 SPOILER: Michael Dobbs had a different ending in his original novel.  It was Francis Urquhart, not Mattie Storin, who fell to his death  from the tower of the Houses of Parliament. The BBCs ending was  fortunate because it allowed Dobbs to write the sequels  _To Play the King (1993) (TV)_ (qv) and  _Final Cut, The (1995/II) (TV)_ (qv).