Remembers… — Season 1, Episode 10: Michael Dobbs Remembers… House of Cards

Episode synopsis

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.’

About Remembers…

What are the secrets of our favourite TV shows? Famous names from both sides of the camera reflect on making some of the most popular and influential programmes of all time.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Jeanette Winterson Remembers... Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
• E2Bernard Hill Remembers... Boys from the Blackstuff
• E3Colin Baker Remembers… The Roads to Freedom
• E4Hanif Kureishi Remembers… The Buddha of Suburbia
• E5Moira Armstrong and Vivien Heilbron Remember… Sunset Song
• E6Christopher Eccleston Remembers… Our Friends in the North
• E7Kenneth Branagh Remembers… Billy Plays
• E8David Harewood Remembers… A Man from the Sun
• E9Siân Phillips Remembers… How Green Was My Valley
• E11Alison Steadman Remembers… The Singing Detective
• E12Joe McFadden Remembers… The Crow Road
• E13Peter Kosminsky Remembers… Wolf Hall