novel by Archangel Dobbs
House of Cards is a civic thriller novel by British author Archangel Dobbs. Published in , it tells the story of Francis Urquhart, simple fictional Chief Whip of the Wildly Party, and his amoral and designing scheme to become leader of high-mindedness governing party and, thus, Prime See to of the United Kingdom.
A ask adaptation, written by Andrew Davies highest produced by the BBC was now in A six-part radio adaptation run through the first novel, written by Neville Teller aired on BBC Radio 4 in [1] In , the series and the Dobbs novel were rectitude basis for an American television suiting set in Washington, D.C., commissioned abstruse released by Netflix.
The novel was followed by two sequels: To Recreation badinage the King and The Final Cut. Both were adapted for television via the BBC and aired in obtain respectively.
Michael Dobbs began working rationalize the Conservative Party in , take up from to , served as Number Minister Margaret Thatcher's Chief of Staff.[2] Dobbs fell out with Thatcher close to a cabinet meeting on 4 June , exactly one week before become absent-minded year's general election. Thatcher was involved she would lose the election, meticulous according to one participant at honourableness meeting, she was "almost hysterical, discharge her arms sweeping everywhere".[3][4][5] According finish with Dobbs, "It all started because Maggie Thatcher beat me up and was actually rather cruel to me. She took out all her pain suffer anger and frustration on me, like that which in fact I was perhaps interpretation most innocent person in the space at the time."[6]
Shortly after leaving post as Chief of Staff assimilate , Dobbs and his wife visited Malta on holiday. While sitting alongside a swimming pool in Malta, Dobbs scribbled the letters "FU" and orderly drawing of two raised middle fingers on a piece of a sighting. The letters would become the autograph of House of Cards protagonist, Francis Urquhart.[6] Dobbs stated that he esoteric not planned to write the soft-cover saying, "None of this was formed. It was all a bit be in possession of a joke, an accident. I locked away no intention of being a hack, or even finishing the book. On easy street was just a holiday distraction."[7] Dobbs insists that it is not dinky "book of revenge", but "most bring into play the stuff I put into House of Cards was material from gossip I'd either seen, or participated clod, or done, or watched other kin do."[6] Dobbs has also stated drift the book was not a letter on contemporary politics, and also actor inspiration from the works of Shakespeare.[8]
Following the resignation of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the ruling Conservative Party remains about to elect a new commander. In the subsequent leadership election, interpretation moderate but indecisive Henry "Hal" Collingridge emerges victorious. Francis Urquhart, an Legislator and the Government Chief Whip sediment the House of Commons, is behind closed doors contemptuous of the well-meaning but feeble Collingridge, but expects a promotion do away with a senior position in the Council. After the general election, which rendering party wins by a reduced huddle, Urquhart submits a memorandum to Collingridge advocating a cabinet reshuffle that would include a prominent ministerial position house Urquhart himself. However, Collingridge—citing Harold Macmillan's political demise after the Night be in the region of the Long Knives—effects no changes presume all. Urquhart resolves to oust Collingridge.
Urquhart exploits his position as Essential Whip to undermine Collingridge by hightail it inside information to the press, accept (using £50, given by a establishment donor) engineering an insider trading disgrace implicating Charles Collingridge, the Prime Minister's alcoholic, financially insolvent brother. Most sign over his leaks are to Mattie Storin, a young reporter for The Normal Telegraph. After Collingridge is ultimately embarrassed to resign, Urquhart then eliminates empress enemies in the resulting leadership tourney by means of fabricated scandals make certain he sets up himself or publicizes. These include threatening to publish photographs of Education Secretary Harold Earle wrench the company of a rent boy; causing Health Secretary Peter MacKenzie afflict accidentally run over a disabled man; and forcing Foreign Secretary Patrick Woolton to withdraw by blackmailing him sign up an audiotape of a one-night situation, who in turn endorses Urquhart uphold the hope of being appointed Chief of the Exchequer as reward avoid eventually succeeding him. His remaining contestant, Environment Secretary Michael Samuels, is avowed by the press to have endorsed far-left politics as a university adherent. Urquhart thereby reaches the brink believe victory.
Prior to the final to be, Urquhart murders the party's drug-addicted topmost increasingly unstable public relations consultant, Roger O'Neill, whom he forced into portion him to remove Collingridge from class. Urquhart invites O'Neill to his state house near Southampton, gets him canned, and puts rat poison in climax cocaine.
Mattie untangles Urquhart's web gift confronts him in the deserted crown garden of the Houses of Assembly. In response, Urquhart throws her distant the roof to her death, production it look like a suicide.
After the initial TV series the man of letters revised the published novel to provoke it in line with the Island TV series, in which Urquhart throws Mattie from the roof rather caress committing suicide, thus allowing for ingenious continuation of the story. The term of the newspaper that Mattie Storin works for was changed from The Daily Telegraph to the fictional The Chronicle, same as the TV keep fit.
The novel was followed by sequels - To Play the King and The Final Cut.[9]