Gunpowder – Kit Harrington’s Miniseries Makes An Explosion, But Misses Its Mark

Gunpowder – Game of Thrones’ star Kit Harrington Plays His Ancestor (Robert Catesby) in this BBC Drama

Gunpowder – TV Miniseries
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Remember, Remember!
The Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot;
I Know of No Reason.
Why the Gunpowder Treason,
Should Ever be Forgot!

Thanks to V for Vendetta, the whole world knows something about Guy Fawkes and his failed plans to blow up the parliament. And the Guy Fawkes mask, which became a well-known symbol for the online hacktivist group Anonymous, used in Project Chanology, the Occupy movement, and other anti-government and anti-establishment protests around the world has ensured that Fawkes’ image and legacy will live on till the end of time. But, how many of us actually know the story behind the whole mess? How many of us are informed about the trying times which led Fawkes to such a decision? Enter Gunpowder.

Gunpowder tells the story of the infamous The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, which was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby, the mastermind whose hand in the plot has since been overshadowed by the notoriety of the infamous Guy Fawkes. The story goes: in 1603, 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.

Gunpowder – One of the Most Infamous Assassination Attempts in British History

Kit Harington, best known for playing Jon Snow in HBO’s epic fantasy drama Game of Thrones, is a creator and co-executive producer of Gunpowder. The three-part mini-series has been produced by Kudos Production and Kit Harington’s Thriker Films for BBC One. Interestingly, Harrington is also a descendant of Robert Catesby, the mastermind behind the plot.

I love my character in Game of Thrones but he’s a pretty solid person and I wanted to do something a bit different from that. Catesby is someone who is doing something really, really bad, but he thinks it’s right and there’s a fanaticism to that, which I enjoy.
Kit Harrington, speaking to The Telegraph

The series stars Kit Harington, Peter Mullan, Mark Gatiss, and Liv Tyler, and is directed by J Blakeson. Written by Ronan Bennett, Gunpowder highlights the plight of the Catholics in England during the 1600s and the reasons which compelled Robert Catesby to come up with a plan to blow up the House of Lords and the Protestant King, James I, with it.

The first episode opens with representatives of the King of Britain searching for Catholic priests hiding to avoid persecution under James’s anti-Catholic rule. They find a priest at Anne Vaux’s (Liv Tyler) residence and put him to death, along with Elizabeth Catesby; but not before torturing them in public. The deaths result in our Jon Snow getting fed up of religious oppression and promising to end the rule of tyranny in England. He enlists the help of like-minded revolutionaries to aid him in his violent cause and ends up recruiting Guy Fawkes. We all know what happens next: the plot fails and the rebels are killed.

Gunpowder Fails to Ignite the Spark, Just like Its Story there’s No Explosion in the End

Gunpowder is bloody, gory and has explicit scenes of torture. But, for all its blood and gore, the show fails to light up the screen and is, at times, plain boring. The series is less bothered with the details of the history, choosing instead to focus on the predicament faced by the Catholics and the terror that gripped the nation during that time.

One problem with the show is that the characters fail to create a strong connect with the viewer, something which even veteran actors like Mark Gatiss, Peter Mullan, Shaun Dooley cannot change. Also, one thing I’m irritated by is the lack of character development of Guy Fawkes; his motivations for doing something this extreme (blowing up the parliament) is never explained. There is no palpable sense of tension or foreboding from beginning to end. Much like its plot, Gunpowder lights the match, but, falls short of exploding our imagination.

The miniseries, though not the best available in the market, is still watchable and highly informative. It gives the casual viewer an insight into the failed plot and the characters surrounding it; and why such a drastic measure was seen as the only way out by the Catholics in the 17^th Century, who were oppressed by their Protestant kin.

The series is best described by Mike Hale, writing for New York Times:
When you’re the heartthrob on a series that pulls more than 30 million viewers a week (GoT), and wins the best-drama Emmy, you get to turn your family history into your side project.

‘nuff said.

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Verdict of The Idiot

Idiot-o-Meter: Take It Easy, Dude!
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The Idiot’s Rating System:

4.0 – 5.0: The Dude Abides!
3.0 – 4.0: Far Out, Man!
2.0 – 3.0: Take It Easy, Dude!
1.0 – 2.0: You’re Out Of Your Element!
0.0 – 1.0: The Goddamn Plane Has Crashed Into The Mountain!