Minor characters in the House of Cards trilogy
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This article deals with minor characters in the House of Cards trilogy. The trilogy consists of three miniseries, House of Cards, To Play the King and The Final Cut, all based on identically-titled novels by Michael Dobbs.
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[edit] Elizabeth Urquhart
Elizabeth Urquhart is the wife of Francis Urquhart.
Elizabeth is almost the power behind the throne, often compared to Lady Macbeth. She identifies her husband's powers and abilities and often persuades him to use a situation to his advantage. When Francis is overlooked for cabinet promotion by Prime Minister Henry Collingridge, it is Elizabeth who encourages him to plot to remove Collingridge and take office for himself. She permits him to have an affair with a young, naive journalist - Mattie Storin - in order to gain her trust. He uses his position to feed information to Storin and influence her articles.
It is implied in the first installment of the trilogy that murdering Roger O'Neill (a colleague who Francis had been using to his advantage) was initially her idea. Like her husband she is cold and callous and does not seem to have a problem with having people killed to suit their purposes.
In the TV version of the The Final Cut, she has Francis murdered to secure their legacies and her pension. Before he died she held him in her arms and assured him calmly that it "was the only way".
In the TV series she was played by Diane Fletcher.
[edit] Tim Stamper
Tim Stamper was (initially) one of Francis Urquhart's closest friends and aides; in the first series, he plays a Junior Whip to Urquhart's Chief Whip; in the second, he himself is Chief Whip and later Chairman of the Conservative Party. Stamper did not appear in the House of Cards novel on which the BBC series was based, though the series' author, Michael Dobbs, introduced him in To Play the King.
In the first installment of the House of Cards trilogy Stamper was loyal to Urquhart, however by To Play the King he was embittered and felt that his loyalty and efforts were unappreciated. As a result, Stamper decided to release a tape to the police incriminating Urquhart in the murder of Mattie Storin. When Urquhart became aware of these plans, he had Stamper — and one of his own aides to whom Stamper had given a copy of the tape — killed. Stamper appeared to have unfortunate delusions of grandeur; his plan was to force Urqhuart's resignation and replace him as Prime Minister, albeit with a deal of sadness at having to do it. He stated that all he ever wished to do was to serve Urquhart, and it is clear from both House of Cards and parts of To Play the King that he would have been loyal to him until the end. However it is Urquhart's cruel acts of throwing Stamper's loyalty back into his face that drove him to try and ruin his old master.
Stamper was played by Colin Jeavons
[edit] Mattie Storin
Mattie Storin is a journalist for the fictional Chronicle, who becomes romantically involved with Francis Urquhart. She is killed at the end of House of Cards by Urquhart, who throws her off the roof garden of the House of Commons. She knew about his illegal actions, and he did not believe that she would keep quiet about them.
Throughout the series she displays several unstable characteristics, the most alarming of which is her preference of referring to Urquhart as 'daddy' during moments of intimacy. This could be linked to, as is revealed in To Play the King, her own father dying when she was very young, as some kind of twisted Electra complex. Aside from this, she is portrayed a headstrong, talented young woman who is determined to understand the way Westminster works, even stating that this is more important to her than 'getting headlines'.
Mattie was played in the TV series by Susannah Harker.
[edit] Corder
Corder served as Francis Urquhart's bodyguard for 12 years and was connected to the security services. During his time in this role he proved to be a callous killer who appeared to feel no compassion for the people he killed.
Tim Stamper and Sarah Harding
Tim Stamper and Sarah Harding were two people who had originally been the Prime Minister's most loyal supporters but had decided to expose him after a tape implicating him in two murders surfaced. Stamper wanted him removed so he could replace him and Harding was genuinely shocked by the news. Corder subsequently had their cars rigged with bombs, killing them both.
Motorway Incident
Whilst driving the Prime Minister back to Downing Street one night the Prime Minister's car was forced off the road by a van of hooligans. Three men emerged from the car declaring "let's have some fun". Another bodyguard shot one of them, perceiving them to be armed. Corder shot the other two - one of them in the back whilst he was running away. Corder announced that an investigation (headed by himself) would be launched concerning the incident. He falsely claimed that the three men were armed and had been a serious threat.
Thatcher Day
At the unveiling of Margaret Thatcher's statue Corder had the Prime Minister and Evanghelos Passolides (a man who wanted him dead) killed by a sniper.
Corder was played by Nick Brimble.
[edit] Tom Makepeace
Tom Makepeace served under Francis Urquhart in the dual role of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary. He and Urqhuart frequently clashed over Europe and various domestic policies.
Following a major dispute with Urqhuart, Makepeace was fired from the cabinet. He was offered the post of Secretary of State for Education (a traditional 'dumping ground' post) but declined it. Enraged he promptly issued a press statement announcing that he had decided to resign from the cabinet. He subsequently resigned from the government and sat as an independent MP.
Leadership Contest
Despite being an independent MP, Makepeace announced he would be challenging the Prime Minister for the leadership of the Conservative Party. He failed to win the first ballot but managed to force a second one. Urqhuart died before the second ballot thus enabling him to win the election unopposed. It should be noted that due to his being an independent MP, in reality he would not be able to challenge for the leadership after 'crossing the house' to the opposition.
Makepeace was played by Paul Freeman.
[edit] Henry Collingridge
Henry "Hal" Collingridge is the successor to Margaret Thatcher in House of Cards. The part of Collingridge in the television adaptation was played by David Lyon.
Collingridge is portrayed as being a decent man and a passive indecisive leader who relies heavily on the support of his most trusted cronies and cabinet ministers Francis Urquhart and Lord "Teddy" Billsborough. At the start of the novel (and TV adaptation) he has just led to his party to victory in a general election (albeit with a very reduced majority).
Prime Minister
In his first reshuffle he made the decision not to make any changes to the government, arguing that a massive shake-up could be misconstrued as panic. This proves to be a mistake as this enrages Urquhart who longs for promotion.
Collingridge's brief time in office proved difficult for him thanks to Urquhart who proceeded to embarrass his boss by leaking delicate information to the press and labour party backbenchers. Finally a fabricated scandal concerning his alcoholic brother forced him to resign from office after less than a year. Ironically when he refused to hold a reshuffle he argued that the Night of the Long Knives caused one of his predecessors to "be out [of office] within a year".
He was succeeded by Urquhart.
Collingridge's cabinet
- Foreign Secretary: Patrick Woolton
- Chief Whip - Francis Urquhart
- Chairman of the Conservative Party: Lord Billsborough
- Education Secretary: Harold Earle
- Health Secretary: Peter MacKenzie
- Environment Secretary: Michael Samuels
[edit] Patrick Woolton
Patrick Woolton was a minor character in the first installment. He served as Foreign Secretary under Collingridge. Woolton had a reputation as a womanizer, xenophobe and bully. He made two unsuccessful bids for the leadership of the Conservative Party. In the first contest he lost to Collingridge (he later insisted he was the best candidate). In the second contest he was blackmailed into withdrawing. He vowed that "he would be back" but as he is absent from the later sequels it is clear that his career ended. He was played by Malcolm Tierney.
[edit] Geoffrey Booza-Pitt
Geoffrey Booza-Pitt was a member of parliament promoted by Urquhart in an act of manipulation to surround himself with 'yes-men' towards the end of his premiership in The Final Cut. He was referred to as 'Sooty' by members of the opposition. Booza-Pitt was himself notable for his fondness with ladies, thus losing himself a Knighthood.
