| Francis Urquhart | |
|---|---|
| House of Cards character | |
 | |
| First appearance | House of Cards |
| Last appearance | The Final Cut |
| Created by | Michael Dobbs |
| Portrayed by | Ian Richardson |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Francis Ewan Urquhart |
| Occupation | Chief Whip Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Series 1) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Series 2 - Series 3) |
| Family | Alaister Urquhart (brother; deceased) William Urquhart (brother) |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Urquhart |
| Significantother | Mattie Storin Sarah Harding |
| Nationality | British |
| Political affiliation | Conservative |
Francis Ewan Urquhart is a fictional character who is the villainousantihero protagonist of the Britishpolitical thriller television serialHouse of Cards (1990) and its sequel serials,To Play the King (1993) andThe Final Cut (1995). He is portrayed byIan Richardson. The series was co-written byMichael Dobbs and adapted fromhis eponymous novel. Produced by theBBC, the 4 episodes ofHouse of Cards were broadcast in the days preceding and followingMargaret Thatcher’s resignation asPrime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1990. Urquhart is a member of theConservative Party, and is known to be a ruthless,Machiavellian politician who rises fromChief Whip of the Conservative Party to the office of prime minister through much treachery, deception, and murder. His wife, Elizabeth Urquhart, often persuades him to exploit a given situation to his advantage.
Urquhart's family has roots in theScottisharistocracy. He served in theBritish Army in Cyprus for three years. After resigning his commission, Urquhart studies at theUniversity of Oxford. Turning to politics later, Urquhart joined theConservative Party and became theMP for the constituency ofNew Forest in 1974.[citation needed] He served in several ministerial positions before becomingChief Whip in 1987. Some of Urquhart's dialogue throughout the series is presented in a direct address to the viewer, a narrative technique that breaks thefourth wall. These narrative asides are an invention of the television adaptation, as the novel uses third-person narration only.
Urquhart has been described as conniving,Machiavellian,sociopathic, and a symbol ofpolitical corruption. Throughout the series he manipulates and destroys several people, including those he calls friends, for his own ends. He is depicted as being willing to go to any lengths, even personally committing murder, to see that his intricate schemes pay off. During the first series, he is the chief whip, before achieving his ambitious goal, becoming prime minister in the season finale. The follow-up serials,To Play the King (1993) andThe Final Cut (1995), focus on Urquhart's premiership, as he refuses to relinquish his position until he has beaten Thatcher's record as the longest-serving post-war prime minister.[1]
Urquhart is characterised by hiscatchphrase, "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment", or a variation thereon, as aplausibly deniable way of agreeing with people and/or leaking information. The catchphrase has been referenced by real-world politicians in theHouse of Commons on many occasions, having entered the national political parlance.[2]
Urquhart's character was adapted byBeau Willimon and Dobbs into the characterFrank Underwood, portrayed byKevin Spacey, the villainous protagonist of the American adaptation ofHouse of Cards.
Michael Dobbs stated that the inspiration behind Urquhart came during a drinking session at a swimming pool after a tense encounter withMargaret Thatcher, deliberately creating a character moulded around the initials "FU".[3] Ian Richardson was offered the role of Urquhart for the BBC TV adaptation ofHouse of Cards in 1990, which he immediately accepted, noting:
From the moment I read the first scripts, I felt that not only was it the biggest acting opportunity to come my way since my Shakespeare days, but probably was going to be something rather special on the box.[1]
Richardson based his portrayal of the character on a representative of the British Council whom he met whilst touring with theRoyal Shakespeare Company in Japan.[4] While acknowledging that playing Urquhart brought him immediate public recognition, Richardson stated that as aScottish Presbyterian, he found the character's Machiavellian deviousness and sex appeal both "really rather revolting".[1] Nevertheless, despite finding him "an irritating bugger", Richardson found Urquhart "a joy to play".[5] Richardson received positive reviews for his portrayal of Urquhart, and won aBAFTA award for his performance.[6]
The character also took inspiration from contemporary Conservative politicians, including the fearsome Conservative Party whipTristan Garel-Jones.[7]
Howard Rosenberg of theLos Angeles Times praised Urquhart as making "Richard Nixon look like a guileless wimp."[8]
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Urquhart is portrayed as having few other interests outside politics, though he is an avid reader of Italian Renaissance poetry andElizabethan/Jacobean drama, withJohn Webster andCyril Tourneur being among his favorite authors. He frequently quotesWilliam Shakespeare, particularlyMacbeth.[9]
The novels provide him with a backstory: Urquhart was born in 1936, the youngest of the Earl of Bruichladdich's three sons. His older brother, Alaister, was killed in the Second World War, while the middle brother, William, worked for the family estate and occasionally sat in theHouse of Lords.[9] The first novel reveals that his father committed suicide, and that his mother disowned him after he decided to go into politics rather than maintain the family estate.
Urquhart was educated atFettes (although he often wears anOld Etonian tie in the BBC adaptation) where, although not noted for brilliance, he was recognised for his diligence and industriousness. He joined the British Army at age 18, and spent three years inCyprus, where he was commended for bravery in his capture and interrogation ofEOKA terrorists. Urquhart resigned his commission after a colleague was court-martialed for accidentally killing a suspect, and took up a deferred place at theUniversity of Oxford reading History, where he narrowly missed getting aFirst. He later taughtRenaissance Italian History at the university, becoming an authority on theMedici andMachiavelli. He marriedElizabeth McCullough, the eldest daughter of a whisky magnate named William McCullough, in 1960. By the time ofHouse of Cards, Urquhart has long abandoned academia in favour of politics, having steadily risen to the position ofChief Whip.[9]
Urqhuart lives inLyndhurst, Hampshire and represents thecounty constituency ofNew Forest for theConservative Party.[citation needed] He isright-wing and his policies include abolishing theArts Council, outlawingvagrancy, reintroducingconscription and banning pensioners fromNational Health Service treatment unless they have paid for Age Insurance. He describes himself to his wife, Elizabeth, as "a plain, no-nonsense, old-fashionedTory." InTo Play the King, the unnamedKing of the United Kingdom accuses Urquhart of practically abandoning Scotland and Wales. Urquhart notes that he detests thewelfare state and contemporary youth culture.[10]
Urquhart's foreign policy isAnglocentric; he thinks that Britain has more to teach the world, and Europe in particular, than the other way around. He would like to see the rest of theEuropean Union speaking English – a position that would then completely alienateForeign SecretaryTom Makepeace. Besides this, his strong belief in discipline and the rule of law shapes his foreign policy in Cyprus, where he authorises the use of force against schoolgirls who are blocking military vehicles.[11]
In theU.S. remake of theHouse of Cards trilogy, Urquhart's place is filled byFrancis "Frank" Underwood (Kevin Spacey),[12] aDemocraticrepresentative fromSouth Carolina's 5th district andHouse Majority Whip, who schemes and murders his way to becomingPresident of the United States. According to series producerBeau Willimon, the change in last name stemmed from the "Dickensian" feeling and "more legitimately American" sounding resonance of the name 'Underwood'.
Whereas Urquhart is an aristocrat by birth, Underwood is aself-made man, having been born into a poor Southern family with an alcoholic father. Urquhart was one of television's firstantiheroes, whereas Underwood follows the more recent rash of antiheroes that includesTony Soprano ofThe Sopranos,Walter White ofBreaking Bad, andDexter Morgan ofDexter. However, unlike most other antiheroes, Underwood is not forced into immorality either by circumstance (White), birth (Soprano) or nature (Morgan). In his review of Season 2,Slant Magazine's Alan Jones writes that Underwood is evil by choice.
Although Underwood is based on the BBC show's lead character, in interviews during the writing and filming ofseason 2, Willimon said that he usedLyndon B. Johnson as a source of themes and issues addressed inHouse of Cards. Unlike theright wing Urquhart, who leads theConservative Party, Underwood is a member of the Democratic Party, but cares little for ideology in favor of "ruthlesspragmatism" in furthering his own political influence and power.
| Original BBC adaptation |
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| Netflix adaptation House of Cards (2013–2018) |
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