BBC bonfire nightmare
Fawkes drama’s gory execution scenes just after the watershed
GRAPHIC torture scenes in the BBC’s dramatisation of the Guy Fawkes plot have been criticised as ‘sickening’ by viewers.
A harrowing sequence in Saturday’s episode of Gunpowder included an elderly woman being crushed to death under a metal door and a Catholic priest being hanged, drawn and quartered.
While the violence – which lasted nearly ten minutes – was historically accurate and a warning was given, viewers watching BBC1 said it did not need to be shown and could have been implied.
Some said that broadcasting the scene shortly after the 9pm watershed meant it was likely that children may have been watching. The show started within an hour of Strictly Come Dancing ending, and was watched by 4.8million viewers. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘The BBC are a law unto themselves. If the BBC intended to shock, they certainly have done.’
One audience member said on social media: ‘I didn’t want to throw up but I did. I know that sort of violence happened but did not want to see it graphically.’
Another described it as the ‘most painful thing I’ve ever witnessed on TV’, while a third wrote: ‘I found the violence in Gunpowder far too horrifying.’
Another suggested the audience should have been left to use their imagination, adding: ‘No need for graphic scenes, subtle would be better.’ Several viewers suggested that broadcasting watchdog Ofcom would be flooded with complaints, however figures will not be available until today.
The lengthy scene began with Lady Dorothy Dibdale, a devout Catholic, being led through a mob, before her crime of hiding a Catholic priest was read out by her accuser. As the crowd cried ‘traitor’, she was stripped naked and crushed by a metal door. The young priest who had been found hiding was then hanged and his decapitated head dipped in tar.
Kit Harington, who plays 17thcentury plotter Robert Catesby in the three-part series, defended the scene, telling Heat magazine: ‘This piece had to be historically accurate, and people were hanged, drawn and quartered and tortured during this period. So I don’t think it is gratuitous.’
A BBC spokesman 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.’
‘No need to be so graphic’