(part 1 of 8 parts)

Richard Hammond, of Top Gear and Brainiac fame, takes a look at the infamous Gunpowder Plot of 1605 in England; a conspiracy to destroy the Houses of Parliament in London during the State opening and thus remove the Protestant King James I of England and return it to a Catholic state.

Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament and a huge cache of gunpowder was discovered. The subsequent torture and confession of Guy Fawkes led to him being subject hanging, drawing and quartering and he passed into English legend.

Every year on the 5th November we celebrate "Guy Fawkes" night with bonfires topped with effigies of Guy himself, along with fireworks to symbolise what might have been.

Watch as the team reconstructs, using historic documents, the Houses of Parliament in full scale and then uses the same amount and type of gunpowder as documented to see what would have happened if Guy Fawkes had succeeded...

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I know of no reason,
Why gunpowder treason,
Should ever be forgot.