Michael Dobbs Remembers… House of Cards
Episode 10 · 2022-11-16
- Documentary
- Talk
Episode overview
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.’
11 minutes
Season 1 episodes
1. Jeanette Winterson Remembers... Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit2022-06-29
2. Bernard Hill Remembers... Boys from the Blackstuff2022-07-06
3. Colin Baker Remembers… The Roads to Freedom2022-07-29
4. Hanif Kureishi Remembers… The Buddha of Suburbia2022-08-17
5. Moira Armstrong and Vivien Heilbron Remember… Sunset Song2022-08-31
6. Christopher Eccleston Remembers… Our Friends in the North2022-09-14
7. Kenneth Branagh Remembers… Billy Plays2022-10-05
8. David Harewood Remembers… A Man from the Sun2022-10-19
9. Siân Phillips Remembers… How Green Was My Valley2022-11-02
10. Michael Dobbs Remembers… House of Cards2022-11-16
11. Alison Steadman Remembers… The Singing Detective2022-11-30
12. Joe McFadden Remembers… The Crow Road2022-12-14
13. Peter Kosminsky Remembers… Wolf Hall2022-12-19
14. Richard Wilson Remembers… Tutti Frutti2022-12-26
