Gunpowder

...so it's a refreshing change to see the losers having their say.

"Gunpowder" was made to tell the story about the real leader behind the gunpowder plot, Robert Catesby. He is played by Kit Harington, a descendant of Catesby.

More interesting than Catesby or Fawkes are the hunchback Lord Robert Cecil (Mark Gatiss) and his father William. They ran England as a police state during the reigns of Elizabeth I and King James I. They used a network of censors, spies, propagandists and spin doctors who were so successful in spin that some people still peddle it in the 21st century. The British constitution still bans the Head of State being a Roman Catholic.

The Cecil's set the template for authoritarian police states, communist and fascist. We can see their methods to this day in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. "Gunpowder" is really their story.

This three-part BBC dramatisation of the events surrounding the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was something of a mixed bag. There was the expected attention to period detail in the sets and costumes and the acting too was good in almost every major part. However, historical accuracy was blown to smithereens in places and other aspects of the story were undoubtedly "sexed up" to make for presumably more exciting viewing in this day and age.

It was also a tough watch at times with graphic depictions of torture and execution, the latter in particular where in the first episode we see a middle-aged Catholic woman stripped naked and agonisingly crushed to death followed by a young priest hung, drawn and quartered, his entrails ripped from his still-living body, before his beheading and his severed head is stuck on a pike put on public display. All of this before a baying, bloodthirsty crowd of supposedly ordinary people.

The story centres on young Catholic nobleman Robert Catesby who becomes the centre of a Popish plot to strike back against the ever more repressive anti-Catholic legislation put before King James by his first lieutenant, the hunch-backed Robert Cecil and his hired muscle in the person of Sir William Wade. With his cohorts, Catesby, after failing to get support abroad for his plans, hatches the famous gunpowder plot to blow up the king and his ministers on the opening of Parliament which sees him meet up with one Guy Fawkes, a cold-bloodedly determined confederate.

Kit Harington, whose very name seems apt for the time portrayed, plays Catesby as the determined handsome hero, prepared to martyr himself to the cause. Peter Mullen is the priest whose commitment to the cause is racked by self-doubt but who in the end, inspired by Catesby's example, finds his own inner courage to match his convictions. Mark Gatiss plays the ruthless, scheming Cecil as almost a pantomime villain with Shaun Dooley more impressive as the brutal Wade, happy to follow orders no matter how violent they are. King James's homosexual tendencies are rather unsubtly highlighted as he plays up to his young lover at court, before his narrow escape frightens him back to his queen.

To me though the story was over-egged in that for example, nowhere have I read of Catesby freeing another young Catholic priest from the Tower Of London, shown here in almost medieval "Mission Impossible" style and as for the last stand of Catesby and his followers, his "Butch Cassidy" - type slow motion death seemed likewise over the top.

I just think that historically important stories like this should pay more attention to the truth and not make so many concessions to an audience it thinks needs cliff-hanging thrills and contrived action sequences in the name of entertainment. The Gunpowder Plot was a pivotal moment in British history and I think deserved a more factual retelling than it got here, no matter how well acted and re-enacted it otherwise was.

This is a good series, excellent acting. The moderate rating reflects my concern about the balance. There certainly was religious persecution during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I which is to be deplored.Probably near 100 Catholics were martyred in England alone between Elizabeth's accession in 1558 and the Gunpowder plot. 100 in 50 years is a lot; but compare that to the near 300 Protestants martyred in only five years under Mary Tudor. Or to the thousands slaughtered by the Spanish Inquisition from the 15th century in Spain and the Low Countries - to say nothing of the tens of thousands of unfortunate victims in Spain's colonies of Peru and Mexico). The Catholic Encyclopedia creditably points out that Elizabeth began her reign with true toleration in mind - witnessed by the fact that there were no religious executions at all between 1558 and 1570. Things changed with the actions of the reprehensible Pope Pius V who after acceding in 1570 excommunicated Elizabeth and urged her subjects to rebel and to assassinate her. Hardly surprising that she was urged to take a tougher line. Pius's plans ultimately backfired; but he had created a problem for English Catholics - support Pope or Monarch was their only choice. Blame for what happened after falls mostly on the shoulders of that psychopathic prelate. As regards the gunpowder plotters themselves, I feel the series was misleading in portraying them as worthy patriots and genuinely religious men. Think on it; they put nearly 3 tons of gunpowder in place. Had they succeeded the magnitude of the blast would have taken out not only the Parliament building and all inside but half of London besides. Total casualties might have been 10,000 or more. Tease this up proportionately and we are talking about devastation on Hiroshima levels. They must have known how extensive the damage and death would have been - several were ex-soldiers and used to gunpowder. These men would probably have welcomed a subsequent Spanish invasion to forcibly drag their countryman back to a now alien faith. They were traitors and potential mass-murderers. No sympathy from me, I'm afraid.

About as historically correct as my left toe. There is very little truth, or what truth there can be found in documentation and historical sources within this series. I fear that like so many things like this most will take it for face value and believe what they saw on TV, far more easier than studying history.

That being said, it is a good watch, I thoroughly enjoyed how for once the streets were shown to have faecal matter in the streets. Much too often are they shown as clean cobbles. Without taking in any sense of history, and taking it as a Stuart drama is fine. The acting is good, but I see a lot of bias in the writing.

The BBC do love a costume drama. They've been doing them since the dawn of television and to be fair on the whole they do them very well. Whilst Gunpowder may not reach the heights of some of the corporations finest work, it's still a well made combination of historical facts with some nice early 17th century scenes of brutal torture, death and violence. Kit Harrington excels as the plot mastermind Robert Catesby and Tom Cullen tries his best to be Tom Hardy as the menacing Guy Fawkes. Overall a well made well acted piece which at three episodes does not outstay it's welcome. Unlike those who let off fireworks beyond the date this show is based on!