To Play the King

To Play the King is a 1993 BBC television serial and the second part of the House of Cards trilogy. Directed by Paul Seed, the serial was based on Michael Dobbs' 1992 novel of the same name and adapted for television by Andrew Davies. The opening and closing theme music for the TV series is entitled "Francis Urquhart's March", by composer Jim Parker.^[1] The series details the conflict between British Prime MinisterFrancis Urquhart and a newly crowned king as well as the run-up to the general election.

The book and TV serialisation follow on from the TV version of the first part of the trilogy. To Play the King (and the final part The Final Cut) reflect upon the end of the first series, which differed somewhat from the plot of the original novel.

The newly crowned King (Michael Kitchen) is displeased with the Conservative government led by Prime MinisterFrancis Urquhart (Ian Richardson) and becomes involved in politics in a way that Urquhart finds unacceptable for a constitutional monarch. At their first meeting, the King expresses concern about Urquhart's social policies, which he argues have led to greater problems for urban areas. Tensions escalate when Urquhart moves his moderate Environment Secretary to a job in Strasbourg after rejecting his proposals to regenerate inner cities. The King's Assistant Press Secretary, Chloe Carmichael, leaks the outcome of the meeting to the press, which rankles Urquhart.

Fearing the King will weaken his position, Urquhart obtains "regal insurance" from Princess Charlotte, a royal family member. His underling, party chairmanTim Stamper, persuades her to divulge lurid details about the Monarchy to Sir Bruce Bullerby, the editor of the Daily Clariontabloid, on the condition that the information is published after her death. Urquhart also begins regularly meeting with the King's ex-wife, repeatedly assuring her that he has no intention of disturbing the Monarchy, implying he would support the early accession of her teenaged son as King.

The King and his staff produce a public service announcement implicitly denouncing Urquhart's policies and covertly rally Opposition leaders to join forces against the Prime Minister. Irked by this intransigence, Urquhart calls an early election. His wife, Elizabeth, introduces him to a pollster named Sarah Harding and persuades him to choose her as a political advisor. Urquhart is impressed with Harding's intelligence and starts to favour her over Stamper, who becomes increasingly bitter over his reluctance to promote him to a senior position. Urquhart eventually begins an affair with Harding, which puts a strain on her marriage. Through all this, he continues to be haunted by his murder of Mattie Storin; unbeknownst to him, someone possesses Mattie's tape recording of her own death. Corder, Urquhart's bodyguard and security advisor, puts the King and other enemies under surveillance.

After a brief abduction by some homeless thugs, Harding is told to "ask 'im about Mattie Storin". Despite her feelings for Urquhart, Harding begins to question his version of events about the tragedy. She meets John Krajewski, a former colleague of Mattie's who is now a paranoid freelance journalist. Corder and his staff execute Krajewski and blame it on Irish republican terrorists. Meanwhile, Urquhart threatens the King with Charlotte's memoirs, saying that he will be forced to publish them if the King continues publicly to oppose him. The King, however, refuses to be blackmailed. Urquhart engages in secret meetings with the King's ex-wife, who urges him not to back down. He also blackmails Bullerby into publishing Charlotte's memoirs in the Daily Clarion, threatening to release images of his sexual relationship with the princess.

While the royal scandal succeeds in hurting the King's popularity, the polls reverse when Conservative MP John Staines is arrested for sex with a minor. A furious Urquhart blames Stamper for the fallout, having put Staines in the public arena moments before his arrest. David Mycroft, the King's closeted advisor and Chief of Staff at Buckingham Palace, has recently separated from his wife and has entered into a romantic relationship with another man. Fearing his sexual orientation may damage the King's standing as well as having seen Staines in a gay bar with an underage boy before the arrest, Mycroft ultimately decides to come out to the King's press corps and announces his resignation.

La mortal explosión de un bloque de apartamentos , provocada por una fuga de gas de un inquilino, vuelve a poner sobre la mesa los argumentos del rey sobre los problemas sociales. Urquhart anuncia su intención de reclutar a jóvenes desempleados de los barrios marginales para las Fuerzas Armadas , recreando una forma de servicio militar obligatorio en tiempos de paz . El rey organiza una gira en autobús por barrios desfavorecidos para demostrar su preocupación, negándose a incluir un dispositivo de seguridad. Urquhart ordena a Corder que secuestre al rey por unos matones durante su visita a un barrio de Manchester . El Regimiento de Paracaidistas , que seguía en secreto la gira del rey por orden de Urquhart, lo rescata de un posible peligro. El rey es visto como un insensato por su negligencia en materia de seguridad, y Urquhart parece un héroe por haberlo protegido.

Mientras tanto, Corder descubre que Stamper le ha pasado información sobre el asesinato de Mattie a Harding como medida de precaución. Presionado por Elizabeth, Urquhart ordena a Corder que los asesine. Los conservadores ganan las elecciones generales con una mayoría absoluta de 22 escaños. Con sus políticas respaldadas por el electorado, a pesar de la oposición pública del rey, Urquhart exige su abdicación . El coche de Harding explota cuando se dirige a encontrarse con Chloe, mientras que el coche de Stamper explota frente a New Scotland Yard . Los medios interpretan los atentados con coche bomba como ataques del IRA Provisional .

Los créditos finales del último episodio muestran imágenes de la coronación del nuevo rey adolescente, lo que demuestra que Urquhart logró la abdicación del rey anterior. Al final de los créditos, Urquhart sonríe con picardía a la cámara y exclama triunfalmente: «¡ Dios salve al rey !», dando así por terminada la serie.

Al igual que en House of Cards , Urquhart se dirige ocasionalmente al público. Se gana la confianza del espectador y, al final de la serie, como al final de la primera, lo reta a condenarlo.

En la novela, pero no en la serie de televisión:

• La trama continúa directamente la de House of Cards , ya que Urquhart acaba de asumir el liderazgo del Partido Conservador . (En la serie de televisión, Urquhart ya es primer ministro).
• Tim Stamper asume la presidencia del partido al principio de la novela, y no a medida que se desarrolla la trama, ya que el plan de Urquhart es convocar elecciones anticipadas para aumentar la mayoría parlamentaria de su partido.
• Después de que Urquhart frena la expansión de sus negocios, Ben Landless se convierte en oponente de Urquhart y aliado del rey.
• El personaje de Chloe Carmichael fue creado para la adaptación televisiva.
• Sarah Harding does not appear. Her character is represented by Sally Quinn, an American who also feeds information about Urquhart to Ben Landless.
• Tim Stamper does not betray Urquhart and therefore is not murdered.
• Mattie Storin's and Roger O'Neill's murders are not directly mentioned nor used as a plot device.
• It is implied that Urquhart is responsible for his and his wife's childlessness. Indeed, their relationship is less close than in the television series. When Landless threatens to expose Elizabeth's affair, Francis implies that he will divorce her to gain sympathy and to cling to power.
• The King willingly abdicates ahead of the general election, indicating that he will stand against Urquhart. In fact, he insists on his abdication being handled before Urquhart can call the election. Rather than feeling confident that the King has been politically neutered, Urquhart is left feeling that the ground is slipping beneath him.

In 2013, the novel was reissued along with the rest of the trilogy, to coincide with the launch of the American version of House of Cards, with Dobbs having rewritten portions of the novel in order to restore continuity between the three novels and to bring it more in line with the mini-series. Changes made include:

• The beginning and ending of the novel now reflect the mini-series, though with some changes. Urquhart has been prime minister for nearly two years while the King has only just assumed the throne following the death of the Queen at the start of the revised novel. He only decides to go after the King at the persuasion of his wife, who notices that Urquhart had grown bored with power and needed a new enemy to thwart.
• The ending has the King being forced to abdicate, following Urquhart's electoral success, after Urquhart informs him that he plans on using all of the resources at his disposal to destroy the Royal Family if he does not abdicate the throne.
• Furthermore, there is an additional scene with the King's teenage son and Urquhart, after his father's abdication, where the newly crowned King informs Urquhart that "nothing lasts forever", in relations to Urquhart's own power and position as prime minister. This leads to the final chapter of the revised novel, where Urquhart ponders his legacy and whether or not he would be remembered as a bully who forced the King of England to abdicate.
• Corder and Tim Stamper are given additional page time, with their past with Urquhart revealed.
• Corder's characteristics are changed to make him more in line with Edward Meechum, his counterpart character in the US adaptation of the show. In particular, it is stated that his loyalty to Urquhart is due to Urquhart vouching for him after an unstated incident early on in his tenure with the Urquharts, where the Chief Whip saved his job. Similarly, Stamper's betrayal and death from the TV series is not imported into the revised novel.
• Mattie Storin's death is mentioned by several minor journalist characters, with it implied that many feel Urquhart did indeed kill her but that due to his power and reach, no one dare publicly accuse him.

• To Play the King at BBC Online
• To Play the King at IMDb