BANG-UP JOB
THINK YOU KNOW THE STORY OF THE GUNPOWDER PLOT? KIT HARINGTON AND LIV TYLER STAR IN A NEW DRAMA THAT TELLS THE REAL STORY…
Everyone’s familiar with the story behind the Gunpowder Plot, aren’t they? However, like many historical tales, some of the details have become slightly muddled over the years, and the role of Guy Fawkes has become a little overstated.
Although Fawkes was one of the conspirators plotting to blow up the Houses of Parliament and assassinate the king in response to the persecution of Catholics in Protestant England, the driving force behind the plan was Robert Catesby – who finally gets to take centre stage in this three-part drama. He’s played by Game Of Thrones star Kit Harington – who co-developed and executive produced the series – and there’s a reason why he was so keen to tell this story.
“He’s my ancestor – my mother’s maiden name (and my middle name) is Catesby,” reveals the star as we join the cast for a chat during filming. “I knew I wanted to be in it, and I hoped that would help it get made – but I didn’t know if I wanted to play Fawkes or Catesby. I wasn’t aiming to play my ancestor, but Catesby was the one who fitted.”
Making the series has been a passion project for Kit – he’s been developing the idea with executive producer Ollie Madden ever since they worked together on the film Spooks: The Greater Good.
“I’d thought for a while, why is there no defining drama on the Gunpowder Plot?” he recalls. “It’s such a huge piece of British folklore and we celebrate it every year like our independence day. We set off fireworks! So I looked into what had been done and there was a Jimmy Mcgovern series which was very good, but it wasn’t about the plotters. When you ask people about the Gunpowder Plot they say ‘Guy Fawkes’, but some of them don’t know if the Houses of Parliament were blown up!”
The series also features Hollywood star Liv Tyler, who makes her British TV debut as Catesby’s cousin Anne Vaux. While Anne plays a vital role in the protection and hiding of Catholics, she has grave doubts about whether Catesby’s plan will work out exactly the way he intends.
“I knew very little about the Gunpowder Plot,” admits Liv. “You hear a lot about Guy Fawkes, but you don’t always hear what was going on religiously and politically at the time – and the real reasons why they did what they did.”
IT’S NOT ABOUT HEROISM – THERE’S NO REAL GOODY”
While this series is set to give us a very different perspective on this particular moment in history, Kit’s keen to point out that we shouldn’t expect to be rooting for the conspirators as we watch.
“It’s not about heroism, there’s no real goody,” he warns. “It’s a tragedy. People will be invested in our characters, but the more that I think about Catesby and the plotting side of things, the more you see that they are desperate, desperate men driven by circumstances to commit something horrific.”