TV preview: Gunpowder

Gunpowder gets off to an explosive start tonight on BBC One, starring Game Of Thrones actor Kit Harington, alongside Liv Tyler and Mark Gatiss and the production relied heavily upon Yorkshire locations to provide historic accuracy.
REMEMBER, REMEMBER: Kit Harington as Robert Catesby, one of the men behind historys first attempt at political terrorism. PIC: Robert ViglaskiREMEMBER, REMEMBER: Kit Harington as Robert Catesby, one of the men behind historys first attempt at political terrorism. PIC: Robert Viglaski
REMEMBER, REMEMBER: Kit Harington as Robert Catesby, one of the men behind historys first attempt at political terrorism. PIC: Robert Viglaski

Gunpowder is set in turbulent times. Elizabeth I is dead and King James of Scotland has taken the throne. With the country at war with Catholic Spain, English Catholics are persecuted and priests caught saying Mass are punished with death.

Several attempts have already been made on the new King’s life. All so far have failed. But deep in the heart of the Warwickshire countryside a new plot is brewing that will leave a mark on the country still being felt over 400 years later.

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Every British schoolchild knows the name of Guy Fawkes, but how many know the stories of the plotters behind him and what drove them to attempt such a desperate assassination plot?

Guy Fawkes was the tip of the iceberg and little is known about the lead up to the night of November 5, or what happened after it. Gunpowder dramatises the whole story, to try to understand what pushes people to do horribly violent things, telling a story from both sides.

Gunpowder, BBC One, Saturday, October 21

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