To Play the King (TV Mini Series)

Chapter Seven (1993)

Ian Richardson: Francis Urquhart

Photos 

Quotes 

• The King : How much does Bullerby have? What could he publish?

  Francis Urquhart : Everything the Princess was able to tell him. A lot of it's heresay, of course. But I'd say there's enough to bring down the monarchy for good.

  The King : Damn you, man! Is that what you want?

  Francis Urquhart : No, sir, it is not what I want. And I think, I'm sure, in fact, I could persuade him to suppress the more sensitive items.

  The King : The price being my silence and complicity, I suppose.

  Francis Urquhart : You might see it in those terms.

  The King : [pauses]  All right, do your worst.

  Francis Urquhart : I beg your pardon, sir?

  The King : I don't think the people want any more muck-raking. I think the whole nation is sick to death of negative campaigning and dirty tricks. They want to be given hope, they want something positive. I want to show them there is an alternative, and I shall.

  Francis Urquhart : You have given your word, sir.

  The King : I have given my word not to make any more political speeches, and I shan't. But I shall make it very clear that I oppose you bitterly and everything you stand for. I used to think you were an honorable man. I don't think that any more. I think you and your party are intellectually and morally bankrupt. It's time for you to go and you know it.

  Francis Urquhart : I should like to formally request a dissolution of Parliament in preparation for a general election.

  The King : Granted, Mr. Urquhart.

  Francis Urquhart : Why are you doing this? What can possibly be in it for you?

  The King : You really don't understand, do you? I do believe you're frightened of me, Mr. Urquhart.

  Francis Urquhart : You believe that if it gives you any comfort, sir.

  [bows, turns his back on the King, and walks away] 

• Francis Urquhart : I do enjoy these visits to the Palace. A glass of sherry, a little verbal fencing and a bracing dose of hatred and contempt. Most invigorating.

• Francis Urquhart : What I would prefer, of course, is that he would give up thinking altogether. Kings aren't supposed to think. It was a great mistake sending him to university, letting him talk to all those architects and philosophers.

• Francis Urquhart : Prime Minister's Question Time. Very frightening, like being mugged by a guinea pig.

• Francis Urquhart : Tim Stamper is not the world's most brilliant judge of character and he's running out of luck. If any of this dirt sticks Stamper, I'll drop him like a hot brick. In some ways it might be a very good thing. The way the tide's running against us we could do with a scapegoat.

  Sarah Harding : I thought he was your oldest friend.

  Francis Urquhart : He is.

• Francis Urquhart : But they all, all of them, betray us eventually. They love us, but not quite enough. They trust us, but not quite enough. And we trust them to be entirely human, meaning less than trustworthy, which means that we can never quite entirely sleep. As the cat's eyelids flicker, some part of us must stay awake always, ready, as the coiled spring is ready.