Andrew Davies has added layers of cynical black humour in his adaptation.
In the second episode everything goes swimmingly well for Francis Urquhart as he destabilises Prime Minister Henry Collingridge. Henry and his brother are rocked by an insider dealing scandal which is all Urquhart's doing.
Collingridge's anchor the party chairman Lord Billsborough is dropped as the party falls 30 points behind the opposition. Mattie is happy to get snippets of information from Urquhart and she becomes his main cheerleader.
However Urquhart needs to get rid of his rivals as well. Top of the list is racist, anti semite and bullying Foreign Minister Patrick Woolton. No push over and rather clever as Urquhart tells the audience. He suggests to Woolton that he should run for the leadership while Urquhart plans to finish him with a sex scandal.
It is easy to say that television drama was all too slow 30 years ago, but the pace does not let up here. It is still thrilling to see the cabinet ministers talking to the conference audience and Urquhart pulls their speeches apart.
In the second episode everything goes swimmingly well for Francis Urquhart as he destabilises Prime Minister Henry Collingridge. Henry and his brother are rocked by an insider dealing scandal which is all Urquhart's doing.
Collingridge's anchor the party chairman Lord Billsborough is dropped as the party falls 30 points behind the opposition. Mattie is happy to get snippets of information from Urquhart and she becomes his main cheerleader.
However Urquhart needs to get rid of his rivals as well. Top of the list is racist, anti semite and bullying Foreign Minister Patrick Woolton. No push over and rather clever as Urquhart tells the audience. He suggests to Woolton that he should run for the leadership while Urquhart plans to finish him with a sex scandal.
It is easy to say that television drama was all too slow 30 years ago, but the pace does not let up here. It is still thrilling to see the cabinet ministers talking to the conference audience and Urquhart pulls their speeches apart.
