collingridge's alcoholic brother to trade shares and benefit from advance information confidential to the government. Collingridge becomes falsely accused of
insider trading
and resigns partly to save face, partly to care for his brother after he suffers a guilt-induced decline in his health.
In the ensuing leadership race, Urquhart feigns unwillingness to stand before announcing his candidacy. Urquhart makes sure his competitors drop out of the race:
Health Secretary
Peter MacKenzie accidentally runs his car over a protester at a demonstration staged by Urquhart and withdraws, while
Education Secretary
Harold Earle is blackmailed into withdrawing when Urquhart anonymously sends pictures of him in the company of a
rent boy
whom Earle had paid for sex.
The first ballot leaves Urquhart to face Woolton and
Michael Samuels
, the moderate Environment Secretary. Urquhart eliminates Woolton by a prolonged scheme: at the
party conference
, he pressures O'Neill into persuading his lover, Penny Guy, to sleep with Woolton in his suite, which Urquhart records via a bugged
ministerial red box
. The recording reveals Woolton ignoring Guy's pleas to stop, with Woolton ostensibly raping her. When the tape is sent to Woolton, he is led to assume that Samuels is behind the scheme and backs Urquhart in the contest. Urquhart also receives support from Collingridge, who is unaware of Urquhart's role in his own downfall. Samuels is forced out of the running when the tabloids reveal that he backed leftist causes as a student.
Seeing contradictions in the allegations against Collingridge and his brother, Mattie begins to dig deeper, while falling in love with Urquhart and blinding herself to his possible role. On Urquhart's orders, O'Neill vandalises her car and throws a brick with a threatening letter through her window. O'Neill becomes increasingly uneasy with what he is being asked to do, and his addiction adds to his instability. When he threatens to go to the police, Urquhart invites him to his home in
Hampshire
, promising O'Neill a
knighthood
. There, O'Neill becomes completely inebriated before passing out. Urquhart mixes O'Neill's cocaine with rat poison, causing him to die after he takes the cocaine in a toilet at a nearby motorway service station.
Mattie's colleague, John Krajewski, insists that Urquhart was the only one with the means, motive and opportunity. Knowing that Urquhart as Chief Whip was adroit at gaining information sensitive enough to blackmail almost anyone, Mattie realises that he is responsible for O'Neill's death and the downfall of his rivals. She confronts Urquhart on the roof garden of the
Houses of Parliament
, demanding to know if he killed Roger O’Neill. He admits to everything, then throws her off the roof to her death. She lands on the roof of a van parked below. An unseen person picks up Mattie's tape recorder, which she had been using to record her conversations with Urquhart. The series ends with Urquhart defeating Samuels in the second leadership ballot and being driven to
Buckingham Palace
to be invited to form a government.
Deviations from the novel in the series
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]
In the first novel, but not in the television series:
- Urquhart never speaks directly to the reader; the character is written solely in a
third-person
perspective.
- When alone, Urquhart is much less self-assured and decisive.
- Mattie Storin works for
The Daily Telegraph
. (In the television series she is a journalist with the fictional
Chronicle
newspaper.)
- Mattie Storin does not have a relationship with Urquhart; she does not even talk to him frequently. She does, however, have a sexual relationship with John Krajewski.
- Urquhart's wife is called Miranda and is a minor character, not sharing in his schemes. (In the later novels,
To Play the King
and
The Final Cut
, however, she is called "
Elizabeth
" and plays a larger role, as in the television series.)
- The Conservative
party conference
is held in
Bournemouth
. (In the television series it is held in
Brighton
.)
- The minor character
Tim Stamper
is introduced for the on-screen adaptation.
- Earle's
rent boy
appears in person at an important speech of Earle's, distracting him; subsequently, Earle is harassed by reporters who have been told of his indiscretion.
- In the final confrontation scene Urquhart throws himself from the roof terrace and Mattie survives.
Before the series was reissued in 2013 to coincide with the release of the US version of
House of Cards
, Dobbs rewrote portions of the novel to bring the series in line with the television series and restore continuity among the three novels.
[6]
In the 2013 version:
- Urquhart murders Mattie Storin, throwing her off the roof after she confronts Urquhart about his actions.
- Mattie Storin does not scream "Daddy" as she falls.
- Urquhart covers up his murder of Mattie Storin by claiming she was an obsessed stalker who was mentally ill and vows to make mental health amongst the young a priority.
- Mattie Storin works for newspaper
The Chronicle
, per the TV series.
- Urquhart's wife Miranda is changed to Mortima.
- Tim Stamper, though present in the serial, does not appear in the revised version of the novel.
- Urquhart makes asides to the audience in the form of epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter (the original novel has no chapters).
Reception
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]
The first instalment of the TV series coincidentally aired two days before the
Conservative Party leadership election
.
[4]
During a time of "disillusionment with politics", the series "caught the nation's mood".
[7]
Ian Richardson won the
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
in 1991 for his role as Urquhart, and Andrew Davies won an
Emmy
for outstanding writing in a miniseries.
The series ranked 84th in the
British Film Institute
list of the
100 Greatest British Television Programmes
.
[2]
American adaptation
[
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]
The Urquhart trilogy has been adapted in the United States as
House of Cards
. The show stars
Kevin Spacey
as
Francis "Frank" Underwood
, the
Majority Whip
of the
Democratic
caucus in the
U.S. House of Representatives
, who schemes and murders his way to becoming
President of the United States
. It is produced by
David Fincher
and Spacey's Trigger Street Productions, with the initial episodes directed by Fincher.
The series, produced and financed by independent studio
Media Rights Capital
, was one of
Netflix
's first forays into original programming. Series one was made available online on 1 February 2013.
[8]
The series was filmed in
Baltimore
, Maryland.
[9]
[10]
[11]
The first series was critically acclaimed and earned four
Golden Globe Nominations
, including Best Drama, actor, actress and supporting actor, with
Robin Wright
winning best actress. It also earned nine
Primetime Emmy Award
nominations, winning three, and was the first show to earn nominations that was broadcast solely via an internet streaming service.
[12]
In popular culture
[
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]
The drama introduced and popularised
[4]
the phrase: "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment". It was a non-confirmation confirmative statement, used by Urquhart whenever he could not be seen to agree with a leading statement, with the emphasis on either the "I" or the "possibly", depending on the situation. The phrase was even used in the
House of Commons
,
House of Lords
and
Parliamentary Committees
following the series.
[13]
[14]
[15]
Prince Charles (as he was known at the time) himself said the phrase in response to a provocative question from a journalist in 2014.
[16]
A variation on the phrase was written into
the TV adaptation
of
Terry Pratchett
's
Hogfather
for the character
Death
, as an in-joke on the fact that he was voiced by Richardson.
During the first Gulf War, a British reporter speaking from Baghdad, conscious of the possibility of censorship, used the code phrase "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment" to answer a BBC presenter's question.
A further variation was used by Nicola Murray, a fictional government minister, in the third series finale of
The Thick of It
.
In the US adaptation, the phrase is used by Frank Underwood in the first episode during his initial meeting with Zoe Barnes, the US counterpart of Mattie Storin.
See also
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References
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External links
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