House of Cards (British TV series)

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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. The story is centred on the sudden and manipulative rise to power of the fictional chief whip of the Conservative Party, Francis Urquhart, a ruthless and Machiavellian politician. 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 succeed him, on the same lines as William Shakespeare's play Richard III (which Urquhart often quotes). During this drawn-out and ruthless coup, his life is complicated by his relationship with a young female reporter named Mattie Storin, whom he uses to leak sensitive information in confidence. The question of whether...

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