Kit Harington has a ‘gory and gripping’ new drama on the BBC that everyone’s talking about

Kit Harington's new drama is enough to fill that Game of Thrones-shaped hole in your life but one scene was too much for some people.

We all know the story, but how many of us know the events that led up to it? It is 1603, and as England wars with Spain and the bloody persecution of Catholics intensifies, a young nobleman resolves to avenge his kin and defend his faith by any means necessary. The BBC's new gritty three-part series Gunpowder documents the actions of Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes and a close group of English Catholics as they plan to destroy the House of Lords by igniting gunpowder that's stored underneath Westminster. As you may have heard, Harington is a distant relative of Robert Catesby and the Game of Thrones star is actually serving as a producer on this show. See, he does know something! The first episode aired last night and after an intense opening sequence which showed Catholics on the run, viewers were treated to one of the most gut-wrenching and gruesome scenes in recent TV history. Given Harington's work on Game of Thrones, that's saying a lot! If you've ever wanted to see an accurate portrayal of someone getting hung, drawn and quartered then Gunpowder is the show for you. Hands and feet get chopped off, decapitations occur and people get crushed to death. It's not an easy watch but just like Game of Thrones, the violence is necessary though in order accurately portray the events of the time. 17th Century Britain wasn't exactly a forgiving place and in order to understand Catesby’s motives to instigate the Gunpowder Plot, it's a very necessary evil. This being said, plenty of viewers were hooked by the narrative and surprised by the levels of gore that were shown in the first episode. https://twitter.com/BethanyCallbutt/status/921838540945797120 https://twitter.com/MrDJJackson/status/921838846836342784 https://twitter.com/rachelannharri1/status/921843218861445120 https://twitter.com/dazlarrr/status/921839489315737600 https://twitter.com/klayrelizabeth/status/921853231529066496 https://twitter.com/ellenrubycrick/status/921839223120031745 Some viewers felt that the gore was a bit too much. https://twitter.com/jimbobkapp/status/921847802623352837 https://twitter.com/petertimmins3/status/921855629739876358 https://twitter.com/lydia_hazel/status/921844353622007809 The overall impression? https://twitter.com/lizzilouwatson/status/921841430049456129 https://twitter.com/heavenrise/status/921840566987575300 https://twitter.com/MeganAnneFilm/status/921839301935190017 https://twitter.com/Knitty42/status/921839987762528256 https://twitter.com/meganmaryrose/status/921838104587194368