Ahead of Season 4, ShortList spoke to House Of Cards author Lord Michael Dobbs about the fate of Frank Underwood
“Frank Underwood has risen to president but he’s just as power-hungry and manipulative as ever. So where does he go from here? I suppose there might be a clue if you look across the Atlantic at what’s going on in the US right now – it’s election year. You might be permitted to add two and two together and think the show might follow life. You might think that. I couldn’t possibly comment.
“We film in a huge warehouse on the outskirts of Baltimore. As executive producer and the author of the original book, my role is more inspiration than instruction. I’m there to offer advice but not impose. I’m part of the discussion of how the show will progress.
Related: We went to Westminster to speak to House Of Cards' Michael Dobbs & learn how to lie
“Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are, as you’d expect, incredible professionals to work with. They are committed to getting everything perfect. From an outsider’s viewpoint, being on set can be dull because they will take so long making every scene absolutely right. Some days, these guys are there at 5am and still filming past midnight. It’s intense.
One thing we’ve been talking about lately is how things will eventually end. That won’t be for a while; there’s a fifth series commissioned. But we were in a bar talking about what will eventually become of Frank Underwood. My voice is just one of many, but I would like to see something similar to my original book. As his activities threaten to catch up with him as prime minister [the original novels were set in Westminster], he arranges to have himself assassinated – so he dies a national hero with libraries named after him and such like. He ends up laughing at us from beyond the grave. That would be a very FU ending for the show, too.”
The new series of House Of Cards is on Netflix from 4 March - check out the trailers below
(Images: Netflix)
