To Play the King
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To Play the King is the second part of the House of Cards trilogy, a BBC television serial. The series opens with the coronation of the new monarch upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II and revolves around Francis Urquhart (now Prime Minister) and his political battles with a newly-crowned King, portrayed by Michael Kitchen (the King bears a strong resemblance to Prince Charles) and his attempts to cover up evidence of his earlier crimes. It is worth noting that Urquhart is not a Republican; he has no intention or desire to bring down the Monarchy, he just objects to the incumbent Monarch.
The series was based on Michael Dobbs's novel of the same name, which was prescient in predicting the separation of Charles and Diana.
The series portrays the UK Conservative government (post-Margaret Thatcher) dominating the Labour party and the King becoming disenchanted with the Conservative agenda and becoming involved in politics in a way that the Prime Minister 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 social deprevation and social exclusion in urban areas. This tension becomes exacerbated when Urquhart moves his progressive Environment Secretary to a job in Brussels and rejects his proposals to assist poorer pensioners with retaining their council homes among other proposals. The King's Assistant advisor leaks the outcome of the meeting to the press which rankles Urquhart particularly though the King backs up his advisor in the face of threats from Urquhart. The King is having problems with his advisors - his Chief of Staff, David Mycroft, appears to be more interested in alcohol and his new boyfriend than his official duties and his assistant advisor appears to be using the King to promote her own left-wing views. The sinister Commander Corder, Urquhart's bodyguard and security advisor, is revealed to have any potential threats to Urquhart under surveillance, including the King.
Fearing the King will weaken his position Urquhart obtains "Regal Insurance" from the Princess Charlotte, also known as The Fat Princess. Through Tim Stamper he persuades her to meet Sir Bruce Billoughby, editor of the Daily Clarion newspaper, and to agree to reveal every shred of scandal or gossip about the monarchy for "historical purposes" on condition the information is only published after her death. Elizabeth introduces Urquhart to Sarah Harding and persuades him to choose her as a political advisor. It is subtily hinted that were the two to seek a sexual relationship Elizabeth would not mind (their marriage appears to be polyamorous). Indeed Elizabeth appears to be having an affair with Commander Corder with Francis' knowledge. Having been irked by the King's intransigence, and with him meeting covertly with leaders of the opposition to persuade them to unite forces against Urquhart, he calls an early election.
Throughout this time we learn that Urquhart also has the murder of Mattie Storin at the end of the series House of Cards on his conscience, and that someone has a tape recording of her death (made by Mattie on the rooftop). After an abduction Sarah Harding is told to "ask Urquhart about Mattie Storin." Despite having started an affair with Urquhart Harding begins to question his version of events about Mattie's death. She meets John Krajewski, now a paranoid free-lance journalist, and formerly Mattie's best friend from House of Cards. He alerts her suspicion that the Government acts like a version of Big Brother and that everyone is under surveillance. He is later found dead, having been executed, and the execution is blamed on the Provisional IRA. In fact it is Corder and his staff who executed him and blamed it on the IRA. We also learn that they also plant blombs and blame the IRA terrorists as suitable scapegoats.
Urquhart threatens the King that he has information from Princess Charlotte's memoirs which could bring down the monarchy. Urquhart claims he does not want it to be published so but will if the King continues to oppose his policies in a public manner. The King refuses to be blackmailed. Urquhart is also in talks with the ex wife of the king, assumed to be Princess Diana, who urges him not to back down to the King. Urquhart then forces Billoughby to publish the memoirs in his newspaper. The great scandal gives the Conservatives a boost in the polls and hurts the King's popularity. However, a conservative backbencher, aptly named Staines, who had been vocally critical in parliament of the King, is arrested in the Houses of Parliament by the police on charges of molestation and rape of minors. This scandal greatly hurts the Conservatives and a furious Urquhart blames Stamper for putting Staines in the public arena before his arrest. This strains their relationship considerably as Stamper feels increasingly undervalued at Urquhart's reluctance to give him a Ministry. The explosion of a tower block, as a result of a tenant tapping into the gas supply with considerable loss of life, puts the King's arguments about social exclusion and the need to tackle the homeless problem back into the public domain. Stamper meanwhile reveals himself to Sarah Harding and gives her a copy of the tape.
The King begins a tour of disadvantaged estates in Britain accompanied by the press and no security to show he cares. He arranges for opposition leaders to follow his tour and secretly supports them. Urquhart arranges for Corder to have the King abducted by some thugs during a tour of an estate in Liverpool. The Army, secretly shadowing the King's tour on Urquhart's orders, rescue him from possible harm. The King is seen as foolish for rejecting security on his tour and is not helped when Mycroft resigns as his Chief-of-Staff fearing that his homosexuality will be revealed by the press. Urquhart announces he intends that the young long-term unemployed adults of the council estates will serve in the military and re-enacts a form of national service. The Conservatives win with a 22 seat majority. With his policies vindicated by the electorate, despite the King's public opposition to them, Urquhart forces him to abdicate ("to preserve the ideal of a Constitutional Monarchy") in favour of his son, assumed to be Prince William.
Urquhart has Tim Stamper and Sarah Harding assassinated in separate car bombings. Corder has realised through his surveillance that Stamper has information on the circumstances of Mattie Storin's death, which he (Stamper) subsequently passed on to Harding as insurance. The car bombings are interpreted by the media as being terrorist action. Harding's car explodes when she is en route to meet with the King's Chief-of-Staff. The drama ends with Prince William being crowned as the new King.
[edit] Political Backdrop
- The political backdrop is a substantial homeless problem (despite an apparently prosperous economy) and a government that appears not to care, which was a common perception of the point of view of many UK Conservatives of the day. In fact, John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher during the period the three series were being produced. Major was never seen as the scheming Urquhart character of the series, however.
- At this time the Provisional IRA was carrying out a bombing campaign in the British mainland, providing a backdrop for where the Urquhart security team make the Provisional IRA look responsible for Urquhart's security team's own politically motivated car bombing assassinations.
[edit] Significance
As in House of Cards, Urquhart occasionally speaks directly to the audience, providing commentary in a way somewhat akin to a Greek chorus. He takes the viewer into his confidence, and at the end of the series, as at the end of the first, he challenges the viewer to condemn him.
To Play the King was followed by The Final Cut, again based on a Michael Dobbs book, but without Dobbs's input into the adaptation. To Play the King is generally felt to be on a par with The Final Cut series in quality, with the original House of Cards superior to both.
[edit] External links
- To Play the King at the Internet Movie Database
- To Play the King at Action TV
