We’ve been keeping tabs on Kit Harington’s latest project, the upcoming Gunpowder TV mini-series from BBC1, and we have news. The three-part historical drama based on the infamous 17th century gunpowder plot now has a UK premiere date: October 21, 2017 at 9:00 p.m. GMT. There’s also a lush new trailer:
The Gunpowder cast includes Game of Thrones alumni Mark Gatiss (Iron Banker Tyco Nestoris) and other familiar faces such as Tom Cullen (Downton Abbey, Knightfall), Liv Tyler (Lord of the Rings) and Peter Mullan (Top of the Lake). Harington, who also produced the series through his production company Thriker Films, plays his real-life ancestor, Robert Catesby, the mastermind of a failed 1605 assassination attempt on the life of King James I of England. (The plot involved blowing up the British House of Lords while the king was there.) Although Catesby was the main driving force behind the plot, the vagaries of history have made one of his followers, Guy Fawkes (played by Tom Cullen), the most famous conspirator.
It’s pretty obvious that Harington’s family relationship to Catesby is the main reason he got involved with the project. The actor makes no bones about it in an interview with The Independent:
My mother’s maiden name is Catesby and my middle name is Catesby. It was always a kind of thing growing up …’you know you’re related to the leader of the gunpowder plot?’ I didn’t actually know a lot about Catesby. It was only by doing some research into the gunpowder plot, that I started to understand how these people worked.
Harington is quick to note, however, that he’s in it for the drama, too. “Yes, there was a family connection,” he says, “but more it was the idea that this seemed like an idea ripe for the making. I couldn’t really work out why it hadn’t been dramatised. It’s such a significant piece of typically English folklore.”
Programme Name: Gunpowder – TX: n/a – Episode: Gunpowder (No. n/a) – Picture Shows: Robert Catesby (KIT HARINGTON), Thomas Wintour (EDWARD HOLCROFT), Faulkes (TOM CULLEN) – (C) Kudos – Photographer: Robert Viglaski
Many people are only vaguely aware of the Gunpowder Plot, mainly from the film V for Vendetta and the use of Guy Fawkes masks. With much of it’s dramatic notoriety veiled by time, and without any readily identifiable heroes, the project was a bit of a tough sell. To write it, Harington tapped the Northern Irish dramatist Ronan Bennett (Rebel Heart, Hamburg Cell), who at the age of 18 stood trial at the Old Bailey, accused of killing a Royal Ulster Constable and of leading a terrorist organization. Bennett was wrongfully convicted and spend almost two years in custody, some of it in solitary confinement. His attraction to the Gunpowder Plot story was immediate:
I think if you ask most people what they know about the gunpowder plot they’ll say ‘Guy Fawkes tried to blow up parliament…’ something like that. I actually have a PhD in history and it’s from this period, and I had actually forgotten – if I ever knew – about Catesby, and that Catesby was the real leader and mastermind of it. We think of the plot ending with the arrest of Guy Fawkes – no spoilers here but there’s actually another dramatic episode. But the question for me was where does this come from? Why would someone do this?
The consequences of the Gunpowder plot are unpleasant, and Gunpowder can reportedly be a rough ride. The series opens with torture scenes more graphic than ever seen before on BBC1 on Saturday night in prime time.
And what did Kit Harington think of his traitorous ancestor before he plugged into him for this role?
Before I got into this, I guess in some ways I might have been proud of him. But if you look at who he is… he’s a widower, he doesn’t connect with his son, he is experiencing huge persecution and his money has been stripped from him… I think in some ways he’s on some kind of death wish and he draws some innocent people in with him into this plot. So I don’t have particularly fond feelings towards him.
After playing Catesby, Harington felt differently about the man: “The major change was that I felt desperately sorry for him after doing this. As you’ll see he’s a deeply sad man, who botched his one big thing”.
Gunpowder was filmed after production ended on Game of Thrones season 7, and Harington didn’t have to change much to slip into the role physically. “I think it fitted quite well with me not being able to cut my hair”, he said. Plus, shooting a show in the rainy Yorkshire countryside in autumn felt all too familiar: “Why I keep desiring to film in cold, muddy places on horses I have no idea.”
Harington is determined to produce his own material, and his Thrones pedigree gives him the clout to do it. He’s experienced critical and commercial stumbles working on other people’s projects (Brimstone, 7 Days in Hell), and if he’s going to fail, he wants to go down swinging his own sword, so to speak. “We’re looking for that next thing now”, he announces. “Gunpowder was a test to see whether I enjoyed doing it – and I did very much. I think knowing why decisions are made and being part of those decisions has given me great comfort in the process. I don’t know about acting and producing at the same time though; I found that tricky at times.”
With all of the mud, horses, armor and swords he’s had to deal with for seven seasons on Thrones, Harington was asked if he’s on the lookout for more contemporary projects. “I’m personally done now with the 1600s,” he responded. “So moving forward now – to London in the 1960s perhaps. Or at least something with guns.”
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