"Gunpowder" - BBC

[LurkingHusband]

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05j1bc9

Anyone looking forward ?

400 metres is a lot more effective than I would have guessed.

And yes, I always wonder about the what-ifs. Which is a pain, because I end up googling it and spend hours reading history-nerd arguments. I've still got tabs open from when I wanted to know which way WWII would have gone had things been different at various points between 1933 and 1945. I'm saving them for when my need to procrastinate gets really desperate...

Could they have plonked the very young Charles I on the throne, and things continue much as they have?

But surely there would have been some incredible power vacuum if Parliament had been destroyed on the opening ceremony, with everyone in there.

Anyone with the vaguest claim to the throne, who wasn't in Parliament that day, trying to seize power?

Perhaps the civil war a few decades earlier??

I really don't know enough about the history here - but it's intriguing.

Could they have plonked the very young Charles I on the throne, and things continue much as they have?

Wasn't Henry still alive then ? (checks) yes - he died in 1612.

So it would have been Henry in line next.

Ah, so we would have had Henry IX ? (Is that right??) Interesting.

with rose petals and blowjobs

English/British history is littered with "what-if" monarchs. The Black Prince, Arthur Tudor being two that spring to mind. Also had Edward VI lived.

Right up to last century, what if Edward VIII hadn't abdicated ? I would suggest it's possible that WW2 might have been much shorter ....

Henry would have been next in line but IIRC he was meant to die with James as he would have been at the opening of parliament with him.

btw, I picked up my interest in Jacobean history from reading the outstandingly good novels by Nigel Tranter. I have no idea how accurate or otherwise his purely Scottish novels were. But the ones which deal with the James I period are pretty spot on.

Just a heads up that folks on this thread will probably love a new BBC2 docu-series; starring Steptoe Cecil and son, about espionage, intrigue, and 16th century beer pricing ...

I have a soft spot for the Babington plot, as it featured in one of my textbooks on cryptography at Uni.

I've just been re-watching ep2 of this - as I was a bit distracted/doing other stuff as well first time around.

They wanted to put Princess Elizabeth on the throne, with the Duke of Northumberland as Lord Protector.

I have a soft spot for the Babington Plot because of A Traveller in Time, a favourite childhood book of mine.

I really enjoyed it. Didn't find the execution scenes too gory (I watch a lot of horror movies so probably a bit desensitised to gore now) but definitely disturbing knowing things like that actually happened in our country probably fairly regularly

I thought all 3 episodes were horrific.

Lurking, thank you for that

Francis Tresham was thought to have sent the letter to Monteagle who was his brother in law. Tresham died of 'natural causes' in the Tower, not executed.
There's a theory that Tresham was a spy - he was the last to join the plotters and may have been poisoned to silence him.

What became of the son of Catesby pls?

What became of the son of Catesby pls?

He had a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson called ... "Kit Harrington" ....

Is everyone watching the next episodes then? I want to, very interested in the theatre from this time but a little apprehensive because of the gore factor.

Edgar - ive watched it all, ep 2 has a Spanish Inquisition burning scene and ep 3 has the torture of Guy Fawkes and then a quick execution scene.

He had a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson called ... "Kit Harrington" ...

Thank you I had to google him.

Anasnake I think if I prepare myself I can do it, so thank you. It was suffering in the first episode I found hard not the acts. Pretty good acting.

I was surprised to see all three episodes are on iplayer already . Is this usual now for the Beeb? i'm waiting until they go out on the respective Saturday as DH is away all week so I'd only be watching them again .

Im laughing that all roads used to lead to Rome but now they seem to lead to the Game of Thrones - not that Ive even seen one episode of it.

Polly my dc are massive game of throne fans and I have family who work on set. I've never seen it nor do I intend to.

I am old btw, but i remember the torture and execution scenes in BBCs 1970s Henry V111 and Elizabeth series which were really graphic and were all pretty grim.. They also definitely had a just as graphic a HD&Q scene in the Rufus Sewell James 2nd series which may have been in the 90s or early 2000s.