To Play the King - Episode 1

To Play the King begins with Francis Urquhart installed in Downing Street, and triumphant, though not entirely at ease. He is uneasy at the memory of Mattie Storin, the journalist he murdered on his way to the top. The economy is recovering and the Conservatives are in firm control. The one thing that could still hurt him is a recording of his last conversation with Mattie, which lies hidden in a safe deposit box.

The new threat comes from an unexpected direction. A newly crowned King has taken the throne, and he is appalled by Urquhart's unfeeling, materialistic policies. At their first meeting he makes his concerns about those policies plain. Michael Kitchen plays him as dutiful and earnest, and a reviewer in The Spectator took him for a stock figure, stiff and out of touch with his position. Other critics saw an impersonation of Prince Charles.

Urquhart has lost none of his relish for the fight. He does not wait for trouble. He sets about buying the divorced Princess Charlotte, played by Bernice Stegers, as an insurance policy that can be used to discredit the monarch if necessary. At the Palace, meanwhile, the King's private secretary is busy setting up a relationship of his own.

Kitty Aldridge appears as Sarah Harding, who works with Urquhart. She was created for television, and the screenplay replaces a character called Sally Quinn from Michael Dobbs's novel. The same is true of the King's press officer Chloe Carmichael, played by Rowena King, who does not exist in the book.

Colin Jeavons returns as Tim Stamper, Urquhart's loyal henchman, and Diane Fletcher as Elizabeth Urquhart, with Nicholas Farrell as the King's adviser David Mycroft. Erika Hoffman and Tom Beasley appear as The Lady and the young Prince.

Andrew Davies adapted the novel, Paul Seed directed, and Ken Riddington produced for the BBC with WGBH in Boston. Jim Parker's march, Francis Urquhart's March, again opens and closes the programme. A library record for the trilogy set lists a 1994 BAFTA award for Best Original Television Music under his name.

The first episode went out on Sunday 21 November 1993 at 9.05pm. The Spectator's television columnist, writing a few days later, found it promising but thought the King was presented as a Spitting Image caricature. He also felt that Dobbs's views on the monarchy were simpler than Davies's, which slightly robbed the drama of moral focus. A later reviewer at Hedmark Reviews took the opposite line and found it almost as good as the original, with an icy portrayal of ruthless power.

IMDb voters give this episode 7.9 out of 10, level with the second and below the finale.