I watched this when it first came out and loved it. Then I realised it was tucked away on BBC iPlayer so I thought I'd give it another watch.. Every bit as great as I remember. Ian Richardson is superb, by turns witty, likeable and malevolent. If he never played Richard III he bloody well should have. His little asides to the audience have the effect of drawing you into the action. The supporting cast are fantastic, particularly Colin Jeavons who you expect to leave a trail of slime as he leaves the room. What also struck me is who much of it could be happening today, like "Yes, Prime Minister" it never feels dated. And to this day I still use "Urquhart's Evasion"

I of course binge watched the equally excellent Netflix 'House of Cards' and felt I should give this series a view. I'm glad I did because this series is actually far more effective than it's remake. Both are dependent on their lead characters and above any thing else they are character studies in the spirit of 'Richard III'. Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood shares the qualities of Francis Urquhart in that they are both bold and power hungry. Ian Richardson though does not wear it on his sleeve in quite the same way Spacey does. Urquhart is all the more terrifying a character because he feels so much more alien. Richardson's Urquhart has nothing in him but ambition and rage. What we have here is a hardened sociopath who has fine tuned himself as a master politician with the British parliament as his weapon. It is a great acting achievement. Even though we know exactly what Francis Urquhart is, Richardson must always hide the knife. It is the mark of a great actor to never know the exact manner of how and when Richardson will plunge that knife. This is perhaps the most endearing aspect of 'House of Cards'. That he is so charming as he lures us in just makes everything all the more unsettling.Ian Richardson is perfectly cast in this role. I totally believe and buy the conceit that this man has been set to the side all these years as merely a cog in the Conservative party system. He isn't handsome and on the surface he doesn't have the magnetic persona that a career in politics hinges on. Of course Urquhart is all about the layers of the man. This is a multifaceted character and so Richardson has to find ways to develop each piece. Urquhart lives and breaths his mantra of "You might very well think that but I couldn't' possibly comment". Never do we see the poor rage we know boils under the surface. Ever a consummate politician Urquhart's poker face is completely intact. Acting subtext is one of the greatest challenges an actor must face and Richardson is an absolute master. The most powerful example of this comes in the beginning of the series where Urquhart is passed over for a position in the cabinet. Richardson's face is dead still and yet the tension and desire is pure to be seen. The scene ends with a close up of Urquhart squeezing his hands to a crack. It's brilliant and entertaining. Surprisingly we like Urquhart and Richardson makes great strides to make us like him. He is introduced to us in the most blatant reference to it's spiritual ancestor 'Richard III' through internal soliloquies and dialogues with the audience. The script clearly casts the audience as Urquhart's co conspirator in his quest for power. This is something that could on face value be played for fear or revulsion but we have to like Urquhart for this to work. Urquhart who has shown nothing but contempt for anybody but himself throughout the series is warm with the audience and above anything else treats them as his intellectual equal. He casts himself as a necessary evil in this world of endless politics and we believe him because of the cunning of Richardson's performance. The brilliant ending of this first piece of the series has Urquhart leaving the audience with one final address. In the last ten minutes of the final episode Urquhart has committed his worst atrocity. On his way to Buckingham Palace he finally talks down the audience and puts up his defense mechanism, meaning that we were merely a pawn in his own game rather than a co player. It's not necessarily shocking or unpredictable but you really are taken a back by it. Richardson's charisma brings you dangerously close to a Machavellian madmen. Richardson like his character's mastery of deception and charm make Urquhart an all too real master villain who has the audacity to back stab the very audience.

This was recently recommended to me as a very good witty British political potboiler, and it was. It's not as long or as good as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and not as deep but interesting and intriguing in getting me thinking of past political parallels, or of possible seedy reasons why Patrick McGoohan resigned.A grandfatherly looking member of the government Francis Urquhart who can't help occasionally looking and talking to us also has his eyes fixed firmly on the top of the Greasy Pole and is determined to become the next British Prime Minister by crook or by crook. He pretends, like Claudius, to be guileless and at the mercy of popular forces to ensure his longevity. But it becomes very clear to us over the four episodes that he is a typical capitalist politician: completely ruthless and inhuman to foes, friends and lovers alike. Luckily he's married to a heartless but supportive ally and also going with a young and innocent newspaper reporter Mattie Storrin – who trusts him all the way. Absolutely top-notch was cynical Ian Richardson's relentless polished urbanity in contrast to round-eyed Susannah Harker's faultless eagerness in their almost creepy relationship. It's their story that's so central to the plot but which eventually falls so…flat at the end. No twist at the end, I saw it coming from the first episode yet the method was still a shock. And proving he will make but a typical British Prime Minister: they've always got away with murder and always will; but we all know that anyway so where's the moral? And what would Lord Reith have thought!It was made in 1990, in the big scheme of things just a little while ago – yet smartphones have done away with landline phones, cassette tapes, car keys, maps, TV news, for that matter newspapers – that now the series seems from before the dawn of Time and I wondered idly where we used to keep all the abacuses and stones to make fire. I haven't seen the remake but where will all the obligatory cgi cartoonery fit in? It's a totally fascinating series and well worth watching (even if I didn't like the ending), especially now it's set in the past.

I'm a sucker for both British television and political thrillers in general. So having heard much about this miniseries, the first of a trilogy of miniseries's, I have been looking forward to seeing this for some time. Having seen it, I found that my expectations have not only been reached but surpassed as well. House Of Cards is one of the finest examples of the political thriller that you are likely to see anywhere.If there is any single element that makes this miniseries as much of a success as it is, it is lead character, Francis Urquhart as played by actor Ian Richardson. Richardson plays Urquhart as a modern day (modern day being an alternate version of late 1980's or early 1990's UK) version of Shakespeare's Richard III. Urquhart is a man who,as the Chief Whip who feels unappreciated by the Prime Minister he helped to elect, sets out to bring down the Prime Minister, and then take the job of for himself. Like Richard III, Urquhart does this by laying out traps, rumors and blackmail while all the while delivering soliloquies to the audience relaying them to us the viewer. For all intents and purposes, Urquhart is a man we should hate as he does all of those things. Yet it is Richardson makes this work incredibly well and makes Urquhart a man who is ruthless yet immensely charming and likable nonetheless. It is a compliment to Richardson and his skills that he can make it all work, especially the soliloquies, while being evil yet charming all at the same time.Backing Richardson is a fine supporting cast as well. There's Diane Fletcher as Urquhart's wife who, like Lady Macbeth, pushed her husband and his plans along which makes her a character that is almost as fascinating as her husband. There's Susannah Harker as the young, attractive reporter Mattie Storin who begins using Urquhart as a source before they start going in a dangerous direction which leads to an incredible finale. There's Miles Anderson as Roger O'Neill and Alphonsia Emmanuel as his girlfriend Penny Guy who both end up snared by Urquhart's traps and end up victims of that. There's Colin Jeavons as Urquhart's protégé Tim Stamper who has a marvelously sleazy feel to him. Last but not least there's David Lyon as the targeted Prime Minister Henry Collingridge and James Villiers as his brother Charles, who end's up being part of Urquhart's plans. Theses are only a few of those amongst others in what is a fine cast backing a great leading man.House Of Cards is also blessed with fine production values as well. There's some fine production design by Ken Ledsham who creates the worlds ranging from the Houses of Parliament, 10 Downing Street, press rooms and beyond. There's the cinematography of Jim Fyans and Ian Punter which brings a fine sense of atmosphere and shadows to the world of the miniseries. There's also the music by Jim Parker, especially with the main title and end title pieces which serve as a perfect start and closing to the four episodes of the miniseries. All of this, under the direction of Paul Seed, makes for some fine production values to the miniseries.Last but not least is the script. Andrew Davies adapts Michael Dobbs novel into a fine political thriller about the effect of power on one man and how far he will go to gain power. There is a definite Richard III vibe running throughout the entire miniseries as Urquhart decides to seize power and begins to lay plans to do so. As a consequence, the plot can get fairly complex at time with Urquhart playing numerous plans at once which will require the viewer to pay just a bit more then perhaps they usually would. Also, Davies knows how to write fine dialogue especially for Urquhart including the famous line "You may think that, but I couldn't possibly comment." The script never fails to deliver right up to the shocking finale.House Of Cards is a fine example of what the political thriller can be. From the performance of Ian Richardson as Urquhart, the performances of the supporting cast, good production values and a fantastic script as well. It is a complex story with a complex protagonist that takes a look at power and its ability to corrupt and how far one will go to achieve it and is a fine one at that.