In 1605 a group of English Roman Catholics (who would be called 'extemists' or 'terrorists' today) attempted to assassinate King James I and his Parliament as the first stage in a coup d'etat which would lead to the restoration of Catholicism as the national faith. Their plan was to detonate a huge stock of gunpowder in the cellars beneath the Palace of Westminster (which were available for rent in those days). Fortunately - or not, depending on your point of view - the plot was betrayed before it could be carried out.
400 years later British TV had the happy idea of trying to find out what would have happened if the explosion had taken place. They found a site on a remote army artillery range (the location was supposedly a "military secret" but I reckon it was Warcop in Cumbria) where they rebuilt the Houses of Parliament of the early 1600's using authentic construction methods and used crash-test dummies to stand in for the people. They ordered a huge amount of gunpowder from a traditional manufacturer in Spain, put it in place and set it off.
The results were awesome. The buildings were devastated and body parts and wreckage were strewn over a huge area. There would have been few survivors if the original plotters had succeeded, and English history would have been very different.
The programme combined the recreation of the explosion itself with telling the story of the Gunpowder Plot (still celebrated with fireworks and bonfires in the UK every November 5th). The history was OK but for once a piece of recreation stole the show. The sight of the explosion and an entire building being ripped apart was unforgettable.
400 years later British TV had the happy idea of trying to find out what would have happened if the explosion had taken place. They found a site on a remote army artillery range (the location was supposedly a "military secret" but I reckon it was Warcop in Cumbria) where they rebuilt the Houses of Parliament of the early 1600's using authentic construction methods and used crash-test dummies to stand in for the people. They ordered a huge amount of gunpowder from a traditional manufacturer in Spain, put it in place and set it off.
The results were awesome. The buildings were devastated and body parts and wreckage were strewn over a huge area. There would have been few survivors if the original plotters had succeeded, and English history would have been very different.
The programme combined the recreation of the explosion itself with telling the story of the Gunpowder Plot (still celebrated with fireworks and bonfires in the UK every November 5th). The history was OK but for once a piece of recreation stole the show. The sight of the explosion and an entire building being ripped apart was unforgettable.