The producers chose alternate sites and constructed a replica of 10 Downing Street at London's Estree Studios. Party leaders cited security as their chief reason, but they may also have disliked the way "House of Cards" treats them. The majority Conservative Party refused to permit filming at the sites where much of the action takes place: The prime minister's residence at 10 Downing Street and inside Parliament's debating chambers.
Interestingly, "House of Cards" almost toppled before it was filmed. Ken Riddington produces Paul Seed directs. The cast of 52 also includes David Lyon as Henry Collingridge Miles Anderson as cocaine-addicted Roger O'Neill, the party's chief public relations officer, and Alphonsia Emmanuel as Penny Guy, O'Neill's assistant and lover. "House of Cards" also has a nomination for its original music by Jim Parker. At one point, having engineered the resignation of Prime Minister Henry Collingridge, a man he views as weak, Urquhart turns to the camera to demand: "You're not getting squeamish, are you?"įor their performances in "House of Cards," both Richardson and Harker have been nominated as best actor and actress for BAFTAS, the British equivalent of a combined Oscar and Emmy. Particularly effective are Urquhart's soliloquies, conspiratorial glances and comments spoken directly into the camera, inviting audiences to participate in the villainy as Shakespeare's Richard III did. But it's Urquhart's diabolical maneuvering that becomes interesting, as well as watching Storin try to piece together what's really happening.
Storin is fascinated by and trusts Urquhart, until finally she begins to see his role in the web of political and financial corruption at the top levels of government.Īmerican viewers unfamiliar with the way the British government operates may be a bit confused by the opening hour of the four-part story. When the new prime minister refuses to appoint him to a cabinet post, Urquhart uses blackmail, deceit and dirty tricks to depose him and begin his own quest for the office.Īlong the way, he also uses a naive young reporter for a London newspaper, Mattie Storin (Susannah Harker). Her successor was John Major.Īdapted by playwright/screenwriter Andrew Davies, "House of Cards" (9 on PBS) stars Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart, his party's Machiavellian chief whip, a well-placed man who knows every secret in the government. 18, coincidentally just two days before balloting began in the Conservatives' real leadership battle that led to Thatcher's resignation on Nov. In England, "House of Cards" began airing last Nov. Thatcher had been in office nearly a decade when her chief of staff at the Conservative Party's headquarters, Michael Dobbs, wrote a futuristic novel he called "House of Cards." In it, he imagined that Thatcher had been toppled and replaced by a politician so inept that in an election, his party stands to lose a chunk of its majority in the House of Commons.
Masterpiece Theatre begins its 21st season on Sunday with the opener of "House of Cards," a four-part fictional drama about in-fighting among British politicians in the wake of Margaret Thatcher's resignation as prime minister.
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