All language subtitles for The.Gunpowder.Plot.The.Countdown.To.Treason.S01e02.1080p.Web.H264-Cbfm_track3_[eng]

(upbeat music)

- Westminster, the heart of London.

For a thousand years, it's
been the centre of power.

It was here on a November
morning 400 years ago

that a group of
Catholic rebels planned

to blow up parliament, and
change the country forever.

It would become one of
the most famous events

in British history, forever
known as the Gunpowder Plot.

(energetic music)

But how much do we really know

about the Gunpowder Plot
and the men behind it?

In this programme, we'll
uncover the incredible details

of this shocking event.

We'll count down the
months, weeks, and days

as the Gunpowder plotters

planned their attack on Parliament.

And we'll reveal just how
close they came to succeed.

(explosion)

The plotters have got 36 times

more than that.
- Yes.

- In this episode, Guy
Fawkes is caught red handed.

One of the guards threatened
to draw his dagger,

but thought better of it.

He knew the king wanted
the suspect alive.

We discover the brutal role
the Tower of London played

in extracting his confession.

You are manacled in by
your wrists and ankles

as you're stretched, almost
pulled limb from limb.

And we follow the desperate
attempts to catch his fellow

plotters before it was too late.

(gun shooting)

- Whoa. (laughing)
- Well done.

- You can feel that there's
quite a recoil on that.

- This is the amazing story
of the Gunpowder Plot.

(upbeat music)

As midnight approached on
the 4th of November, 1605,

Guy Fawkes was hiding in a cellar

underneath the House of Lords.

At his feet were two and a
half tonnes of explosives.

In just over nine hours
time, Fawkes' targets,

King James, his ministers,
lords, and bishops

would be gathered together
just a few feet above his head

for the state opening of Parliament.

If Fawkes' timed the explosion right,

the men who ruled Britain
would soon be dead.

Meanwhile, the rest
of the 13 strong gang

were preparing the
second phase of the plot.

They sought to launch an armed
uprising and seize power.

But not everything had gone to plan.

Just a few hours earlier,
Fawkes had been discovered

by the King's guard.

And he talked himself out of trouble

by claiming that he was a
servant named John Johnson,

and that he was storing firewood

for his master, Thomas Percy.

The guards had no idea that
behind the bundles of firewood

were 36 barrels of gun power.

They bought his story and left.

But they were still suspicious,

so they reported their
concerns directly to the King.

King James immediately ordered

a second search of the cellar,

and armed guards were
hastily dispatched.

Their orders were clear, find
a man called John Johnson

and take him alive.

Fawkes had no idea that the
king's men were onto him,

and at that very moment,

they were on their way to arrest him.

(upbeat music)

Just after midnight,

Fawkes heard noises in
the corridor outside.

When he opened his cellar
door to investigate,

(door opening)
a lamp was thrust in his face.

There was a short violent struggle.

One of the guards threatened
to draw his dagger,

but thought better of it.

He knew the king wanted
the suspect alive.

And moments later, more
armed guards arrived,

grabbed Fawkes, and
wrestled him to the ground.

With his hands bound,
he could do nothing,

as the guards entered the
cellar and began their search.

Inspecting the mysterious
pile in front of them,

they pulled back the covers.

And what they found must
have astonished them.

Dozens of barrels full of gunpowder.

Fawkes had been caught red handed.

According to one source,

he defiantly turned to
his captors and told them,

you were lucky to catch
me outside the cellar,

otherwise you would not
be talking about it now,

because you all would've
been blown sky high.

If only Fawkes had
not opened the door,

he may have had time to
ignite the explosives.

The plot to blow up
Parliament was in ruins.

At 4:00 AM on the morning
of the 5th of November,

Fawkes was led the few
hundred yards from Parliament

to Whitehall palace.

He was flanked by armed guards

as he entered the
king's private quarters.

At the king's side was his
chief minister and spy master,

Sir Robert Cecil.

Remarkably, Cecil wrote an account

of this extraordinary moment,
which still survives today.

The first thing that strikes
me is Fawkes' demeanour

when he's brought before the king.

Cecil writes that, "He
was no more dismayed,

nay scarce any more troubled
than if he were taken

with a small robbery by the highway."

So Fawkes has just been discovered

armed the teeth with gunpowder.

And Cecil says he's no more troubled

than if he were picked
up for a petty crime.

It's astonishing.

I think it really tells
you something about Fawkes'

strength of character,
that he manages to remain

at least outwardly
calm and nonchalant.

When asked his name,
Fawkes simply repeated

what he told the guards earlier,

that his name was John Johnson.

He was a servant to Thomas Percy.

When he was asked what he
was doing in the cellar,

Fawkes has said to have said to James,

he meant to have fired the match,

that if he had not been
apprehended that night,

he had blown up the Upper
House when the King,

lords, bishops and
others had been there.

This is the king.

He's used to people bowing
and scraping before him,

and now he's awoken at 4:00 AM

and brought face to face with a man

who says he planned to kill him.

It's an extraordinary moment,

it's not every day you
meet your would be killer.

Robert Cecil knew that Fawkes
could not have acted alone.

There was no way he
could have assembled

that quantity of
gunpowder single-handedly.

He must have had
accomplices, and Cecil knew

he had to catch them
before they committed

any acts of violence.

He would have to make
Fawkes talk, and fast.

(upbeat music)

It was before dawn when the
first news of Guy Fawkes' arrest

reached one of the gang members.

They immediately warned
fellow plotter, Thomas Percy.

(knocking door)

Meanwhile, the king's spy
master, Sir Robert Cecil

was desperate to fight anyone else

who was involved in the plot.

Fawkes needed to be interrogated

and squeezed for the
names of his accomplices.

(upbeat music)

Within hours of being
caught red-handed

trying to blow up parliament,
Guy Fawkes was brought here,

to the Tower of London.

Now the king's spy master,
Sir Robert Cecil was convinced

that Fawkes did not act alone,

and he was desperate to
catch his co-conspirators

before they could commit any
further acts of violence.

He planned to interrogate
Fawkes to get him to reveal

the names of the
plotters and their plans.

(energetic music)

By 1605, the Tower had
a terrifying reputation.

In the century leading
up to the Gunpowder Plot,

Henry VIII and Elizabeth I
had imprisoned, tortured,

and executed countless traitors.

I can only imagine what
Guy Fawkes was thinking

as he was led past these walls.

But Fawkes knew that the
longer he could hold out

against the interrogation,

the more time he would buy for
the rest of the gang to flee

or to carry out the
wider Catholic Rebellion.

The interrogation
began in a state room

overlooking Tower Green.

Behind me is the king's house.

Now, not many buildings
like this survive in London,

they were destroyed by the Great Fire.

But this is pretty much how
these buildings would've looked

to Guy Fawkes as he approached
for his interrogation.

Now today, this is
the private residence

of the Constable of the Tower,

and it's very unusual
to be allowed inside.

(curious upbeat music)

Now, outside these buildings form

quite a charming Elizabethan
scene, it's almost,

it's quite pretty
like a chocolate box.

But inside, the atmosphere
changes dramatically.

There's a sort of
understated grandeur here,

but it is also quite intimidating,
especially when you think

how Guy Fawkes must have been feeling

as he was led up the stairs.

Guy Fawkes would've
been stealing himself

for what he knew was a
terrible ordeal ahead of him.

But every single minute

that he could resist the interrogation

bought his co-conspirators more time.

The room Fawkes was
interrogated in is just up here.

(anxious music)

I have to say this is
not what I expected

from an interrogation cell.

It's quite a well lit,
bright, pretty room.

Over here you've got
a view of Tower Green,

you can see the spot where
Anne Boleyn was executed.

On the other side of the room,

we've got a view of the river.

But this is the very room

where Guy Fawkes was brought
on November the 5th, 1605.

And this is where his
interrogation would begin.

The comfort of this room
probably wasn't the first thing

on Guy Fawkes' mind.

He'd just been caught red handed,

and he'd admitted that he
was trying to kill the king.

And he knew that his captors
would stop at nothing

to get the information they wanted

about his co-conspirators.

He must have felt that
the walls were closing in.

The interrogation was carried out

by two of the king's
most senior ministers.

When they began their questioning,

all they knew about
the man before them

was that he called
himself John Johnson.

He claimed to be a servant of
known Catholic, Thomas Percy,

and he admitted planning to
blow up the King and Parliament.

But if they thought he was
gonna give them anything more,

they were wrong.

Guy Fawkes stuck to his story,

and the only name he gave them

was a name they already
had, that of Thomas Percy.

Unless he talked, the
authorities had no way of knowing

how many co-conspirators he had,

or what they planned to do next.

They had no idea that
blowing up Parliament

and assassinating the king

were only the opening act of
a massive plot to seize power.

As Fawkes' interrogation continued,

a hundred miles north
in rural Warwickshire,

more members of the gang

were preparing to launch
an armed uprising.

They believed that the king was dead,

and parliament destroyed.

Now, they were counting
on their supporters

in the Catholic
heartland of the Midlands

to spark a civil rebellion.

Catesby was heading
north to join them,

completely unaware the
plot had been foiled

until Percy and the gang
brought him the news.

Tracy has come to
Dunchurch in Warwickshire

to meet author and Fawkes
researcher, Nick Holland.

- I want to find out how Catesby felt

when he discovered the House
of Lords was still standing.

What was Catesby's reaction?

- He must have been absolutely
dismayed, obviously,

he'd not thought that
was going to happen,

he thought God was on his side
and it would all go smoothly.

So he had to make a big
decision, would they flee?

That would've been the
sensible thing we'd think.

Or would they carry on
with their initial plan

to come to Dunchurch
and start a rebellion,

start a revolution?

- And what did he decide?

- Well, Catesby,
perhaps unsurprisingly,

he was a man of action,
he wasn't easily deterred,

he still thought he could
succeed in his plan,

so he said, let's press on,

let's go to Dunchurch
and start a evolution.

- So stick with the plan even though

the big part of it has failed,
the king is still alive,

but Catesby wants to press on,

that's incredibly risky, isn't it?

- It is incredibly risky.

He was risking himself,

he was risking all the other plotters,

but really he had a bigger plan
as far as he was concerned.

- To carry out their
bigger plan of attack,

the Armed Catholic Rebellion,

plotters had lured Catholic gentry

to Dunchurch Green on
the pretence of a hunt.

- This is Dunchurch Green.

And right ahead of us
is the rendezvous point,

it was the Old Red Lion inn-

- This building here?
- This building here.

And Catesby expected to find

hundreds of men waiting for him,

all armed, ready for a hunt.

But the reality was quite different.

- So what numbers are we talking?

- We think there were around
80 people waiting for Catesby,

and it's not nearly as
many as he was expecting.

- Not exactly an impressive
rebel army, is it?

- It's not enough to
take control of England.

- If Catesby still felt he
could win 80 people round

to the idea of an armed uprising

against the forces of the
king, he was kidding himself.

Half of them just
turned around and left.

So this is a disaster, isn't it?

It's already a tiny army for Catesby,

and now that's been halved.

Morale must be at rock
bottom, where do they go next?

- So Catesby comes up
with an audacious plan.

He decides to raid Warwick Castle,

and there they'll steal weapons

and they'll steal
horses that they need,

and he still thinks
he can win the day.

But really he'd made a fatal error.

And from that moment on, the
conspirators' fate was sealed.

- So really now there's no way out.

- There's no way out,

and things are going to get
a lot worse very quickly.

(bright upbeat music)

- On the 6th of November,
100 miles south,

Guy Fawkes was still
being interrogated

inside the king's house
in the Tower of London.

24 hours after his capture in
a cellar beneath Parliament,

Fawkes was now sat in front
of the king's spy master,

Sir Robert Cecil.

King James had personally
written a list of 16 questions

that were to be put to Fawkes,

but Fawkes still refused to answer,

he wouldn't give up the
names of his accomplices.

Now, Robert Cecil was
getting desperate.

He still didn't know how
many plotters were out there,

or what they were
trying to accomplish.

But Cecil's luck was about to change.

The plotters in
Warwickshire would soon make

a catastrophic mistake.

(upbeat music)

Recklessly they had
decided to steal horses

from Warwick Castle.

When the theft was discovered,

the sheriff of
Worcestershire and his men

set out to track down the culprits.

Before long, the sheriff had
begun to gather intelligence

from local villagers,
and within a few hours,

he had the names of the suspects.

The gang of thieves were all
well-known local Catholic men

from good families, and
their names included,

one Robert Catesby, and Thomas Percy.

Now, the sheriff actually had no idea

of the plot to destroy parliament,

or that Thomas Percy was a wanted man,

but he was suspicious.

He was on the alert for any
signs of Catholic rebellion.

So he decided to send
word of the theft

to the king's spymaster,
Sir Robert Cecil in London.

As the messenger sped
towards the capital,

Guy Fawkes was still under
intense interrogation

in the Tower.

For more than a day,
Cecil had been attempting

to get answers from Fawkes,

who were still hiding behind
the alias of John Johnson.

Apart from the name Thomas Percy,

Fawkes refused to
give up the identities

of the other plotters.

Cecil needed to break him.

Now he moved Fawkes to
the torture chambers,

deep beneath the White Tower.

The order came from
King James himself.

Now, torture had been
illegal for almost 400 years,

it could only be used
on direct instruction

from the monarch.

So King James wrote to
the tower's lieutenant,

Sir William Wade, and instructed him

that the gentler tortures are
first to be used upon him.

And then step by step, you
may employ the harsher.

Now that's actually quite chilling.

It suggests that James
knew a thing or two

about torture techniques,

and that he really
understood the value

of gradually intensifying
the pressure on the victim.

(tension music)

Sir William Wade would
oversee the torture.

Wade had a fearsome reputation

for ruthlessly hunting
down Jesuit priests.

Forbes's torture began with him
being manacled by the wrists

to his cell wall.

He hung for several hours in agony.

But still he refused
to give up the names

of his fellow plotters.

(upbeat music)

On the 7th of November,
the king's right hand man,

Sir Robert Cecil finally received

the message from the
sheriff of Worcestershire,

and it was a bombshell.

A group of men were on the run

after stealing horses
from Warwick Castle.

Cecil knew they had to be connected

with the foiled attack on parliament.

What he didn't know was
that amongst the men

was the ringleader of the
Gunpowder Plot, Robert Catesby,

and his right hand man, Thomas Percy.

Percy was the only man that
Fawkes had given up so far.

Cecily immediately knew

this was the breakthrough
he'd been looking for.

It was an incredible stroke of luck,

but now thanks to
the sheriff's report,

he had the plotters in his sights.

Within just two days
of Fawkes' capture,

the net was closing
in on his accomplices.

The gang were being pursued by
the sheriff of Worcestershire

and a group of 200 armed men.

Even Robert Catesby,
the plot's mastermind

realised the game was up.

His hopes of sparking
a Catholic revolution

and seizing power were over.

The plot had failed.

And all they could do now
was flee for their lives.

(gentle upbeat music)

Battling with heavy rain,
the weary gang took refuge

in a manor house, but
their desperate situation

was about to get even worse.

While trying to dry
some damp gunpowder

next to an open fire, one of
the gang set off an explosion.

It injured several of them,
and one of them was blinded.

(explosion)

It's a twist of fate that
this was the only explosion

during the entire Gunpowder Plot.

(upbeat music)

With the sheriff's men closing
in and three of the gang

too badly injured to flee,

the plotters knew their time was up.

Now all they could do was
wait for the inevitable.

(gentle upbeat music)

Two days after his arrest,

Guy Fawkes was facing the most
terrifying form of torture

in the Tower of London's arsenal.

The Rack.

It may look quite rudimentary,

but that's probably part of
what makes it so intimidating.

It's fairly simple,
here's how it works.

You are manacled in by
your wrists and ankles,

and then these chains
are attached to wheels

with ratchet mechanisms
that are gradually tightened

as you are stretched, and
almost pulled limb from lib.

As Tower Lieutenant, William Wade

prepared to put Fawkes on the rack,

he gave his prisoner a warning.

"I told him if he held his
resolution to be so silent,

I would never give him over

until I had gotten the
inmost secret of his thoughts

and all his accomplices.

And therefore, I willed
him to prepare himself."

He's saying, I won't
let up on the torture

until you give up your secrets.

The following morning,
seven of the plotters,

including Thomas Percy and
mastermind, Robert Catesby

were also fearing for their lives.

Hold up in a Stafford
shear manor house,

they knew they were being hunted.

By 11:00 AM on the 8th of November,

the sheriff of
Worcestershire and his troops

had them surrounded.

Catesby, Percy, and their five
accomplices were exhausted,

some badly injured, and
hopelessly outnumbered

as they prepared for one last stand.

(gentle upbeat music)

But how did Catesby and his
men plan to defend themselves?

Tracy's meeting gun experts,

Jonathan Davies and Ian
Fletcher to find out.

- Catesby and his men were
planning this armed uprising.

What sort of weapons

would they have
potentially had access to?

- Well, Catesby as a gentleman
have had a rapier and dagger,

but what he would really
want were firearms.

This is the musket, a
heavy weapon designed

to knock a man off his horse

and to put a bull
through a man in armour.

- And how effective were they?

- Extremely effective.

That would be firing an
ounce and a half ball

at about a thousand feet per second.

So if that hit you,

it would go straight through
and out the other side.

- Catesby and the other six plotters

would've had to know how
to load a musket quickly,

and that was no small feat.

First, gunpowder needed to be inserted

into a small pan on the side.

Then more powder
dropped into the barrel,

followed by a lead ball.

Before ramming the gunpowder in

to ensure the maximum
possible explosion.

Finally, a burning cord
connected to the trigger

would've ignited the powder
in the barrel, or not.

- Oh, no, misfire.
- Ah.

- There's, it's a flash in the pan.

The priming powder has gone flash,

but it hasn't ignited the main charge.

About a third of ignitions fail.

- Do you think I can have a go?

So this goes right
against my shoulder?

- Yes, yes.

And then put finger on
the feet trigger there,

then pull it very, very slowly.

That's it, keep going.

(gunshot)

- Whoa.
- Well done.

- Can feel that, there's
quite a recoil on that.

But it's certainly a
very powerful weapon,

I could really feel
the kick back there.

But accuracy, and the
time it took to load,

you really had to know
what you were doing.

- Yes, you need to have trained men,

trained, experienced, and willing.

- So Catesby and his
men were under siege

at Holbeche Hall surrounded
by the sheriff's men.

What chance did they
realistically have?

- None whatsoever.

200 well armed men determined
to bring traitors to justice

or at least bring
them to their deaths.

(gunshot)
- Wow.

- According to one account,

Catesby called out to
the sheriff and declared

he would not be taken alive.

Then the troops opened fire.

(gunshots)
A barrage of musket balls

crashed through the manor house.

In the volley of
gunfire, the two leaders

in the most famous plot
in British history,

Robert Catesby and
Thomas Percy were killed.

They were taken down by
the very same musket ball.

When the troops ceased
firing and entered the house,

all except three of the
gang had been killed.

As the sun went down
on the 8th of November,

just three days after the
Gunpowder Plot was foiled,

11 of the 13 plotters were
either captured or dead.

For those Who were still at large,

it would only be a matter of time

before they too were caught.

(gentle upbeat music)

The following morning, Guy
Fawkes began his fourth day

in the Tower of London.

He'd endured 24 excruciating
hours of the rack,

refusing to name his fellow plotters

in the hope that they'd carry
out the rest of their plan.

His torturer described him as being

in a most stubborn
and perverse humour,

as dogged as if he were possessed.

But finally, even Fawkes
could take no more.

By nightfall, on the 9th of November,

he'd given up every name.

And one document shows just
how brutal it must have been.

Now this is Guy Fawkes' signature
before his interrogation.

And compare it to this.

This is the signature
on his confession

after he'd been on the rack.

It's barely legible.

And the hand,

and probably the mind that
wrote this was broken.

It's a stark reminder of
what Guy Fawkes went through.

On the one hand, he was a man
willing to commit mass murder

by blowing up parliament,

but there's no denying he was
a very brave and loyal man

willing to endure terrible suffering

to protect his friends
and their cause.

(upbeat music)

By the 10th of November, the
entire plot had been exposed.

Three days after Guy
Fawkes had confessed

and given up the names
of his fellow plotters,

a 12th member of the
gang was arrested.

His name was Francis Tresham.

Tresham had been one of the
last recruits to the plot,

and some of the plotters suspected him

of writing the
anonymous letter warning

that an attack on
parliament was imminent.

Like Guy Fawkes, Tresham
was brought here,

to the Tower of London
for questioning.

Tracy's meeting
historian Nicola Tallis

to look at the evidence
against Tresham.

- So Nicola, it takes three full days

from Guy Fawkes' naming
Tresham for him to be

arrested and brought here
to the tower, doesn't it?

- Yeah, that's absolutely right.

And that raises lots of
interesting questions in itself,

because why do they
wait that amount of time

before rounding him up?

Is it because he has played
what's considered to be

a relatively minor role
in the Gunpowder Plot?

Or is there something
more shady going on?

- Well, that is intriguing.

And would you say there were
any other causes for suspicion,

any other red flags, if you like?

- Well, his treatment here,
for example, raises suspicions

because Tresham was allowed visitors

in the form of his
wife and his servants.

And that puts him at complete odds

with his fellow conspirators,

none of whom are afforded
that sort of treatment.

- Not only was Tresham
allowed to receive visitors,

he was also permitted visits
from his personal doctor

when he was sick.

And when Tresham's health
deteriorated, Sir William Wade,

the left tenant of the Tower,

wrote to the king's right
hand man, Sir Robert Cecil.

- In this letter, he tells Cecil

about the fact that Tresham
is getting worse and worse,

but there's also another very
intriguing reference here.

So it says that for my
own opinion, if he escape,

it must be by great care.

- Oh, okay, so tell me more.

- Yeah, so there are two
ways of looking at this.

Tresham is already sick
by this point and may die,

therefore escaping the punishment

that would be coming his way.

Or he could be talking about escape

as in the literal sense of the word.

And somebody is actually
plotting to remove Tresham

from the Tower.

- The plot thickens, yet again.

Eight days later,

Tresham's doctor declared
him dead at the Tower.

But then there's a twist in the tale.

Shortly afterwards, a
contemporary account

claimed to have spotted
Tresham in Caligh.

One piece of research
offers an intriguing clue

as to what might have happened to him.

- This tells us that Francis
Tresham was actually successful

in escaping from the Tower
and made it as far as Madrid

where he lived under the
alias of Matthew Bruninge.

And historians have actually compared

and analysed Bruninge's handwriting

with that of Francis Tresham,

and the similarities are remarkable.

- So that's extraordinary.

Tresham might have actually
lived out his days in Madrid

with the knowledge of
the English authorities.

I mean, was he even working for Cecil

all along from the very moment
that he entered the plot?

- Yeah, absolutely.

That's also a very credible theory.

- As for the eight
members of the gang,

the Gunpowder Plot was
deemed so dangerous

that an Act of Parliament
would be passed

just to seal their fate as traitors.

I've come to the
parliamentary archives,

high up in the Palace of
Westminster's Victoria Tower.

4 million documents are stored here,

usually in total darkness,
including original copies

of every single law.

But I'm interested in just one.

So here it is.

Now this document is
over 400 years old.

I've been given special access to it,

and I have to handle
it very carefully.

It has a very elaborate name.

It's called an An Act for
the Attainder of Offenders

in the Late, Most
Barbarous, Monstrous,

Detestable and Damnable Treasons.

And the strength of that
language is to really ram home

that these are the worst crimes

that anyone could possibly commit.

An Act of Attainder is a
law passed by parliament

declaring someone guilty of a crime.

In this case, this declares Guy Fawkes

and the other surviving plotters,

and you can see their
names written right here

as being guilty of treason.

Crucially, this Act was
passed before their trial.

The trial itself would
be purely for show.

All that mattered

was that the plotters were
found guilty of treason

and executed.

They wouldn't be hung
like common criminals,

and they wouldn't be
beheaded like nobleman.

Instead, they were to face that
most terrible ordeal of all,

the traitor's death.

The day of reckoning was upon them.

(upbeat music)

In Janurary 1606, four of the
eight gunpowder plotters

held at the Tower of London
were put to death for treason.

Then it was the turn of Guy
Fawkes to face the scaffold.

On the 31st of January, 1606,

Guy Fawkes was taken from his
cell in the Tower of London.

He was tied behind a horse and
dragged two and a half miles

to Old Palace Yard in
the heart of Westminster.

He was to be executed in the
very shadow of the building

he had attempted to destroy.

(crowd shouting)

A huge crowd had gathered
in this very spot

to see his punishment.

According to one eyewitness
who watched Guy Fawkes

climb the scaffold,

it was clear that he'd
been tortured because,

he was scarcely able to move.

Fawkes would've been only too aware of

what lay in store for him.

He was to be cut down
while he was still alive,

to be drawn and courted.

It was a truly gruesome spectacle,

intended to send a clear message
to anyone who witnessed it.

If you commit treason
against the king,

this is the terrible
fate which awaits.

But the baying crowd didn't
get the spectacle they wanted.

The executioner's
rope snapped his neck

and he died instantly.

After enduring months of torture,

Fawkes had managed to avoid
the agony of a traitor's death.

The executions of the
Gunpowder gang were used

as a terrible public
warning for anyone

who threatened King James.

The Tower of London never
forgot their treason.

Hidden away far from the tourist
trail is a very different,

very secret memorial
to the 5th of November.

Tracy is visiting the ancient
King's house on Tower Green

to get a glimpse of it for herself.

(gentle music)

- Well, there it is,

an impressive plaque
over on the wall there,

and I don't actually
get to this very often,

so it's really exciting for me,

I've read about it so many times,

but to see it in the flesh
is really quite special.

(gentle music)

This memorial was made on
the orders of William Wade,

the left tenant of the tower
who interrogated Fawkes.

And if you look here, you
can see Fawkes' name listed

alongside the other plotters,

Robert Catesby, the
ringleader, Thomas Percy,

and then here, in rather
large letters, Wade himself.

Is quite a lavish monument,

and it marks an event of
national significance.

Wade was clearly proud of his role

in exposing the gunpowder plot.

So why did he tuck away
his memorial plaque here

in the council chamber?

Well, I think the clue to
that is in the location.

Because this is where
high status prisoners

would've been interrogated.

So this really is
psychological torture,

because those who were
interrogated here by Wade,

would've known full well what happens

to the Gunpowder plotters.

It was a warning, and it
must have struck terror

into the hearts of any
other would be traitors.

(gentle music)

- By planning to blow up parliament,

the Gunpowder plotters
had risked everything

to improve the lives of Catholics.

But their attack had not
only ended in failure,

but actually made the
persecution worse.

(upbeat music)

Catholics were now banned
from standing as MPs,

or holding any public office.

In 1613, it was even
proposed that Catholics

be made to wear red hats
or multicoloured stockings

to make them identifiable in public.

Now, thankfully, parliament
rejected the idea,

but it gives you a sense

of the extreme anti-Catholic feeling

in the years following
the Gunpowder Plot.

(bright upbeat music)

Things might have
changed in the 400 years

since the discovery
of the Gunpowder Plot,

but there's one thing that's
endured, the bonfires.

Historian, Rebecca
Riddel explains more.

So the bonfires on Bonfire
Night that we have now

are quite celebratory, quite joyful.

Where does that come from?

- I think we have to
remember that it actually was

a celebration of the
king and the country

being delivered from this
potentially catastrophic event.

And so King James very
much wanted this day marked

the 5th of November, and we
have an Act of Parliament

that goes through in 1606

that stipulates that it needs
to be commemorated legally,

everybody has to mark that occasion.

And bonfires were a
really well established

way of commemorating
and marking key events.

And that had been going on
for decades, centuries even,

before the Gunpowder Plot.

- James I insisted everyone

had to attend a church
service on the day,

and people celebrated with
bonfires in the evening.

In the 1600s, people threw
figures to burn on the fire

shaped like the Pope, or the devil.

Guy Fawkes himself only became
the face of Bonfire Night

in the 1700s.

So we still doing
this 400 years later,

which seems amazing to me,

and we shouldn't we still
be celebrating it now.

- I think what we perhaps would
benefit from remembering is

what the conspirators
were planning to do

is absolutely horrific and awful.

But a consequence of that
was that we had centuries

of discriminatory laws
against Catholics.

So I think maybe keep that in mind

while we're watching
Bonfire Night as well.

(fireworks popping)
(celebratory music)

- The law that insisted the
failure of the Gunpowder Plot

was celebrated every year
remained in place until 1859.

And we still mark the occasion today.

(bright upbeat music)

The nursery rhyme goes,

"Remember, remember
the 5th of November,

gunpowder, treason and plot."

(fireworks popping)

And when we gasp at the fireworks,

or we huddle around the bonfire
on a crisp, autumn evening,

how many of us are thinking

about the people who
almost blew up parliament,

or the terrible fate they
suffered after they were captured?

Are we celebrating
an act of rebellion,

or are we giving thanks that
the plotters were caught,

a disaster averted?

Maybe it's a little of both.

If Guy Fawkes had succeeded,
the course of British history

would've been changed forever.

And there's no doubt that his
plan to blow up parliament

has forever sealed itself
into our national memory.

(fireworks popping)

(upbeat music)