www.RICHARDCOYLE.com

GUNPOWDER, TREASON AND PLOT 'Robert Catesby'
OTHER CAST James I - Robert Carlyle Anne of Denmark - Sira Stampe Cecil - Tim McInnerny Lady Margaret - Emilia Fox Thomas Percy - Richard Harrington Guy Fawkes - Michael Fassbender Thomas Winter - Sam Troughton Francis Tresham - Patrick O'Kane Anne Tresham - Madalina Constantin	PRODUCTION CREDITS Director: Gillies MacKinnon Writer: Jimmy McGovern Producers: Gub Neal, Alan J Wands Director of Photography: Nigel Willoughby Production Designer: Andrew Harris Costume Designer: Nic Ede Make-Up Designer: Penny Smith Film Editor: Pia Di Ciaula Composer: John Keane Executive Producers: Elinor Day, Justin Thomson-Glover, Patrick Irwin (Box TV) Gareth Neame, Robert Cooper (BBC) Production company: Box TV production for BBC Northern Ireland	Click here to view Gunpowder Treason and Plot's full credit listing on the imdb.com
ADDITIONAL GENERAL: Gunpowder, Treason and Plot - new Jimmy McGovern drama for BBC TWO Award-winning writer Jimmy McGovern and film director Gillies MacKinnon bring the story behind the Gunpowder Plot to BBC TWO in two original films exploring the lives of Mary Queen of Scots and her son James 1st. Starring Robert Carlyle as James and French newcomer Clémence Poésy as Mary, Gunpowder, Treason and Plot also features Kevin McKidd, Emilia Fox, Tim McInnerny, Catherine McCormack, Richard Coyle, Daniela Nardini and Paul Nicholls . STORYLINE: Filmed entirely on location in Romania with key Scottish crew, McGovern's script concentrates on Mary's short-lived reign and the battles she has to fight with both her Protestant subjects and the English Queen, Elizabeth 1st (Catherine McCormack). She conspires with the Earl of Bothwell (McKidd) to assassinate her miscreant husband Lord Darnley (Nicholls). The story continues with her son James VI of Scotland (who, on Elizabeth's death, became James 1st of England), and the plot against his reign masterminded by the influential Catholic Robert Catesby (Coyle) - a plot planned by Guy Fawkes (played by newcomer Michael Fassbender ) to blow up the Houses of Parliament in order to rid the nation of an oppressive Protestant monarch. TRANSMISSION DATES: Shown on BBC TWO on Sunday 14 March and Sunday 21 March 2004 at 9.00pm. IMAGE: PROMOTIONAL INTERVIEW: Richard Coyle has shown himself equally at ease in comedy as drama. On television, his Welsh brogue was so convincing when he first played sex obsessed geek Jeff in BBC TWO's quirky comedy Coupling, that many viewers and fellow professionals took the accent to be his own. They wondered why off-screen he was known to support Sheffield Wednesday. His versatility is clear from parts such as John Ridd in BBC ONE's Lorna Doone, and the title role in the eerie series Strange, in which he played a former priest determined to hunt down dark forces. Now Coyle takes on the mantle of Catholic activist Robert Catesby. "I'm a history junkie and read about the past voraciously. I'm also a big fan of Jimmy McGovern's work so couldn't wait to see how Jimmy handled the Stuarts. The gunpowder story is out there in the popular consciousness - we all grew up with Bonfire Night, it's a symbol, it's a fascinating turning point in our history," says Coyle, for whom McGovern's script was a revelation. "Jimmy really understands passion and motivation. He made me look at the young men behind the Gunpowder Plot in a completely new way. Jimmy points up the harshness of their lives, their youth and their absolute belief in the Catholic faith. It's these devout beliefs, and years of persecution, which feed their passion, and fuel their sense of righteousness. All this helps them justify the taking of innocent lives. It's an extreme resolve. In reality it was an act of terrorism, and has uncomfortable parallels with today, which I hadn't really clocked before. I think most historians agree that Catesby was an angry and passionate man," comments Coyle. "What Jimmy develops is his drive - he's an all-or-nothing guy without being turned into a mad and bad zealot." However, forethought about his role didn't extend to packing for a Romanian shoot. "Last August was a really busy time for me and when I got the call, I just threw everything into my bags: jumpers, winter woollies, the lot. When I arrived the humidity and the baking heat was unbelievable - I literally had to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. Then working all trussed up in doublet and hose demanded mind over matter," laughs Coyle. So what did the cast do to cool off and unwind? Coyle replies cryptically, "We had a lot of fun, let's just say boys will be boys." Richard Coyle was born and bred in Sheffield, where he grew up with his four brothers, and remains the only sibling to become an actor. As a career path it only occurred to him when he was a student. After reading politics at York University, where he enjoyed amateur dramatics, he left determined to study at the prestigious Old Vic Theatre School. In an effort to raise funds, "I made a nuisance of myself and gained my first speaking role in Franco Zeffirelli's Jane Eyre, saying to William Hurt, 'Mr Rochester, Mr Rochester your house, Sir!'" Coyle is currently filming The Libertine, co-starring with Johnny Depp, John Malkovich and Samantha Morton.
BACK TO FULL CREDIT LIST