Gunpowder (TV Mini Series)

Episode #1.3 (2017)

Mark Gatiss: Lord Robert Cecil

Quotes 

• Constable of Castille : Your Parliament opens in two days, does it not?

  Lord Robert Cecil : It does.

  Constable of Castille : The King will be present?

  Lord Robert Cecil : [sounding intrigued]  He will.

  Constable of Castille : And the Queen?

  Lord Robert Cecil : Yes, and the Prince, too.

  Constable of Castille : But not the Princess Elizabeth?

  Lord Robert Cecil : [wondering where this is leading]  No. She is in the country for her schooling.

  Constable of Castille : [grimly]  Then the Princess will survive. They mean to murder you all at opening of the Parliament. You will save the King's life by this generous intelligence, My Lord.

  Lord Robert Cecil : I am most grateful, Your Excellency, and rest assured this generosity will be met with the light liberality when the articles of the treaty are settled.

• [Lord Monteagle receives an anonymous letter as he is dining with Sir William Wade] 

  Sir William Wade : Something amiss, My Lord?

  Lord Monteagle : Most strange. Most strange.

  Sir William Wade : What is it, My Lord?

  Lord Monteagle : [reading the letter aloud]  "God and men have concurred to punish the wickedness of this time, and think not slightly of this advertisement but retire yourself into your country where you man expect the event in safety. For though there be no appearance of any stir, yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow, this Parliament."

  [scene change] 

  Lord Robert Cecil : [reading the letter aloud]  "Yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow, this Parliament, and yet they shall not see who hurts them."

  Lord Robert Cecil : My Lord Monteagle, you needs must show this to the King.

  [scene change: Cecil shows the letter to King James who is in bed] 

  Lord Robert Cecil : It is most likely written by a madman or a fool. Nevertheless I thought it the safest course to bring it to Your Majesty's attention since I was unable to decipher its meaning, and Your Majesty's gifts of interpretation being what they are...

  Sir Philip Herbert : My Lord, you must sleep.

  Lord Robert Cecil : I would not have presumed to disturb His Majesty's repose were it not for one line in this strange letter: "They shall not see who hurts them".

  Sir Philip Herbert : It makes no more sense than any of the rest.

  Lord Robert Cecil : His Majesty's father died by the hand of someone he never saw.

  Sir Philip Herbert : How did he die?

  King James I : [understanding the significance]  Destroyed as he slept in his bed by an explosion of powder.

  Sir Philip Herbert : [disdainfully, to Cecil]  You are playing one of your games, Master Secretary.

  Lord Robert Cecil : No, sir. Games, tricks, sporting pleasures - these are your domain. I am sworn to preserve the King's life.

  Sir Philip Herbert : You have been removed from the fireside and now seek to warm your backside by the means of this ruse.

  Sir Philip Herbert : [to the King]  He wants to play you like a lute, My Lord.

  King James I : [to Wade]  Sir William. Conduct your searches. Go to it, man!

  King James I : [to Cecil]  If this be a game, sir, it will be the last one you play.

• [Guy Fawkes has been arrested and brought before the King] 

  King James I : What do you have to say for yourself?

  Guy Fawkes : [defiantly]  Would that I wish I had blown you Scots all the way back to your mountains!

  [Fawkes is led away in chains by Wade] 

  King James I : [seizing Cecil's hand]  I will never doubt you again, My Lord.

  Lord Robert Cecil : [obsequiously]  You were master of your own salvation, sir. It was you who divined the meaning of the letter, not I.