I just completed
The House of Cards (the original British/BBC series from the 90s). Overall, it was very well done, and Ian Richardson's acting as Francis Urquhart was excellent, down to the nuances and soliloquies. Granted, some aspects of the show seem a bit dated, but after all, it is over 20 years old.
To be honest, I wanted to watch this primarily because I wasn't patient enough to wait for Season 3 of the American/Netflix version of
House of Cards. It was highly recommended to me by a couple of friends, so I thought I'd give it a watch (and at 3 seasons, 4 episodes each, it's not a tremendous time investment).
The similarities between the BBC and Netflix versions are very apparent. Most the major events were practically the same, aside from minor details (and of course the differences between American and British politics/government). But the BBC version felt more powerful (and dirty). Maybe its because of the pacing (fitting the story into 4 episodes per season, versus 13). Turns out that the originality I assumed the Netflix version of
HoC had was largely adapted from the BBC one.
Mild spoiler: There is a scene in the first few minutes of the Netflix
House of Cards regarding a dying dog, which I think was meant to set a tone for the series, indicating a deep-seated darkness in Frank Underwood's character. But it isn't very effective, in my opinion. There is a very similar scene in the BBC version, at the start of Season 3, which was much more powerful. Not necessarily in the way the scene was shot or anything, but because of the time it was presented, it was much more memorable as a "wtf" moment. Maybe that's what the Netflix version was trying to elicit, but with no given background on the character, it isn't very effective.
Anyway, review over. Bloody good show, bloody good!