Episode #1

Debut date: MONDAY, DEC. 18 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)

England, 1603: After the death of Elizabeth I, English Catholics are persecuted and mass is forbidden under the rule of King James I (Derek Riddell). In Warwickshire, a small, secret ceremony is interrupted by the King's men, who are searching for a young Jesuit priest (Thom Ashley). When the priest and the lady of the house, Dorothy Dibdale (Sian Webber), are captured and gruesomely executed, a young nobleman, Robert Catesby (Kit Harington), resolves to avenge his kin and defend his faith by any means necessary. Meanwhile, in London, Secretary of State Lord Robert Cecil (Mark Gatiss) advises the King to bring down a heavy hand on the papists, ordering William Wade (Shaun Dooley), lieutenant of the Tower of London, to hunt down Catesby and Father Henry Garnet (Peter Mullan), the head Catholic in England.

Written by Ronan Bennett; directed by J Blakeson.