New to Lightbox in January

Lightbox has picked up an explosive new BBC drama series starring Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington.

Gunpowder, which dramatises Guy Fawkes’ attempt to blow up Parliament, will stream from January 25.

The three-part series, which also stars Liv Tyler, Peter Mullan and Mark Gatiss, focuses on Harington’s character, Robert Catesby, the Catholic who engineered the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

“Gunpowder is a welcomed and strong tonic for Thrones fans as they wait for the final season of the Emmy-winning series based on George R. R. Martin ‘s books to premiere in 2019,” said Deadline Hollywood.

“While there are no dragons, there is a battle for who will rule in the historical drama and Harington’s 17th century-set Robert Catesby is very much in the Jon Snow vein.”

“If you go in with an open spirit and let yourself get swept up in the accents and facial hair, you’ll almost certainly enjoy Harington,” agreed Entertainment Weekly.

“One of Gunpowder’s chief virtues, aside from its fine cast and handsome look, is its relative brevity,” Variety said. “In an age in which thin stories are often stretched on the rack to produce 10 or 13 hours, Gunpowder lives fast, dies young, and doesn’t overstay its welcome.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported Gunpowder’s brutality wasn’t exaggerated.

From a woman being crushed to death with weights, to the gruesome sight of a victim being hanged and then cut to pieces by an executioner, the BBC drama Gunpowder has left viewers shocked by its scenes of violence and torture. However, far from being gratuitous or inaccurate, the horrors are merely a faithful depiction of what happened at the time.

That is the view of John Cooper, a historian who acted as a consultant to the three-part series … Dr Cooper, a senior lecturer in early modern history at the University of York, said that it was probably “one of the most graphic representations” seen on British television of the tortures and executions of the Tudor and Stuart period.

Another of Lightbox’s exclusives next month is Loudermilk, a comedy about a substance abuse counsellor (Ron Livingstone) who has issues of his own, that The Hollywood Reporter thought “smart and searing“:

Created by director Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber) and writer Bobby Mort (The Colbert Report), Loudermilk is the second surprising offering from AT&T’s Audience Network, following the acclaimed Mr. Mercedes.

It’s also more proof that really good series are being created on a lot of really diverse platforms, and if your intention is tracking down quality, it may take more effort than you imagined.

It streams from January 8 while fans of Suits and Electric Dreams can enjoy new episodes (the former from a date still to be announced, the latter from January 23).

The rest of Lightbox’s January highlights include:

• Westside (season 3, from January 1)
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine (season 4, from January 1)
• The Office (seasons 1-9 of the US version, from January 823)
• Watching Ellie (seasons 1-2, from January 11)
• 800 Words (season 2, from January 15)
• Homeland (season 6, from January 16)
• Night Shift (seasons 1-4, from January 20)
• Step Dave (seasons 1-2, from January 29)
• Up All Night (seasons 1-2, from January 30).