List of House of Cards trilogy characters

House of Cards is a British political drama television series created by Andrew Davies and is based on the 1989 novel by Michael Dobbs. Below is a list consisting of the many characters who have appeared throughout the series.

Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson) is the main character in Dobbs's House of Cards trilogy of novels and television series: House of Cards (1990), To Play the King (1993) and The Final Cut (1995). A Conservative and the government Chief Whip with roots in the Scottish aristocracy, Urquhart manoeuvres himself through blackmail, manipulation and murder to the post of prime minister. To Play the King sees Prime Minister Urquhart clash with the newly crowned king of the United Kingdom over disagreements regarding social justice. By the time of The Final Cut, Urquhart has been in power for 11 years, and refuses to relinquish his position until he has beaten Margaret Thatcher's record as longest serving post-war Prime Minister.

Thought to be based on Richard III and Macbeth, Urquhart is characterised by his habitual breaking of the fourth wall, his quoting of Shakespeare, and his usage of the catchphrase, "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment", or a variation thereon, as a plausibly deniable way of agreeing with people and/or leaking information.

Elizabeth Urquhart (Diane Fletcher) (created Countess Urquhart after her husband's death), is Francis Urquhart's wife. She appears to have a great deal of power over her husband, and often identifies his powers and abilities, or persuades him to use a given situation to his advantage. When Prime Minister Henry Collingridge overlooks Francis for a Cabinet promotion, it is Elizabeth who encourages Francis to plot to remove Collingridge and take office himself. In series one episode two, she also suggests Francis begin an affair with Mattie Storin so that he may further secure her trust and loyalty, and thus better use his position to feed information to her, thereby influencing her articles.

It is implied in the first installment of the trilogy that it is her idea, not Francis', to murder Roger O'Neill, a colleague whom Francis had been using to his advantage. Unlike her husband, who clearly feels remorse after killing, she is cold and callous, and does not seem to have a problem with arranging murders to suit their purposes. However, she appears to truly love her husband and kills him to spare him the disgrace of exposure, resignation, trial, life imprisonment, and eternal historical damnation.

In the TV version of The Final Cut, she has Francis murdered to secure their legacies and her pension. Before he dies, she, her right eye spattered with his blood, lovingly holds him in her arms and assures him: "Francis... my dear... you're safe now. It was the only way, my darling. You do understand?" Likewise, Urquhart's love for Elizabeth is shown by his last word, a gurgled, deathlike "Elizabeth".

In the first book, she is called Miranda.

Tim Stamper (Colin Jeavons) is one of Francis Urquhart's closest friends and aides. In the first series, he is a Junior Whip to Urquhart as Chief Whip; in the second series, he is Chief Whip and later Chairman of the Conservative Party. Stamper did not appear in the House of Cards novel on which the BBC series was based, though the series' author, Michael Dobbs, introduced him in its sequel, To Play the King (1993).