X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

House of Cards

Francis Urquhart is the Chief Whip of the Conservative Party. When Margaret Thatcher resigns as leader, he remains neutral and, after a general election in which the Conservatives are returned with a reduced majority, he fully expects the new Prime Minister, Henry Collingridge, to give him his just reward: a senior Cabinet post. When he's informed that he is to stay in his current position, he devises a plot to unseat Collingridge and ensure his own election as party leader which would make him Prime Minister.

Loading. Please wait...

Content not available in your region? ExpressVPN can help you stay connected wherever you are. Get 4 extra months FREE with TV Guide's exclusive offer.

Cast & Crew See All

Ian Richardson
Francis Urquhart
Susannah Harker
Mattie Storin
Miles Anderson
Roger O'Neill

Season 1 Episode Guide See All

Episode 1

Chapter One

Sun, Mar 31, 199156 mins

Francis Urquhart is the Conservative Party Chief Whip who keeps the party's Members of Parliament in line. The party has selected a new leader, Henry Collingridge, and at the general election the government is returned with a reduced majority. Urquhart expects his proper reward - a senior Cabinet post - but is shocked when the Prime Minister tells him he's to stay where he is. Urquhart decides to exact his revenge. Using an ambitious young journalist, Mattie Storin, he plants rumors of dissension in party. Through the Party's PR expert Roger O'Neill - who has had his fingers in the till and developed a coke habit - he arranges for Opposition MPs to have access to Cabinet decisions making for an uncomfortable time in the House. Finally, he lays the foundation for a money scandal.

Where to Watch
House of Cards, Season 1 Episode 1 image

Awards

  • 1991 - Broadcasting Press Guild Award - Best Acting Performance - winner
  • 1992 - Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award - TV - Drama Serial - nominated
  • 1991 - BAFTA TV Award - Best Drama Series/Serial - nominated
  • 1991 - BAFTA TV Award - Best Actor - winner

You May Also Like See All

The Office
The Staircase
Homicide: Life on the Street
The Sopranos

Latest News See All

Popular Shows See all shows

Ballykissangel

6 Seasons
Peter Clifford, a young Catholic priest from Manchester, is transferred to the village of Ballykissangel, Ireland, and is taken by the dry-humored publican Assumpta Fitzgerald who has almost the exact opposite of his good nature and dislikes the organized church. He has to deal with occasional battles against his hateful superior, Father MacAnally, and the day-to-day problems of the people: Brian Quigley, whose constant search for money often leads him to immorality, his daughter Niamh and her lover straight-arrow garda Ambrose Egan, uptight and inquisitive shopkeeper Kathleen Hendley, gruff vet Siobhan Mehigan, cheery mechanic Padraig O'Kelly, comical schoolteacher Brendan Kearney, and elderly farmer Eamon Byrne. Later arrivals to the town include former monk Father Aidan O'Connell, pariah Sean Dillon and his daughter Emma, Eamon's nephew Danny, female Garda Frankie Sullivan, Australian Father Vincent Sheahan, and horse-trainer Avril Burke.
1996 Comedy, Drama

Lark Rise to Candleford

4 Seasons
An adaptation of Flora Thompson's autobiographical novel "Lark Rise To Candleford", set in 19th-century Oxfordshire, in which a young girl moves to the local market town to begin an apprenticeship as a postmistress.
2008 Drama

The Barchester Chronicles

1 Season
The Barchester Chronicles, a BBC miniseries, is adapted from two mid-19th century novels by Anthony Trollope. When a crusade against the Church of England's practice of self-enrichment misfires, scandal taints the cozy community of Barchester when their local church becomes the object of a scathing report about the use of church funds. Consequently, an honorable middle-aged clergyman (Donald Pleasence) is forced into moral crisis and a conflict with his son-in-law, a pompous archdeacon (Nigel Hawthorne) and his youngest daughter's beloved (David Gwillim). The arrival of a new bishop (Clive Swift), his domineering wife (Geraldine McEwan), and a devious chaplain (Alan Rickman) - who may be hiding secrets - add to the dramatic scheming and complex power struggles among a colorful cast of characters.
1982 Drama

Last Tango in Halifax

5 Seasons
Two childhood sweethearts reconnect after 50 years apart and plan to marry, only to discover that a misplaced letter from their youth had kept them from finding happiness together decades earlier.
77   Metascore
2012 Comedy, Drama

The Paradise

2 Seasons
An intoxicating love story set in England's first department store in the 1870s.
71   Metascore
2012 Drama, Documentary

Robin Hood

3 Seasons
Returning from five years of fighting in the crusades, Robin of Locksley and his manservant Much discover their beloved home under the rule of the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham. To fight the tyranny, Robin becomes the leader of a band of outlaws with Will Scarlett, Allan A Dale, Royston White, Little John, and Djaq. Meanwhile, feisty Lady Marian inspires the love of both her childhood sweetheart Robin and the Sheriff's second-in-command Sir Guy of Gisborne. Later episodes find the addition of friends and foes such as Prince John, warrior monk Tuck, village girl Kate, Guy's sister Isabella, and mysterious Archer.
70   Metascore
2006 Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama