I should first like to offer my eternal gratitude to "ClassicDrama" (who I think is the BBC) for uploading the entire thing on YouTube. My downloaded copies refused to play for some reason, and though I bought the series long ago it was on VHS tape, and I never got it on DVD. Netflix only have the new version, the American one, so I'm indebted to the BBC for allowing the entire series to be uploaded.
Although there are no seasons, as such, House of Cards is three self-contained programmes of four episodes each, though elements from the first leak into the others, and characters follow through also. The main storyline concerns Francis Urquhart and his bid for, and success in obtaining, power as leader of the country, and what he does when in power. The three stories are separate, but linked to the main theme of the series.
Cast
Francis Urquhart, played by Sir Ian Richardson
I've already gone into the lead character in the introduction to this series, so I won't say anything more, other than that Urquhart is the focus of the series and one of the few characters that appears in all three chapters.
Mattie Storin, played by Susannah Harker
Mattie is a bright young reporter at one of the local newspapers, who is very interested in politics. Her determination, intelligence and fearlessless attract Urquhart to her like a shark to blood, and he begins to groom her as his confidant. However, he is not averse to her womanly charms either...
Henry Collingridge, played by David Lyon
One of the candidates for the vacant position of leader of the Conservative party after the departure of Thatcher, Collingridge wins the nomination, and the election, and becomes Prime Minister. But Urquhart is not having that, and sets out to destroy him.
Elizabeth Urquhart, played by Diane Fletcher
The cold and calculating power behind Urquhart, Elizabeth supports her husband in everything he does. It is she who in fact encourages him to stand for nomination and challenge for the leadership, and she is not concerned if intimidation, injury or even murder are the tools her husband uses to attain that power.
Roger O'Neill, played by Miles Anderson
Head of publicity for the party, O'Neill is a drunk and a cocaine addict, and the perfect pawn for Urquhart to use in order that his schemes be carried out but his own hands remain clean. He blackmails O'Neill with knowledge of his addiction, and the unfortunate publicist is forced to do anything Urquhart tells him to.
Patrick Woolton, played by Malcolm Tierney
Described by Urquhart (privately) as a bully, a thug, a racist, an anti-semite, a lout and other unflattering titles, Woolton becomes the front-runner for the leadership contest after Collingridge resigns. But Urquhart has his measure, too...
Tim Stamper, played by Colin Jeavons
One of the whips, his role in the first series is somewhat minor, a flunky of Urquhart and one who carries out some of his orders, but later he will become much more important and influential.
Episode One
We see Francis Urquhart, Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, sitting at his desk looking at a framed photograph of Margaret Thatcher. "Nothing lasts forever", he intones, with an air of anticipatory satisfaction. "Even the longest, most glittering reign must come to an end some day." He turns towards the camera with a predatory smile.
With Thatcher's resignation, the Tories are looking for a new leader, and Urquhart fancies it could be Patrick Woolton, but when it turns out to be the weak and ineffectual Henry Collingridge, he is not best pleased. But what can he do, as a mere Chief Whip? He has power of a sort, certainly, but only over his own colleagues. He does not make policy, he cannot challenge for the leadership. Being in the position he is, he knows that many of his colleagues hate and fear him, and few if any would support a bid for the top job from him. Some might, out of fear or the hope that they would be rewarded when, or if, he was successful, but those few would not be enough to enable Francis Urquhart, Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, to rise to the post of Prime Minister.
However, there is still the matter of the general election to be fought. Not a whole lot of point being the man in charge if you're not the man in charge of the whole country. In other words, who wants to be the leader of the party that got kicked out of government by the voters, that awful also-ran, runner-up word, the Opposition? And so Urquhart must do what he can to ensure victory at the polls. He has been promised a decent post in return for his support of Collingridge, and has high hopes. It turns out that the Conservatives do win the election, but with a reduced majority.
Urquhart is not at all convinced though that Collingridge is up to the task and so begins to lay plans for his removal and replacement. The first pawn to be moved on the board is Roger O'Neill, the party publicist. Turns out Collingridge has a black sheep in the family, his brother Charlie, who's something of an alcoholic and an embarrassment. Someone Urquhart can use to his advantage when the time comes. As Urquhart fumes about being passed over for promotion, and worse, all his suggestions for the cabinet reshuffle (which does not happen: everyone is left in their positions) ignored, his wife floats the suggestion that he should challenge for the leadership.
While he's mulling this bombshell over, he has a visit from Mattie Storin, a reporter who wants to get the scoop on him. Intrigued, Urquhart is actually quite suprised himself when he lets her into the house, but finds himself growing more and more impressed with the girl's intelligence. He also welcomes the opportunity to talk frankly about his dislike for the PM and his disagreement with his policies. Mattie seems to agree with him, and he sees in her a way to disseminate his views by proxy through her newspaper. He now uses her to plant the idea in her head that Lord Billsboro, the old advisor to Collingridge, is planning to take the leadership, not for himself, but for his young protoge Michael Samuels, so he can pull the strings from behind the curtain. Nothing is further from the truth, of course, but as we will see, the truth and Francis Urquhart are not only strange bedfellows, they rarely sleep together at all. Anything that will advance his cause, remove the obstacles to his bid for leadership and destroy his enemies, Urquhart will use without a moment's hesitation, or consideration of the consquences to those on the sidelines. They are pawns, nothing more, to be used and sacrificed as required, and with as little thought.
Speaking of pawns, just such a one is Roger O'Neill. Urquhart tells him he knows about his cocaine addiction, which is bad enough, but that he's been claiming expenses in order to buy his supply! He agrees to cover the scandal up but in return Roger must work for him. He demands his "total and unquestioning loyalty", but to him personally, not to the party. He sets about using him to engineer embarrassing questions for the Prime Minister, leaking important details of government policy to the opposition. When the PM demands answers, he claims there must be a leak in the cabinet, and promises to get to the bottom of it. He starts to sow doubt in Collingridge's head, giving him the idea that one of his party colleagues is out to smear him, perhaps even oust him.
Further revelations and awkward exchanges force the PM into an embarrassing U-turn, further weakening his position, while Urquhart continues to use Roger O'Neill behind the scenes. He has an accomodation address set up in the name of C. Collingridge, something which will become clearer later. When Urquhart receives, personally, a large donation to the party from one of his constituents, he sees a chance to "put more stick about", and disguised as a foreign businessman he opens an account at a local bank and asks them to buy some shares in a medical company, under the name of .... Collingridge. When new drugs are authorised for release from the company, the shares go right up and Urquhart asks his bank to sell them, close the account and mail the closing statement to the address he had set up for Collingridge. He then withdraws all his money from the bank, returning it to the party treasurer, where it was supposed to have gone in the first place.
The money was never stolen, of course: Urquhart simply borrowed it in order to facilitate his plan, then covered his tracks, or to be more precise, laid a false trail which led exactly where he wanted it to. As the final part of his plan he meets Matties and "leaks" to her the fact that the tabloids are about to go after the Prime Minister through his brother. He professes loyalty to, and defence of the integrity of the PM, but Mattie has little sympathy for the weak Collingridge, and like Elizabeth, believes there is a far better leader for the country standing beside her.
QUOTES
Urquhart, on the election of a new leader: "Who could replace her? (Thatcher) Plenty of contenders: old warriors, young pretenders. Lord Billsboro, say. Party chairman. Too old, too familiar: tainted by a thousand shabby deals. Michael Samuels? Too young, too clever. Patrick Woolton. Bit of a lout, bit of a bully-boy. Yes it could very well be Woolton. Henry Collingridge. The people's favourite. A well-meaning fool; no background and no bottom. What, me? Oh no no no: I'm the Chief Whip, merely a functionary. I keep the troops in line. I put a bit of stick about, make them jump. And I shall of course give my absolute loyalty to whoever emerges as my leader."
Elizabeth: "What was that dreadful woman on about?"
Urquhart: "She wanted the smack of firm government."
Elizabeth: "She wanted you to smack her bottom!"
Urquhart: "A man of state needs helpers. Little elves and sprites to do his bidding." (More darkly) "Even unwitting pawns, who don't know who they serve."
Urquhart: "Nothing! Not a damn thing! And then he had the gall to ask for my support! Said his fate was in my hands! Melodramatic twaddle!"
Elizabeth: "Is it?"
Urquhart: "What?"
Elizabeth: "Isn't his fate in your hands?"
Urquhart: "No, no! I'm in charge of discipline! But I can't deliver if my troops are disaffected."
Elizabeth: "But aren't they disaffected now? His weakness, his refusal to take responsibility for firm leadership, it's going to bring this government down, sooner or later."
Urquhart: "Yes. And sooner rather than later, in my view. Unless..."
Elizabeth: "Unless he were to relinquish the leadership."
Urquhart: "He won't do that."
Elizabeth: "Unless a better man were to take the leadership from him."
Mattie Storin: "Everybody knows threats from Francis Urquhart are not idle ones."
Urquart (about Roger's cocaine habit): "I know this sounds old-fashioned, but isn't it illegal?"
Best Scenes
There's a pretty funny scene just after the government have won the election and stayed in power, when Roger O'Neill takes a call at a hotel purporting to be from the Prime Minister, though it's actually his assistant, Penny, talking dirty to him from one of the hotel bedrooms. At one point she says "And then I'd like to lick it all off, slowly" and he says "That's wonderful, Prime Minister! May I tell them that?" whereupon he proceeds to congratulate everyone, on the PM's behalf, for putting on such a wonderful advertising campaign!
"I couldn't possibly comment".
Urquhart uses this phrase as a code, a way to agree with or confirm something without incriminating or implicating himself, and it becomes used more and more as the series progresses. The first instances are here, when he dupes Mattie into believing his story about Lord Billsboro. When she makes the connection, as she sees it, that Billsboro is making a bid for the leadership, he smiles "You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment". He says it three times in succession to each of her deductions, leaving her in no doubt that she is right while simultaeanously ensuring he does not say it himself, or even suggest it. It's a very clever comment, because it really does absolve him: should anyone say to Mattie, what did he actually say, his response could not be in any way construed as being in the affirmative, or at least, not proven satisfactorily. He may as well be saying that's your opinion, while leaving off the expected second part, that he does not share it.
Power behind the throne
Although he's an unscrupulous, morally bankrupt egotist, it's clear from the beginning that Francis Urquhart is nobody without his wife, Elizabeth. It is she who first floats the idea of his bidding for the leadership, and he looks surprised, as if he had never even considered it. She tells him he is twice the man Collingridge is, and he does not disagree. She encourages his relationship with Mattie Storin, knowing that a man like him can't restrict himself to one woman: not only for sex, but he requires a like mind, a sharp intellect, one he can mould and twist and form in his own image. He would never try this with his wife --- she is already too strong a personality --- but she is happy to indulge his appetites with Mattie, knowing that the relationship will bear fruit for them, politically. Urquhart is at his best when challenged, stimulated.
The Puppetmaster
Although there is one person in his life who controls him, even if he's unaware of it --- harking back to his comment about pawns who don't know who they serve --- Francis Urquhart is the master puppeteer, manipulating everyone he can and making them play a part in his machinations, either aiding him in his rise to glory or removing them from his path. Like Alan B'Stard, he is completely uncaring of who he hurts, wounds, kills even, the lives he destroys, the careers he wrecks and the innocents caught in the crossfire of his ambition. He sees everyone as something he can use, and he has no compunction about using them.
The Man who would be Prime Minister
When Collingridge wins the party nomination, much to his disgust, and then goes on to win the election, thus becoming the Prime Minister, Francis Urquhart is angry, particularly when it becomes quite clear that he will not be getting a cabinet position, but will be left as Chief Whip again. He is stewing about it when his wife suggests he challenge for the leadership. Once the decision has been made, he sets about implicating the PM in a scandal that is so carefully orchestrated that it can have only one outcome, while at the same time keeping any metaphorical blood off his hands. The puppet master has begun to make the marionettes dance to his tune, and it will be far from their only performance!
The user and the used
As Urquhart says himself, a man of state needs helpers, and he is always ready to draft in anyone he can to help move his plans forward. In this section I'll be detailing the people Urquhart uses in his bid for power, and how he uses them.
Henry Collingridge
His first target is his new leader, whom he publicly supports but privately despises. He does not believe Collingridge is up to the task of being PM, and said so, to us, before the election of the new leader. His wife has given him the idea of toppling him, but it will not be easy. He will, as he says himself, need little helpers, and the one who helps turn his plans into reality most here is Roger O'Neill. He has O'Neill by the balls: he has discovered the publicist's penchant for cocaine and the fact that he is charging the party for it, and in return for his silence has recruited O'Neill as a hapless footsoldier. Setting up the opposition member with information with which to embarrass the PM, organising the accomodation address in Collingridge's brother's name, helps to lay the trap and Urquhart himself completes it by buying the shares with party money. Finally, he sets it by passing the information to Mattie and waits for the prey to be caught. It will not be long.
Mattie Storin
While he is attracted to Mattie, both for her mind and her body, Urquhart will use her to make his voice anonymously known in the press. He will tell her things which she will repeat, though no possibility will ever exist of the quotes being traced back to him. He will, in effect, control her and make her say what he wants her to say. He will also use her obvious fascination with him to his advantage.
Roger O'Neill
As related above, Roger has a problem with cocaine, and Uruqhart knows this, even before he confronts him. Whether the expenses thing is made up or real, who is to say? But Roger believes it and is relieved when the Chief Whip hushes it up, preventing a scandal breaking. He is thereafter happy to do as he is told, like a good little soldier.