Gunpowder (TV series)

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Gunpowder
Gunpowder TV series titlecard.JPG
Genre Period drama
Thriller
Developed by
Written by
  • Ronan Bennett
Directed by J Blakeson
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes3 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Kit Harington
  • Ollie Madden
  • Daniel West
  • Stephen Wright
ProducerLaurie Borg
CinematographyPhilipp Blaubach
Running time60 minutes
Production company Kudos
Original release
Network
Release21 October (2017-10-21) 
4 November 2017 (2017-11-04)

Gunpowder is a British historical drama television miniseries produced by Kudos and Kit Harington's Thriker Films for BBC One. The three-part drama series premiered on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2017 and on HBO in the United States on 18 December 2017. [1]

Contents

The series was developed by Ronan Bennett, Kit Harington, and Daniel West and is based on the Gunpowder Plot in London in 1605. It stars Harington, who is a direct descendant of his character Robert Catesby. [2] J Blakeson directed the series. [3]

Cast

Main

Recurring

Production

In February 2017, the BBC ordered Gunpowder, then announced the three-part drama series was to be developed by Ronan Bennett, Kit Harington, and Daniel West; written by Ronan Bennett; and produced by Kudos. The series stars Kit Harington, Peter Mullan, Mark Gatiss, and Liv Tyler, and is directed by J Blakeson. [4] Filming started in late February 2017. [5]

Filming locations included the National Trust's East Riddlesden Hall and Fountains Abbey, alongside popular visitor attractions such as Oakwell Hall; Ripley Castle; Haddon Hall; Kirkstall Abbey; Bolton Abbey; Lendal Bridge in York City Centre; and the famous Ilkley Moor. Beverley Minster depicted the regal splendour of the Palace of Westminster. [6]

Episodes

All three episodes were available on the BBC iPlayer following the terrestrial broadcast of the first episode. [7]

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [8]
1"Episode 1" J Blakeson Ronan Bennett 21 October 2017 (2017-10-21)9.33
It is 1603, and as England wars with Spain and the bloody persecution of Catholics intensifies, a young nobleman resolves to avenge his kin and defend his faith by any means necessary. [9]
2"Episode 2"J BlakesonRonan Bennett28 October 2017 (2017-10-28)7.49
As the king's network of spies close in on them, Catesby and Wintour attempt to raise an army for their plot across mainland Europe. Returning to London with Guy Fawkes in tow, Catesby assembles his gang of plotters for the first time. They know they must act fast, and the plan is formed—they will strike next week, 5 November, at the opening of Parliament. [10]
3"Episode 3"J BlakesonRonan Bennett4 November 2017 (2017-11-04)5.25
On the eve of 5 November, Catesby, Fawkes and the plotters load the tunnels below Parliament with barrels of gunpowder. Across the city, Father Garnet is under pressure to reveal Catesby's plot for the good of the Catholic faith. [11]

Broadcast

Gunpowder premiered on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2017. [4] The series premiered in the United States on HBO on 18 December 2017. [12]

Reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 72% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 7.25/10. [13] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating, the series has a score 63 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". [14]

The initial reaction to the first episode was mired with complaints from viewers about the depicted scenes of torture, nudity, and disembowelment despite the broadcast time being 10 minutes after the watershed of 9 pm. In response to complaints, the BBC said: "The scenes aired after 9.30pm with a clear warning given to viewers before the episode started. The methods depicted are grounded in historical fact and reflect what took place during the time of the Gunpowder Plot." It was described as 'a very good drama' by other viewers. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Fawkes</span> English participant in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot

Guy Fawkes, also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated in York; his father died when Fawkes was eight years old, after which his mother married a recusant Catholic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunpowder Plot</span> 1605 failed attempt to assassinate King James I

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against King James I by a group of English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who considered their actions attempted tyrannicide and who sought regime change in England after decades of religious persecution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Catesby</span> English conspirator

Robert Catesby was the leader of a group of English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Francis Tresham, eldest son of Thomas Tresham and Muriel Throckmorton, was a member of the group of English provincial Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King James I of England.

Kudos is a British film and television production company. It has produced television series for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Amazon and Netflix and its productions include Tin Star, Humans, Broadchurch, The Tunnel, Grantchester, Apple Tree Yard, Utopia,Spooks (US:MI5), Hustle and Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes. In 2007 it was voted Best Independent Production Company by Broadcast magazine. Formed in 1992, since 2007 it has been part of the Shine Group. In 2007 it also set up the film unit, Kudos Pictures. In 2011, the Shine Group was 100% acquired by News Corporation and was part of the 50-50 joint-venture Endemol Shine Group. On 3 July 2020, France-based Banijay bought the studio through former's acquisition of Endemol Shine Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert and Thomas Wintour</span> Members of the Gunpowder plot

Robert Wintour and Thomas Wintour, also spelt Winter, were members of the Gunpowder Plot, a failed conspiracy to assassinate King James I. Brothers, they were related to other conspirators, such as their cousin, Robert Catesby, and a half-brother, John Wintour, also joined them following the plot's failure. Thomas was an intelligent and educated man, fluent in several languages and trained as a lawyer, but chose instead to become a soldier, fighting for England in the Low Countries, France, and possibly in Central Europe. By 1600, however, he changed his mind and became a fervent Catholic. On several occasions he travelled to the continent and entreated Spain on behalf of England's oppressed Catholics, and suggested that with Spanish support a Catholic rebellion was likely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambrose Rookwood</span> 17th century English conspirator

Ambrose Rookwood was a member of the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant King James I with a Catholic sovereign. Rookwood was born into a wealthy family of Catholic recusants, and educated by Jesuits in Flanders. His older brother became a Franciscan, and his two younger brothers were ordained as Catholic priests. Rookwood became a horse-breeder. He married the Catholic Elizabeth Tyrwhitt, and had at least two sons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Percy (Gunpowder Plot)</span> English conspirator

Thomas Percy was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. A tall, physically impressive man, little is known of his early life beyond his matriculation in 1579 at the University of Cambridge, and his marriage in 1591 to Martha Wright. In 1596 his second cousin once removed, Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, appointed him constable of Alnwick Castle and made him responsible for the Percy family's northern estates. He served the earl in the Low Countries in about 1600–1601, and in the years before 1603 was his intermediary in a series of confidential communications with King James VI of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John and Christopher Wright</span> Members of the Gunpowder Plot 1605

John (Jack) Wright, and Christopher (Kit) Wright, were members of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King James I by blowing up the House of Lords. Their sister married another plotter, Thomas Percy. Educated at the same school in York, the Wrights had early links with Guy Fawkes, the man left in charge of the explosives stored in the undercroft beneath the House of Lords. As known recusants the brothers were on several occasions arrested for reasons of national security. Both were also members of the Earl of Essex's rebellion of 1601.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Keyes</span> English criminal

Robert Keyes was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King James I by blowing up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605. He was the sixth man to join the plot.

Gunpowder, Treason & Plot is a 2004 BBC miniseries based upon the lives of Mary, Queen of Scots and her son James VI of Scotland. Written by Jimmy McGovern, the series tells the story behind the Gunpowder Plot in two parts, each centred on one of the respective monarchs. The first film dramatizes the relationship between Mary and her third husband, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Scottish actor Robert Carlyle stars as James VI in the second part, which concentrates on the Gunpowder Plot, planned by Guy Fawkes, to blow up the Houses of Parliament in order to rid the nation of a Protestant monarch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Bates</span> UK 1605 Gunpowder plot planner

Thomas Bates was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Grant (Gunpowder Plot)</span> Member of the failed Gunpowder Plot

John Grant was a member of the failed Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant King James I of England with a Catholic monarch. Grant was born around 1570, and lived at Norbrook in Warwickshire. He married the sister of another plotter, Thomas Wintour. Grant was enlisted by Robert Catesby, a religious zealot who had grown so impatient with James's lack of toleration for Catholics that he planned to kill him, by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder. Grant's role in the conspiracy was to provide supplies for a planned Midlands uprising, during which James's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, would be captured. However, on the eve of the planned explosion, Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding the explosives the plotters had positioned in the undercroft beneath the House of Lords, and arrested.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liv Tyler</span> American actress, producer and former model

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kit Harington</span> English actor (born 1986)

Christopher Catesby Harington is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Jon Snow in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), for which he received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunpowder Plot in popular culture</span>

The Gunpowder Plot was a failed assassination attempt against King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. The conspirators' aim was to blow up the House of Lords at the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605, while the king and many other important members of the aristocracy and nobility were inside. The conspirator who became most closely associated with the plot in the popular imagination was Guy Fawkes, who had been assigned the task of lighting the fuse to the explosives.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">J Blakeson</span> English film director and screenwriter

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References

  1. Tartaglione, Nancy (19 February 2017). "'Gunpowder': Kit Harington, Mark Gatiss, Liv Tyler & Peter Mullan Light Up BBC Drama". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  2. Hawkes, Rebecca (22 October 2017). "Gunpowder fact vs fiction: how accurate is the BBC series?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  3. Walford, Jessica (19 February 2017). "Kit Harington and Liv Tyler will star in new BBC drama Gunpowder and it sounds amazing". Metro . Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "BBC One orders Gunpowder from Kudos". BBC . Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  5. Frost, Caroline (19 February 2017). "'Game Of Thrones' Star Kit Harington To Lead Brand New BBC Drama 'Gunpowder". The Huffington Post . Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  6. "Where is BBC's Gunpowder Filmed? - Creative England". www.creativeengland.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  7. "Gunpowder website". BBC iplayer. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  8. "Weekly top 30 programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board.
  9. "BBC One - Gunpowder, Series 1, Episode 1". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  10. "BBC One - Gunpowder, Series 1, Episode 2". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  11. "BBC One - Gunpowder, Series 1, Episode 3". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  12. "Gunpowder". HBO. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  13. "Gunpowder (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  14. "Gunpowder reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  15. Halliday, Josh (23 October 2017). "Gunpowder: viewers shocked by violent scenes in BBC drama". The Guardian via www.theguardian.com.