House.of.Cards (Part 4) (1990)

Part 4 of 4 of the UK political thriller from 1990. Francis Urquhart announces his candidateship for the leadership, and then sets about plotting how to bring down the other contenders. While some are easier to smear than others, he finds that not all are so easy to dispose of. And he discovers that his well laid plans are beginning to crumble, as hired lackie Roger O'Neill starts to crack when Mattie Storin questions his girlfriend Penny Guy on what she knows about his involvement in the threat to her life and the recent government leaks. And despite Urquhart's belief that he has Mattie in his control, it proves misguided as her journalist instincts only make her more determined to root out the truth... Starring Ian Richardson, Susanna Harker, Miles Anderson, Diane Fletcher, Alphonsia Emmanuel, Malcolm Tierney, Colin Jeavons, Damien Thomas, Christopher Owen, Kenneth Gilbert, William Chubb, Vivienne Ritchie, Tommy Boyle, Eric Allen and Janis Winters. This is from a recording from last year's repeat on BBC4, so apologies in advance for any glitches there may be. I did have the trilogy of this, but that went missing during a move last year. But this is the first and the best of the trilogy, with fine performances by the cast, including Richardson and Harker, while Andrew Davies does a fine job of adapting Michael Hobbs' novel. Be warned though to those who have read the book or not seen this series before - this has a different ending to the novel, and a memorable one at that!