House of Cards (1990)
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Currently House of Cards is available for streaming online, rent, buy or watch for free on: Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Amazon Prime Video, BritBox Amazon Channel, The Roku Channel, Hoopla
Streaming in:🇺🇸 United States
This TV Show Is About.
Cast & Crew.
Ian Richardson
Francis Urquhart
Susannah Harker
Mattie Storin
Miles Anderson
Roger O'Neill
Alphonsia Emmanuel
Penny Guy
Malcolm Tierney
Patrick Woolton
Isabelle Amyes
Anne Collingridge
Diane Fletcher
Elizabeth Urquhart
Colin Jeavons
Tim Stamper
Nicholas Selby
Lord Billsborough
Damien Thomas
Michael Samuels
David Lyon
Henry Collingridge
William Chubb
John Krajewski
Christopher Owen
McKenzie
Kenneth Gilbert
Harold Earle
Andrew Davies
Creator / Screenstory / Screenstory / Writer
Ken Riddington
Producer
Media.
Details.
Release DateNovember 18, 1990
StatusEnded
Seasons1
Episodes4
Running Time55m
Genres
Wiki.
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.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 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.