Lucy Worsley Investigates: Season 2, Episode 2

2 - 2: The Gunpowder Plot

On 5 November 1605, a group of radical Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, came within hours of blowing up the Houses of Parliament. Their aim was to assassinate the Protestant king James I and destroy his government in an attempt to restore England to the Catholic faith. Had it not been stopped, this one moment of violence could have changed the history of the country entirely.

The Gunpowder Plot was foiled, but its remembrance was written into law, and Guy Fawkes Night is still celebrated on 5 November. Lucy Worsley investigates what drove this group of men to attempt such an audacious act.

She delves into the motivations and mindsets of the Catholic plotters, searching for evidence in their childhoods, the rooms where they secretly met, and where Guy Fawkes finally faced his interrogators.