Gunpowder (TV series)


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

Cast

Main

In February 2017, 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. Filming started in late February 2017.
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.

Episodes

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

Broadcast

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

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. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the series has a score 63 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".
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 9pm. Nonetheless, it was described as 'a very good drama' by other viewers.