House of Cards (1990)
- Directed by
- Paul Seed
- Genre
- drama television series
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Length
- 1 season, 4 episodes
- Rated
- TV-14
- Rating
- 8.1 of 10 from 161 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A Conservative Party chief whip in Britain schemes to bring down the new prime minister and take power for himself after Margaret Thatcher's resignation. He uses a young reporter to leak damaging information as part of his careful plan.
calculatingmanipulativetensedarkpoliticalcerebralruthlessslow-burn
What happens
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 fictional chief whip of the Conservative Party, Francis Urquhart, a ruthless and Machiavellian politician. 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 succeed him, on the same lines as William Shakespeare's play Richard III (which Urquhart often quotes). During this drawn-out and ruthless coup, his life is complicated by his relationship with a young female reporter named 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 Shakespeare's 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. House of Cards was ranked 84th in the British Film Institute list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes in 2000. In 2013, the serial and the Dobbs novel were the basis for an American 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. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
For the Greater Good (1991)
A Very British Coup (1988)
The Chief (1990)
Die Kinder (1990)
The Thick of It (2005)
The Final Cut (1995)
The Gravy Train (1990)
Yes Minister (1980)- More like this series, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.