tonycarr 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"

Bene Cumb It does not often happen that I watch an original creation after adapted/covered one - but such is the case with House of Cards where the Spacey-Wright tandem captivated me soon after the series was released. But I got to the British version only this week... From the start, I tried not to make comparisons with the U.S. series, but sometimes they were unavoidable. Yes, I enjoyed both Francis Urquhart's character and Ian Richardson's performance at once, but the plot had some minor shortages for me - first, Urquhart obtained the highest post of the Prime Minister at the first stage (vs. Vice President and President in the U.S.) and, secondly, the spouse- accomplice did not have her own agenda in the public life. Thus, the plot was only with and around Urquhart, making it more linear and less versatile than in the adapted one. But still, I love the British style and approach, their fineness and witty lines, and frequent surprising moments in the course of events. Moreover, the choice of music and cinematography provided an accentuating atmosphere and mood in the sinister world of politics, full of betrayals and selfish decisions.Notwithstanding with the fact that most of the events depicted are not possible in an EU/NATO country, the series in question is an integral and often realistic depiction what-how many politicians think. A must- see to all fond of British political crime series and a wide and pleasant record of Ian Richardson's (passed away in 2007) talent.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU An absolute masterpiece in political philandering. Politics is poison. Politics is perversion. Politics is treacherous intercourse between any man and any other person, any woman and any other human with only one objective: to seize power, to retain power, to "make history" as if they could, not understanding that power is illusive and evasive, and history is not made by anything or anybody because history is and nothing else. What makes it is unknown of everybody. Big Ben here is only to dictate the time of the beginning of each episode, 9:22 a.m. The general idea is that a plain apparatchik of the conservative party manages to push aside the successor to Margaret Thatcher, the longest- serving peace time Prime Minister, who was too weak for the job, and he becomes nothing but the brute of the job who uses young women to get his inspiration, kills them as soon as they could become dangerous, and is in fact entirely manipulated by his own wife, a new Lady Macbeth who even manages to make him confront the new king and force him to abdicate. What's the best part of it is that it is thrilling to follow the actions of this apprentice sorcerer and to see how he manages any situation to his own advantage and yet is heading right into the wall because to succeed too long becomes dangerous for your own health in the British system where only the sovereign can last long because he or she is not supposed to play politics. It is thrilling because we know the only end can be his failure when the wall of success will become so hard that he will have to be eliminated for the simple survival of the political system.Yet you will learn only in the very last scene who the manipulator of it all is and what his or/and her intention is too. And it is true the series is intelligent enough and well enough done that you cannot know who that manipulator is though we see his/her black gloves at crucial moments but the episode systematically mislead you to believing it (he/she) is someone else.The series is also a very good criticism of British democracy based on the free press that is as free as a tornado in a narrow and deep gorge between two very high mountains. The press is in fact on a very short leash: make money with news and make the news if necessary to make money, like Citizen Kane used to say. Parliament is an amazing maze of corridors and staircases, a comfortable bar and a House of Commons with only one interesting session, Questions to the Prime Minister, every week or maybe more often. This Parliament is a farce in many ways, at best a circus for gladiators who have no right to kill one another but who can bruise their own and respective egos in all possible ways.It is so easy to make the public believe what you want them to believe when you can pull the strings that hold the press. And then you can always manage someone to get killed here and there, now and then, who is embarrassing or annoying the big masters.I am so glad I am not engulfed in such an ugly activity. And yet I am sorry everyday because of them because they terrorize my own life all the time with their own caprices and incompetence. After that you sure will loathe politics, or at best want to be one of the few who can control the game.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

camelot2302 I've been hearing for years how great the House of Cards BBC series is but like a lot of other things in life, watching the series was something I always meant to do but never got round to it. Then I read the books by Michael Dobbs, found the books awful to read and went off the whole trilogy. But when I came into some money recently, I decided to take a chance and finally watch the series and by God, I'm glad I did! Forget the books! The TV series rules! This is almost 11 hours (3 DVD's) worth of top quality entertainment. My life ground to a halt for two days because I was addicted! This is the kind of drama that makes the BBC world-famous. Nothing can beat it.Ian Richardson plays a show-stealing performance as Francis Urquhart, the government Chief Whip, who lies, cheats and tramples his way to Downing Street, leaving bodies, wannabe leaders, and carnage in his wake. The first in the series "House of Cards" sees Urquhart being snubbed and passed over for promotion by the Prime Minister Henry Collingridge (who I'm convinced is an imitation of John Major!). Urquhart vows revenge and we watch as he engineers Collingridge's downfall. Urquhart runs for the leadership and after a nasty battle with rivals, he wins by cheating & blackmail. The ending to Part One is shocking and shows how far Urquhart is prepared to go to get what he wants. The ending to part one is something which is constantly brought up in parts 2 & 3.The next in the series, "To Play the King" is I think the best of the three. Urquhart is securely installed at number 10 when the Queen vacates her position (it isn't made clear whether she dies or abdicates). Anyway, the next in line is the King (clearly imitating Prince Charles) and Michael Kitchen plays a fantastic King who decides that he is more important than the Prime Minister. He and Urquhart butt heads as each one tries to assert their authority over the other, and it isn't helped by the King's advisors who egg him on to directly confront Urquhart. Again, the ending to part two is shocking and brutal as Urquhart decides to silence those who are plotting against him.The last in the series, "The Final Cut" shows Urquhart in his 11th year as Prime Minister. He is set to beat Mrs Thatcher as the longest serving Prime Minister but the public are tiring of him and want him out. His Foreign Secretary, Tom Makepeace, challenges his authority and Urquhart fires him for it. But instead of silencing him, being fired makes Makepeace decide he has nothing to lose and he decides to force Urquhart out. Meanwhile, Cyprus is about to get a peace agreement and Urquhart decides that he could use the situation to make a little pension fund for himself and also silence Makepeace into the bargain. But he never counted on a secret from his past to come back to hurt him...the ending to "The Final Cut" is both stunning and unexpected.A few little comments - there are some small differences between the books and the TV adaptation. But I think that the changes are for the better. I never liked how the books were written. Richardson breathes life into the character of Urquhart and the story changes make the stories BETTER, not worse. We also see how scheming and manipulative Mrs Urquhart is, and the thug of a protection officer, Corder, who is assigned to protect the Prime Minister. In each of the series, we see that Urquhart's ultimate downfall is due to the female company he keeps. Each woman is a Judas and a Brutus, ready to stab him in the back.I especially like how Richardson often speaks directly into the camera as if he is directly talking to the viewers. It's as if he is bringing you into his conspiracies and asking you to take part in his dirty work. Urquhart is devious, ruthless and will do whatever it takes. You will cheer him on and root for him as he takes on his enemies like a pit bull terrier.Oh and look out for Colin Jeavons as Tim Stamper. You'll recognise him as Inspector Lestrade from the Sherlock Holmes episodes.So is it worth getting this DVD? To quote the Right Honourable Francis Urquhart MP, "you might very well think that but I couldn't possibly comment!"