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The last episode of Gunpowder was very good. Although ofcourse we knew the ending i was rooting for them to succeed. Terrible to think what happened. And when you think we say "Penny for the Guy." It should have been Lord Cecil and Sir William Wade stuck on top of the bonfire along with James I. Kit Harrington was excellent as was Shaun Dooley. A stella cast and production. What a treat for a Saturday night and something different for those of us not interested in SCD or TXF.
Yes, it was very good drama but the ending doesn't accord with any known history. There is no record of the plot being foiled by the Spanish themselves. It is the generally accepted wisdom that one of the conspirators, who was hardly mentioned in the programme, Francis Tresham, warned Lord Monteagle not to attend Parliament as he was a Roman Catholic and he thought he should be told. Lord Monteagle then passed the information on.
Also, I do think it was a very sanitised version of events and biased towards the Catholics. There is no doubt they did suffer under Elizabeth but we shouldn't forget the Catholics were just as bad when they were in power. Queen Mary had hundreds of "heretics" burnt at the stake as well. And don't forget the Spanish Inquisition....James I was in fact quite tolerant and allowed more freedom than had hitherto been the case. Catesby and the Catholics around him wanted to take England back to Catholicism and I've no doubt would have been just as bad as Queen Mary. I would guess that most English people would have been utterly opposed to it and enjoyed more freedom than they had had before.