A Day to Remember?

“Remember, remember the 5^th November. Gunpowder, treason and plot”

Okay, it’s not the most original way to start a piece of writing, but I do like its ominous-sounding dramatic emphasis. The day the British changed a part of the Halloween celebration to celebrate the downfall of a Catholic terrorist attack against a Protestant King and his establishment has long since lost most of its significance. The oldest living generations in Britain have lived under the shadow of terrorism for a long time now. Many of us were alive when there was another attempt to blow up the head of our country. More of us were alive when various far larger scale terrorist attacks occurred, which rocked the global community in so many ways as to define post 2001 cultural ideas. This has led us to look at the broader view of terrorism and its many complexities. History also tells us that although the Catholics in question were fanatical, James I and his regime were far from a magnanimous example of religious tolerance.

Mary and the Gunpowder Plot - A Review of a Classic BBC Historical Melodrama

The 2000s saw the rise of quality of TV drama. Looking back to the previous decade it was inevitable that this was going to happen and I aim to discuss the matter in an essay on subject. However, for the purposes of this review we find “Gunpowder, Treason and Plot” riding on the wave of historical dramas with rising budgets. The US were already investing in collaborative efforts in Europe that would see series like “Rome” break new ground in terms of mainstream adult-orientated historical drama.

“Gunpowder, Treason and Plot” was a two-part TV production made for the BBC by a key Scottish crew, including Gillies MacKinnon as director. It exhibited a lot of what was to come, but still retained certain elements from the previous era. Jimmy McGovern, creator the critically acclaimed crime series, “Cracker”, wrote the screenplay. For the most part, he does a decent job framing a complex story and takes some original angles with historical characters. He also clearly had his eye on the changing face of historical dramas for an adult audience. The violence and sex scenes, although not gratuitous, ensured a wider audience. Whilst the story featured complex characters played by the principal cast. We are not relegated to a limited number of unconvincing studio sets either. Instead the entire production was shot in Romania and it convincingly recreates Scotland and England. The audience gets a real feel of scope that many previous history-based BBC productions were missing. A peculiar quirk that seems to have bene left over from the past is the peculiar decision to break the fourth wall a couple of times in the second episode. This is done to reveal the