Specials

His attempt to blow up Parliament has seen Guy Fawkes go down in infamy, but the attempted coup was about much more than just one man. Hatched by a group of 13 conspirators, the 1605 plot came after decades of simmering religious tension in England. Fed by an atmosphere of fear and alienation, a group of disaffected young Catholics decided to assassinate King James I and the entire political establishment. Having smuggled of explosives into a cellar beneath the building, the plotters came within hours of the total destruction of the Houses of Parliament and the complete rewriting of history.

Now with the help of CGI to recreate early 17th-century London, see how much damage would have been caused by the explosion, while dramatic reconstructions uncover the men behind the plan and explore what drove them to radicalism. This is the true story behind this historic act of treason.