Fans of House Of Cards said they hoped the fifth season of the dark political drama will offer them a “kinder, gentler kind of politics” than the current occupants of the White House.

New episodes of the Netflix show, which stars Kevin Spacey as the scheming fictional US president Frank Underwood, started streaming on Tuesday and pick up just two weeks away from the election that dominated the later half of series four.

The new series will see Underwood and his wife and vice presidential candidate Claire, played by Robin Wright, capitalise on the partially fabricated terror campaign they exacerbated last series to distract from scandals plaguing the presidency.

Some viewers said the 13 new episodes were striking a nerve rather than providing light relief.

Viewers had previously expressed concerns that drama surrounding Donald Trump’s presidency would make the show redundant and Robin told Variety writers could now have difficulty coming up with ideas for the next series of the show.

“Trump has stolen all of our ideas for season six,” she joked.

Other fans expressed frustration that the episodes dropped on Tuesday rather than on Monday, the UK bank holiday and US Memorial Day.

Some were willing to make big sacrifices to get through the show though.

House of Cards is streaming on Netflix now.