Everything we know about BBC One’s Gunpowder starring Kit Harington 

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Will you be watching Kit Harington’s new show? (Picture: BBC)

Behind every plot is a mastermind and in BBC One’s upcoming drama Gunpowder, that mastermind just happens to be Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington.

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Taking a break from duties as the King in the North, Harington will be starring as Robert Catesby, the man who engineered the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

The three-part British series is directed by J Blakeson (The 5

Wave, The Disappearance Of Alice Creed) and will also star Mark Gatiss (Sherlock), Tom Cullen (Downton Abbey) and Liv Tyler (The Leftovers).

Back in August, the BBC released a first-look teaser featuring a vengeful Catesby and his associate Guy Fawkes, giving viewers a small glimpse of what we can expect from the brooding historical drama.

Here’s what else we know about the explosive miniseries.

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century plot to blow up the House of Lords in London on November 5, 1605.

It was an attempt to assassinate Protestant monarch King James I, which was revealed to the authorities via an anonymous letter.

During a search of the House of Lords on November 4, 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding the barrels of gunpowder in a cellar and Catesby’s scheme was foiled.

Instead of focusing on the more familiar figure of Fawkes, the series will explore how and why the plot was formed from the perspective of English Catholic Robert Catesby, whose anger at society and devotion to his cause was fuelled by the devastating loss of his wife and father.

The series will follow Catesby, his fellow conspirators and Sir Robert Cecil, who discovered the treasonous plan and subsequently brought the plotters to justice.

Starring alongside Harington’s Catesby will be Liv Tyler and Mark Gatiss as Catesby’s cousin Ann Vaux and spymaster-in-chief Robert Cecil respectively.

Scottish actor Peter Mullan (Top of the Lake) will take on the role of Jesuit priest and conspirator Henry Garnet, whilst Tom Cullen will have a recurring role as Guy Fawkes.

Other cast members include Edward Holcroft (Kingsman: The Golden Circle), Shaun Dooley (Broadchurch), Derek Riddell (The Missing) and Robert Emms (Happy Valley).

Gunpowder is set to begin on Saturday 21 October on BBC One, and will run for three hour-long episodes.

All three episodes will immediately be available on iPlayer following the broadcast of episode one.

What’s this we hear about Kit Harington being related to the Gunpowder mastermind?

Harington’s link to the Gunpowder Plot extends further beyond the forthcoming BBC drama.

The actor is actually a real life descendant of his character Robert Catesby, who is Harington’s ancestor on his mother’s side.

What’s more, another of Harington’s relatives on his father’s side was in the Houses of Parliament when Catesby’s head was marched past on a pike.

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