For all of you HBO viewers out there who are going through GAME OF THRONES withdrawals, fear not, for you will soon get a small fix in the form of Kit Harington’s period drama, GUNPOWDER. The miniseries is already airing on BBC One, but it was just announced that HBO has picked up the series and will air all three episodes later this year. I'm so excited I could blow something up!
Word is HBO will air the episodes across three consecutive nights, starting on Monday, December 18. The series stars Harington as Robert Catesby, the man who masterminded the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the English Parliament in 1605, which was thwarted before it could be carried out. Harington also serves as co-executive producer on the miniseries, and is also a descendant of the real Catesby, making the series a personal project as well as a creative one. Getting to kill White Walkers and (almost) getting to blow crap up? Sounds like a great life to me.
Harington went on to talk about how excited he is to bring the show saying, “Three years ago, Daniel West and I conceived and began developing GUNPOWDER with Kudos and Ronan Bennett. We are now thrilled to share this unique story with the U.S. audience. I can’t think of a better place to do that than my home at HBO.” The show has received positive marks so far for its realism and girt, with the cast including Harington, Liv Tyler, Mark Gatiss and Peter Mullan, all getting praise for their work.
GUNPOWDER always looked interesting to me, but I didn’t think I’d get to see it given its lack of American distribution, but now three cheers shall be given to HBO for bringing it stateside. Harington has some real chops and I'd like to see him put them to use in stuff outside GOT, and GUNPOWDER seems like a solid place to showcase his skills. GOT fans will no doubt tune in to see Jon Snow is slightly more modern attire, which is a pretty good reason to watch all three episodes. And, you know, for the acting and production design and whatever.
GUNPOWDER hits HBO on December 18.