Episode Two
Urquhart has gathered most of the cabinet and all the powerful movers and shakers at his residence, most at quite short notice, and Stamper is annoyed that even he is unaware of the Prime Minister's intent, the moreso that Urquhart refuses to enlighten him before he makes his announcement. He is in fact fencing with the fractious king, and has decided to test the level of support --- or lack of same --- for the monarch by calling a general election. This is quite clever, because if he receives the backing of the people then His Majesty is in a very difficult position, as the people will have spoken. And what ruler, at least in modern times, would dare go against the will of his people?
Elizabeth warns her husband not to take Stamper for granted. He may be loyal but treat him like crap and he may just bite the hand that feeds him. Urquhart seems dismissive of her advice but decides to follow it and offers Stamper the chairmanship of the Party, which he accepts gratefully, but also with the air of a man who believes it is “about time”. The King, having correctly guessed who leaked his intended speech, as well as the version Urquhart had wanted him to use, to the press, tells Chloe he supports her decision, and then seems to make something of a romantic play for her. But he is not used to dealing with women, and falters and stutters, and she, afraid to make a terrible mistake and misinterpret what she thinks he is saying, remains coy and pretends not to understand. David Mycroft, meanthile, is discovering the freedom of allowing himself to be who he is, sexually and personally. But it can hardly last.
A new poll in the “Times” is potentially damaging to Urquhart's reputation; it shows that the king has great support from the people for his proposed new reforms. The PM therefore sets Sarah Harding the task of producing a new one, completely weighted questions that will skew the results in favour of the government. Elizabeth suggests her husband should pay a visit to the “House of Wounded Feelings”, wherein resides the divorced Princess and her young son. Uruqhart thinks it's a good idea, while Sarah has trouble with her husband, who is finding it hard to reconcile her newfound celebrity with the secrets she is forced to keep, and the lack of attention he is getting from her. No doubt part of Urquhart's plan, despite his protest of innocence to us via the camera, to drive her into his waiting arms on what will seem to be her own terms.
There's a wonderfully ironic scene then as the king takes his advisors to dinner, and they sit around the table like eager schoolboys awaiting a treat. God knows why, but they all seem excited at the thought of eating beef Wellington. You would imagine on their massive salaries they would be more than capable of dining on such every day. But be that as it may, when the king expresses his lack of appetite due to having had to witness the poverty his people live in every day, and announces he will only have soup, one after another they all agree that this is what they will have too. A clear case of the sheep following the shepherd, none of them wishing to be the one left behind to be eaten by the ravening wolf. The look on the waitress's face as she nods “The soup?” is priceless.
A moment later there's a bomb blast as a car bomb goes off in the centre of town. Arranged by Urquhart of course, through his commander Corder. Urquhart authorises a shoot-to-kill mission against Irish terrorists, blaming them for the carbomb. Stamper is annoyed that FU will not tell him what date he has chosen to hold the general election, and gets more upset when he notes the arrival of Sarah, and is summarily dismissed with a smile. Surplus to requirements. He comes to a decision, and arranges for “Urquhart's whore” to be accosted on the street by people who tell her to “ask him about Mattie Storrin.” When she does he of course feeds her the lies he has made everyone believe. Sucked in by his apparent pain at the “suicide” of the young girl, she reaches out in the best way she knows how to as a woman, and Urquhart declares he is “ready to put himself about a bit and cause a little mischief.”
QUOTES
Sarah: “What's it all about?”
Stamper: “I'm sure he'll tell you, if he thinks you need to know.”
Sarah: “You don't know either, do you?”
(Stamper is clearly annoyed that, both as Urquhart's Chief Whip and --- as he sees it --- his personal friend, though truth to tell the PM has few if any real friends, FU will not take him into his confidence, and he sees his role in Urquhart's inner circle may be beginning to diminish.)
Urquhart: “I need hardly tell you how much this has wounded me personally (the criticism of his government by the king) to the point where I thought very seriously about tendering my resignation.”
(Of course he did not, not for an instant. Not only is Francis Urquhart a man who clings to power with the iron grip of a drowning man, but he is also a man who will allow no other to best him, and resigning would be the most callow form of cowardice and defeat. These are not words you associate with the Prime Minister!)
Urquhart (to camera): “It'll leak of course, it probably is already. Half the people here are on retainers from one ghastly rag or another; that fool Gropen for instance: it's the only reason he was asked. These days a nice controlled leak is absolutely the best way to announce anything.”
Urquhart (again to camera): “Next to a small war there's nothing quite like a general election to stiffen the sinews and summon up the blood!”
(This quote will take on added significance in the third and final part of the trilogy)
Urquhart: “Do you know, it's strange: I can't imagine anyone taking my place.”
Elizabeth: “Nobody could.”
(The unmitigated arrogance of the man. In his own heart he somehow believes perhaps that he is going to live forever. We all hate to think of the world without us in it but we all know it is inevitable. But Urquhart genuinely wonders how the world of politics will get on when he is eventually gone. He has no intention of relinquishing power, and were it possible and this not England he would no doubt find some way to make himself Prime Minister --- or President, or King --- for life.)
Urquhart: “God knows what he (the king) thinks he's doing.”
Sarah: “Perhaps he's a man of principle.”
Urquhart: “I'm afraid you may be right.”
(A man of principle. The worst type of enemy for Urquhart to face. A man of principle will sacrifice everything --- home, family, standing, wealth, even on some occasions his very life --- to uphold his ethics and remain true to what he believes to be right. Urquhart faced one such in the first part of this story, in his race to unseat Henry Collingridge and take his job. Urquhart of course has no principles --- well, save preservation of his grip on power, and is more a man who values principals than principles. A man of principles is a dangerous enemy, for he very often can neither be bought or bullied. He can't be threatened, cajoled, reasoned with or warned off. He can be the real thorn in the side of a man like Urquhart, one almost impossible to dislodge. And he can attract more men and women like himself. Save us from men of principle, must be Urquhart's silent prayer!)
Sarah: “Would you really bring down the monarchy, if you could ... if you had to?”
Urquhart: “Bring down the monarchy? No. The very thought of it is abhorrent to me. But forcing the abdication of a particular king? That has been done before.”
(Here the PM makes a very clear and telling distinction between the man and the monarch. He does not (he says) hate the king and he is loyal to the throne. It's just that its current occupant is a threat to him, and he will take all measures necessary to remove that threat. Unlike Oliver Cromwell however, he does not wish to see an end to the monarchy, and will happily and faithfully serve whomever next ascends the throne. Providing, of course, that the new king, or queen, and he are singing from the same dark hymn sheet!
Urquhart also here reveals to Sarah his plan --- though we've been privy to it since the first episode --- of putting the king in a position which will be untenable, and force him to renounce the throne.)
Brian: “Life does seem awfully like crawling through a tunnel of excrement sometimes, doesn't it?”
Stamper: “Yes. One sometimes wonders if it's in a good cause. But then, how could it be otherwise?”
(There's a pause between Stamper's two sentences, and a wistful look in his eye as if considering before uttering the second part, which is more said to quell his own self-doubt really. He has seen a marked change in FU and wonders if he is beginning to become surplus to requirements? He has already been shut out of what should be seen as important decisions in which he should be involved. Could it be time to jump ship, or at least, reconsider his options, before it's too late? He knows where the bodies are --- has figuratively or even literally buried some of them for his master. Might he fear he may soon be joining them?)
Urquhart, as the bomb goes off, to camera: “Don't worry: nobody we know!”
Uruqhart: “Do you have anyone in mind?”
Corder: “Well there is a group we've been watching, yes.”
Urquhart: “And they're guilty?”
Corder: “Well they qualify (Yeah, they're Irish!) Let's put it this way: it's what they're in London for.”
Urquhart: “Excellent Corder! Let's give their mothers something to cry about, shall we?”
(As ever, the British government fits up an IRA-style group to take the blame for a car bomb which they have just as much as admitted they arranged. Birmingham Six, Guildford Four ... it's always the same. Irish as charged, and the government of the time looks “strong and resilient in the face of terrorism.”)
Urquhart: “Come around.”
Sarah: “Now? Why?”
Urquhart: “Because I want to see you.”
(For FU, there is no need for further explanation, no other reason required than that he desires her company, and he probably wonders if she will resist. But she does not; she folds, like Mattie did, and like just about anyone over whom Urquhart can exert his power does. And he loves it.)
Urquhart: “Ireland is a matter of honour, Sarah, not profit. I'll never give an inch there!”
Urquhart (to camera): “Under the show, the struggle for power. Deep down, below it all, deeper than honour, deeper than pride, deeper than lust and deeper than love, is the getting of it all. The seizing and the holding on, the jaws locked, biting into power and hanging on.”
(While he speaks this dark soliloquy, which gives us another glimpse behind the mask to the true face of the man beneath, the “qualified group” Corder spoke of are ambushed in a shopping centre car park and gunned down. Unarmed, unwarned, they are quite simply summarily executed).
Stamper (to himself, after Urquhart has hung up on him, still refusing to tell him when the election is to take place): “You owe me Francis. And you've set your whore up over me.”
(At this point Stamper comes to an obvious decision, deeming himself cast aside he will now take his revenge. It will come as being close to the end of the Prime Minister, though that end will not come just yet.)
Urquhart: “They want to make you afraid of me, Sarah. You're not afraid of me, are you?”
Sarah: “No. Not at all.”
(A look passes over Urquhart's face that is part satisfaction, and part disappointment)
A boy in a man's world?
Like many of the more recent monarchs, this unnamed King shows a deep lack of understanding of how the world works outside of the pampered perfumed corridors of Buckingham Palace. He is idealistic, one might say almost naive about things. He thinks people should just treat each other better, and who would disagree with such sentiment? But he also thinks he can be a force for change, and it's one thing to want to help but it's quite another to want to help from your position of wealth, power and influence. As was said in the first episode, people may not take kindly to the king lecturing them on thrift with his three Bentleys!
In this section I'll be taking a look at how the world looks through the eyes of the young king, how he interpets --- and often misinterprets --- things, and how, in the end, this lack of worldliness sets him on a collision course with Francis Urquhart that can have only one outcome. It's like a 250 lb athelete at the top of his game stepping into the ring with a 100 lb weakling who has never lifted a hand in anger. He's going down!
Here the King is mystified when, stopping to look at a group of vagabonds in the street at night he watches a young girl approach out of the darkness from the comfort of his state car. When she asks if he wants “any business” he genuinely is mystified and has no idea what she means. He probably didn't even realise she was a prostitute. Yeah, he's that innocent. Is this the man you want sitting on the throne of your country? Then again, given that the other option, as it were, would have probably invited the girl in, taken her home, done her and then released her with a warning never to breathe a word --- and probably set his attack dogs (human not canine, although I suppose...) on her afterwards, just to be safe, is the king such a bad choice?
As he sits around the table at the restaurant, after the shock of the bombing has led to everyone having something more than just soup (!), the king declares that he can't believe what he's hearing as the opposition leader and his other cronies discuss how impossible it will be to unseat Urquhart before the election. “Can't you see?” he implores them. “If our will is strong enough the means will present itself!” Yeah, and if you just wait for the right moment it will always arrive. Such naivete ill befits the ruler of a nation, and in fairness you begin to start to see that removing this man --- “a brave, terrified boy”, as his opponent once described another man --- might after all be the right move, the best move.
I couldn't possibly comment
The first usage of what had become Urquhart's trademark phrase for obfuscation in the first part, he responds to the question one of his lapdog ministers puts to the House by asking if it is high time people stopped whinging about the rights of “bloody murderers” by using the phrase. Perfectly timed, and as ever, gives his answer without attaching any blame to the man.
And isn't that...?
The prostitute who tries to do “some business” with His Majesty is none other than Baby Spice herself, Emma Bunton.
The Real Urquhart
No matter how rigidly and carefully he keeps the mask on, occasionally it slips and we see behind the stern but somewhat fatherly facade to the evil monster beneath, a man who can quite happily order the unsanctioned killing of three members of another sovereign nation, knowing that they are being scapegoated for something he orchestrated, and wanting to cover it up. He sneers “Let's give their mothers something to cry about” and he means it: he doesn't care that these people have parents who will bewail their loss, and as for protests from the Irish government? He snaps “I'll not give an inch there!” Not that any government, whether in the Republic or the North could easily protest against the killing of what were proven to be terrorists, even if there was no proof they were doing anything more dangerous than pushing shopping trolleys at the time they were executed.
Again, we see the mask slide when, behind closed doors and away from prying eyes (he doesn't consider our eyes prying: we've seen what he's done, we've metaphorically taken part in it and assisted him if only by staying silent and concealing what we know, and we are up to our pretty little necks in it as much as he is) he declares “I am actually very annoyed with His Majesty and I plan to do him harm.” He will not brook this challenge to his authority, and he begins to set in motion events which will help him in his efforts to unseat the monarch.
And when he asks Sarah if she fears him and she replies in the negative, there's a definite sense of disappointment behind his eyes. Urquhart wants everyone to respect him, but he also wants everyone to fear him. You don't generally tangle with a man you fear, much less a man who wields the power that Francis Urquhart does.
There's a coldness behind his eyes too as he dismisses Stamper, and the new Party Chairman begins to fear himself. He has seen that dark, dead, piercing look before, directed at others, and he knows what it presages. He is quite aware now that the Medusa is turning its gaze upon him, and he has no longer his magic shield to protect him from that awful stare.
The Betrayer betrayed
A lifetime of “kicking the
shit out of people” and “putting a bit of stick about” is finally beginning to come back to haunt Urquhart. He thinks he can bully or charm people into doing whatever he wants, and does not countenance the idea of anyone turning against him. And should that happen, well remember what happened to Roger O'Neill! But now one of his most trusted aides is starting to see that he is being shut out, that he is no longer part of the inner circle, that his long --- let's call it friendship though it's no such thing --- is coming to an end as Francis realises Stamper is becoming more a liability than an asset, and the Chairman sees the writing on the wall.
Urquhart thinks there's nothing Stamper can do to hurt him. He doesn't in fact think anyone has anything on him that could damage his standing or threaten his position. But as his battle with the palace begins to heat up he's about to find out that there are some small nagging voices from his past that refuse to be silent, and they will have their say, and play their part in taking him down.
The Urquhart Bodycount
The bodies are starting to pile up now! For no other reason than to bolster his flagging popularity, Francis has four members of an alleged IRA squad shot on sight: summary justice, no trial.
LETHAL
Three unnamed "IRA people": shot down in broad daylight, unarmed and without warning.
Non-Lethal Bodycount: 4
Lethal Bodycount: 5
Total Bodycount: 9