The Final Cut (TV serial)
| The Final Cut | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Written by |
Andrew Davies (adaptation) Michael Dobbs (novel) |
| Directed by | Mike Vardy |
| Starring |
Ian Richardson Diane Fletcher Nick Brimble |
| Music by | Jim Parker |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Ken Riddington |
| Running time | 4 x 50 minutes |
| Distributor | BBC |
| Release | |
| Original release | 5 November – 26 November 1995 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | To Play the King |
The Final Cut is a 1995 BBC television serial, the third part of the House of Cards trilogy. Directed by Mike Vardy, the serial, based on Michael Dobbs's 1995 novel of the same name, was adapted for television by Andrew Davies. It details the conclusion of Francis Urquhart's reign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The serial opens with Prime Minister Francis Urquhart shooting his gun dog, now too old to perform its duties – a scene which establishes the theme of the ending of a career. Shortly afterwards, Urquhart attends the fictional state funeral of Margaret Thatcher. He publicly praises Thatcher as his mentor, but privately begrudges her record as the longest-serving prime minister in recent history, a record that Urquhart himself is soon to surpass.
To "leave my mark on the world," Urquhart champions a treaty resolving the Cyprus dispute while secretly working to bring offshore oil deposits under the control of the Turkish authorities on the island so that a Turkish-British consortium will have the drilling rights; an executive of the consortium has promised to provide for Urquhart's retirement fund in return. Urquhart also has a personal connection to Cyprus: as a nineteen-year-old British Army lieutenant serving there in 1956, he killed two young EOKA guerrillas while trying to get information from them. Urquhart has frequent nightmares and flashbacks of this event, and also of the murders of Mattie Storin and others, shown in the previous series.
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