The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend (2005)

Curiosidades

The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend is a British television show, hosted by Richard Hammond, that recreated elements of the Gunpowder Plot in which Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the House of Lords.

Production

When approached with the idea of building a full-size replica of Parliament, stuffing the basement with gunpowder and blowing it up, presenter Richard Hammond considered it a hoax, saying that he "simply did not believe that anyone would be crazy enough to recreate the Gunpowder Plot."

Production of the documentary took six months. While historical research was underway in England, Hammond and explosives expert Sidney Alford had to travel to Spain to buy some gunpowder, as not enough was available in the UK. They were stopped at the French border by customs because, "perhaps unsurprisingly, our expert turned out to be contaminated with traces of just about every form of explosive known to man, triggering a security alert."

The 7 July 2005 London bombings occurred during the programme's production, prompting concerns about the subject matter. Hammond insisted on continuing production, believing that the attacks made the documentary more relevant than ever:

There were those who said we should stop our project, that it was insensitive. I disagreed. This is, after all, the story of a young man who felt persecuted in his country, who travelled abroad to learn how to use explosives and returned prepared to perpetrate an appalling act of terrorism - and if that rings a bell, so it should.

For the reconstruction of Parliament, production designer Jo Manser was given the task. Manser said the set (to scale as it was in 1605: 11m by 23m and 16m high) required a production crew of 45 people, and cost £200k. The set was built between July and September 2005. AP structural engineers were consulted to assess the equations used building the structure to ensure accuracy and safety.

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