Is new Kit Harington drama Gunpowder too gory?
The first episode of the BBC drama about the 1605 gunpowder plot featured a man being hung, drawn and quartered (in detail) and a woman being crushed to death
New BBC drama Gunpowder doesn't shy away when it comes to depicting the bleak reality of 17th century London but is the retelling of the 1605 gunpowder plot a bit too gory?
The first episode features a particularly stomach-churning (no pun intended) sequence of executions that saw one man hang, drawn and quartered and a woman crushed to death.
“It's a dark drama. It's grisly and visceral”, said Kit Harington, who stars as lead rebel Robert Catesby, the brains behind the operation we now associate with Guy Fawkes (Tom Cullen). He says such dark scenes are necessary elements of the drama.
“We can't avoid that - we can't avoid the torture that these men went through. We can't avoid the executions that the people around these men suffered”, Harington explained. “I think it's wrong when showing a torture scene or execution, I think it's wrong to shy too far away from the reality of it. You need to feel the reasons, to know why they go and do the things they do.”
- Meet the cast of BBC1’s Gunpowder
- Who was Gunpowder’s Robert Catesby? And how is Kit Harington related to him?
- Where was Gunpowder filmed?
It's a fair point, but what do YOU think? Was Gunpowder too gory for your taste?
Cast your vote and have your say.
