House of Cards

Episodes

Specials · 3 episodes

• E1 Michael Dobbs Remembers... House of Cards
  Nov 16, 2022 11 min

  Author, politician and member of the House of Lords Michael Dobbs looks back on the TV drama that had 90s Britain hooked on political intrigue and infighting. Based on his best-selling novel, the BBC adaptation of House of Cards introduced television viewers to Francis Urquhart, the chief whip pulling the strings as a Conservative government experiences a leadership crisis that sees reputations and lives destroyed. Lord Dobbs considers the seductive appeal of Urquhart and how Ian Richardson’s portrayal of the character helped him instantly become one of the great TV villains. He also recalls how the very week that the BBC first broadcast House of Cards coincided with a real-life political meltdown as Margaret Thatcher was forced from office, and the fact that the latest screening comes after some of the biggest political upsets for decades. Coincidence? To quote Urquhart himself: ‘You might think that... I couldn’t possibly comment.

• E2 Andrew Davies On "To Play The King" Controversy
  9 min

  Author Andrew Davies discusses the controveries experienced by himself and the crew of House of Cards while adapting his book "To Play the King" to television

• E3 Westminster: Behind Closed Doors with Tony Benn
  Dec 11, 1995 50 min

  To celebrate the 700th anniversary of Parliment, Tony Benn has been taking his video camera around the Palace of Westminster. He films some of the people who work behind the scenes and visits places the public never see.