Gunpowder, Treason And Plot

Dreadful film which I would never advise renting. Historically so innacurate that it actually shocked me a producer could reinvent histroy so dramatically. Split into 2 parts- 1st Mary which was weak but bearable. Strays well away from fact but Kevin McKidd so was so fabulous as Bothwell( even if his character played a completely different part in history!!) that he wins a star from me but film dull nonsense. Part 2 was her son James VI who also became James I of England and formed Union of Crowns and was responsible for Union Jack. Played by Carlyle who is usually so strong but clearly he was still thinking he was playing Adolf Hitler and had read the wrong script!!James was so innacurately portrayed I was shocked and dismayed. James was a very strong King and very popular, he was baptised a catholic although brought up Protestant and known as 'The Peacemaker King' due to his massive tolerance towwards Catholic faith- although certainly not in this film!!! He is portrayed as some kind of maniac who murdered Catholics, raped his wife and was weak with little intelligence! He was so highly intellectuel he was known as the wisest King ever. He had 9 children with his wife Anne who converted to Catholicism on her deathbed so they were really closet Catholics! What a truly dreadful film and the makers should be ashamed of themselves for altering history so much- no wonder kids have little undertsanding of British history when this is allowed to happen. Minor changes to dramatise a film are tolerable but to persecute a complete character to suit a fictious script is a disgrace. Total Crap!

i found the whole story very dull; nothing new happened. Although there was plenty of plotting and treason. it could be re-named to avoid viewers who forget the synopsis that it isn't about Guy Fawkes. having said that the acting was very good and the location, props etc interesting to see. but not a DVD i would buy or recommend.

This two part film for television gives an overview of the dramatic lives of two Monarch's Mary Queen of Scots and her son James VI of Scotland. The first part follows Mary's troubled life in trying to govern a very divided Scotland. Acting is impressive and mostly convincing. This fades a bit in the second part where the characterisation of the people involved in the gunpowder plot are hard to believe. I knew quite a bit more about the lives of the plotters before seeing this than I did about the characters surrounding Mary Queen of Scots so perhaps this is why I found the story much less enjoyable. Some of the historic facts are just so wrong as to overshadow the storyline, for example the outcome of Francis Tresham's life was quite different to that given in the film. There is also an inconsistency in the portrayal of just about all the main figures, who are correctly portrayed as willing to die for their faith but they then take their faith so lightly in relation to murder and marital fidelity. The scope of the film is massively ambitious and therefore it is difficult to give any depth to this remarkable period in time. But the series is worth watching and might encourage viewers to follow it up with a read of Antonia Fraser's excellent biographies of the same period.

I missed this when it was shown on tv so decided to rent it out on DVD. I wasn't disappointed. Jimmy McGovern's script was brilliant. Whether he had his facts correct, historically, for me was immaterial throughout this enjoyable period romp set in Elizabethan times. It was well acted, brilliantly photographed and for me a real treat compared to some of the American rubbish that passes off for factual lessons in British history.

There is no doubt, looking at the behaviour of our kings and queens, how the mafiosa got their methods of defending their turf.

Well worth a watch and a great entertaining history lesson. They should make a big film about this