Gunpowder, Treason & Plot

This is a BBC historical drama penned by Jimmy McGovern shown in 3 episodes starting in 1561 with the turbulent reign of Mary Queen of Scots and climaxing with the dastardly plot conceived by Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes et al to assassinate her son King James by blowing up Parliament on November 5 1605. It is a lively piece, full of political and religious intrigue and very bloody in parts - believe me, the sword is not spared. The directorial style, particularly in the final episode was at times a little disconcerting; some of the characters would suddenly turn and speak directly to the camera, but this was my only criticism.

Some great performances, in particular that of Robert Carlyle as a moody, intense and utterly ruthless King James. An unrecognisable Catherine McCormack (remember Murron, William Wallace's young wife in Braveheart?) plays a scheming, all-powerful Queen Bess ("DESTROY HIM!"), whose scenes are sadly brief but memorable. Clemence Poesy, a gorgeous young French actress, gives the character of Mary a naivete and sensuality previously unseen in period pieces covering this time-frame. British audiences will recognise a now fully-grown Paul Nicholls (young Joe Wicks from Eastenders) who clearly relished his scenes playing the doomed Lord Darnley. (A possible future Bond, perhaps). Steven Duffy does well as a treacherous and highly ambitious Lord James, half-brother of Queen Mary, while Kevin McKidd lends dignity and heroism to the character of Bothwell, lover of the young Queen. Tim McInnerny is previously well-known for his comedic performances in the historical comedy Blackadder, so it was a nice change to see him as the cold, calculating Cecil, most powerful man in England.

The accuracy of certain events will no doubt be disputed by historians (the execution of Queen Mary, for example: never before have I seen it portrayed as a plot by James VI to murder his mother in order to get his own hands on the English Crown). But it is a highly enjoyable period drama whose main theme, the eternal struggle between Protestant and Catholics, is used to great effect to portray the events leading up to one of the most infamous plots in British history, commemorated every single 5th November all over these islands ever since.

Mini series made up of two stories: 1ª : depicting the bloody and turbulent reigns of Scottish monarchs Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I of England; 2ª King James VI of Scotland , Mary Stuart's son, who became King James I of England and foiled the Gunpowder Plot led by Guy Fawkes.

Notable historical biopic about Mary Stuart and her confrontation with Elizabeth Tudor and other enemies. A decent and intelligent biography, lavishly produced by BBC and well directed by Gillies MacKinnon, although they are somewhat inappropriate when some roles speak to the camera. The cast was convincingly led by Clémence Poésy as the condemned Mary, Queen of Scots and Catherine McCormack as the cunning, Elizabeth I, as well as Robert Carlyle as the ruthlessly ambitious king James VI of Scotland and I of England.

Adding gorgeous costume design, stunning settings and production design. This turns out to be a typical British historical drama in which Clémence Poésy in the lead role and Catherine McCormack as her contender are finely cast. The excellent and large cast with prestigious British actors performing quite well through at an evocative historical set. The riots, loves and power struggles of his time are splendidly recreated here, including the most troubled days and the machinations that surrounded them.

The plot summary of the series made up of two parts in approximately 100 minutes each is the following: 1ª After the death of her husband Francis II of France in 1560, Mary, Queen of Scots (Clémence Poésy), is invited by the Queen Mother Catherine De Medici to leave the country and so it comes back to the homeland, her natal Scotland. As in neighboring England, many members of the nobility have embraced the Protestant faith. Additionally, the Catholic Mary has to deal with her Protestant and illegitimate half-brother James Stewart (Steven Duffy), Lord Moray's ruling ambition. Fearing that Mary has ambitions for the throne of England, Elizabeth I of England decides to weaken her claim by sending her favorite, the ambitious Robert Dudley , to court and marry Mary. Elizabeth also sends the young and pampered Lord Darnley (Paul Nicholls), from a powerful Catholic family. Tempted by the handsome Darnley, Mary impulsively chooses him to marry. Moray opposes the marriage, but Mary ignores him. But later on, May falls in love for Bothwell (Kevin McKidd), while the anger of the Protestant priest John Knox (Gary Lewis) increases.

2º-James (Robert Carlyle) was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland, and thus a potential successor to all three thrones. He acceded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother was forced to abdicate in his favour. Four regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, though he did not gain full control of his government until 1583. King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625. Although he long tried to get both countries to adopt a closer political union, the kingdoms of Scotland and England remained sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, ruled by James in personal union. In 1589, he married Anne of Denmark. Three of their children survived to adulthood: Henry Frederick, Elizabeth, and Charles. In 1603, James succeeded his cousin Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, who died childless. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known as the Jacobean era, until his death in 1625. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England from 1603, returning to Scotland only once, in 1617, and styled himself "King of Great Britain and Ireland". He advocated for a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, supported by adviser Sir Cecil (Tim McInnerny), the Plantation of Ulster and English colonisation of the Americas began. At 57 years James's reign in Scotland was the longest of any Scottish monarch. He achieved most of his aims in Scotland but faced great difficulties in England, including the Gunpowder Plot (1605) in which conspiracy took place whereby rebels led by Guy Fawkes (Michael Fassbender), Catesby (Richard Coyle) attempted to blow up the English Parliament.

This interesting historical drama contains evocative cinematography that adds color to the atmosphere, as well as sensitive and attractive musical score, being efficiently directed. Other films that deal with these famous Queens are the following: ¨Mary of Scotland¨1936 by John Ford with Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March. ¨Elizabeth¨ (1998) by Shekar Kapur with Cate Blanchet, Joseph Fiennes. "Mary Queen of Scots" (2018) with Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Adrian Lester, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Gemma Chan. And TV series like ¨Elizabeth R¨ (1971) by Herbert Wise with Glenda Jackson. "Elizabeth I" Series (2005) by Tom Hooper with Helen Mirren, Jeremy Irons, Hugh Dancy, Toby Jones. And "Reinas" or "Queens" (2016-2017) with Olivia Chenery, Rebecca Scott.

Given the pronounced anti-Catholic bias of most contemporary English history, one might think that any attempt to redress the balance might be welcomed. Alas, Jimmy McGovern's drama, 'Gunpowder, Treason and Plot', proves this not to be the case. Its greatest problem is its unfortunate tendency to encapsulate complex political issues in slogans, and those slogans, in turn, in characters - the portrayal of John Knox (who does little more than storm about and utter his most famous quote) exemplifies this. This, and the number of historical liberties taken (James I, for example, discovers the Gunpowder Plot in person) make the story a less accurate guide to the past than even 'Braveheart'.

The series is not helped either by some substandard acting. Clemence Posey, with her bizarre French-American-Scottish accent, is mostly inaudible as Mary Queen of Scots and seems to take most of the cues for her performance from Mila Jovovitch's disastrous turn as Joan of Arc in 'Messenger'. Sira Stampe is robotic as James I's wife, while Robert Carlyle's James is as unconvincing as he is unhinged. Also detracting from our enjoyment are the understaffed battle scenes, the histrionic tone, and a decidedly anachronistic portrayal of sexuality.

Surprisingly, given McGovern's own politics, there's almost no hint of republicanism here, although within a few decades Britain was engulfed by a civil war that disputed absolutely the relevance of monarchy: perhaps this is ignored because it was a Protestant rebellion. Instead, we get a boring, linear drama of good queen Mary, bad queen Elisabeth and mad king James. I'm still certain that somewhere, behind the propaganda, there's an interesting story - how did hatred of Catholocism spread so rapidly when only a handful of years previously, everyone in England was Catholic? But this film does little to open one's eyes.

I saw this on Tubi in the US, in an apparently much edited version, as one long movie. Other reviews talk about the prevalent sex & blood in it, that must have been cut out for this version. I suspect the original had a choppy look to it anyway, but the result not only reduced any shock value but made it even choppier or more "modern" per 2004. The director seemed to want to do things differently than a standard history. Variations that could make a Brit angry matters less to a broader audience.

Part one featured Mary Queen of Scots taking over in Scotland 1561. The sets were disappointing but it should be noted that IRL, MQS was less than thrilled with her Scottish royal accommodations after her raising in France. Characters were believable. Complaints about actor accents in period pieces are easy to set aside because IRL English royals mostly used French anyway.

This part had very little to do with the main half, except to take the story straight to the grown-up version of what MQS worked so hard to create, James 6+1, first king of combined Brits.

Part two has a new cast and shows religious strife around 1605. Minor characters make their cases straight to the camera, relieving us of time spent with their backstories... I'll take this exposition method. We learn the events creating the Guy Faukes UK holiday. As for the odd title: "English Folk Verse: Remember, remember!

The fifth of November, The Gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot!"

As soon as I saw the text "Written by Jimmy McGovern" flash up on the promos, I knew that this would be something special. Having watched the first season of McGovern's "Cracker" I knew that this would be history with true grit, venomous dialogue, and buckets of conflict. I wasn't disappointed.

Judging by the other comments some people found McGovern's style too harsh, that he belittles the both Royal family and the Protestant and Catholic branches of church, and overuses sex and violence. It's a fair criticism, but so many over-starched interpretations of British history have been made that this gritty drama becomes a breath of fresh air.

The show is evenly divided into two parts, both riveting stories. The first is the reign of Queen Mary I of Scotland, a French Catholic girl now ruling over Protestant Scotland. Clemence Poesy turns in a brilliant performance as the young queen faced with her conniving half-brother Lord James, Queen Elizabeth I of England, her misogynistic husband Lord Darnley, and her brash suitor the Lord Bothwell. The whole story is turbulent, as a state of war with the English gradually precipitates.

The second part is much higher drama, though. It is concerned with Mary's son James I, a repugnant, bitter cripple, who promises the Catholics tolerance, and then reneges on his promise at the behest of the manipulative Lord Cecil, one of the most powerful men in England. This proves the catalyst for the famous attempted bombing of the houses of parliament on November 5, lead by the ruthless Spaniard Guy Fawkes.

It is true that McGovern revolves the entire show about the us-and-them viewpoint of the Catholic and Protestant, BUT this works to great effect. Emphasising the conflict in this war really ups the ante for the drama, making for some very high-octane television. Add to this brilliant performances by Robert Carlyle, Tim McInnerny, Kevin McKidd, Sam Troughton, and Michael Fassbender (Playing Guy Fawkes as a silent Clint Eastwood type delightfully)

This is, without a doubt, the greatest telemovie I've ever seen. However, if you're at all squeamish this definitely isn't for you: this is history with the filthy bits left in for a change...