See Kit Harington and Liv Tyler in Gunpowder for the first time

The Game Of Thrones actor plays Robert Catesby in the forthcoming BBC One drama Gunpowder, a Warwickshire gentleman who was the mastermind behind the plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament on November 5 1605.

Guy Fawkes, the figure that many viewers will be more familiar with, is played by Downton Abbey’s Tom Cullen and can be seen alongside Harington in a first-look trailer.

The newly released promo shows a trail of gunpowder leading to a cellar where Fawkes is waiting, but when the camera pans further round it shows Catesby standing behind him narrating the clip.

He explains what has led him to create the drastic plot, ramping up the tension for what is sure to be a highly anticipated three-part series in the autumn.

Released alongside the trailer are three new images showing Harington as Catesby, Lord Of The Rings star Tyler as his cousin Lady Anne Vaux who also became embroiled in the plot, and Edward Holcroft as another of the conspirators, Thomas Wintour.

Gunpowder will explore the events behind the famous plot and will also feature Mark Gatiss as Robert Cecil, the spymaster-in-chief of King James I (Derek Riddell) who pursued the conspirators in a cat-and-mouse game.

Peter Mullan (Top Of The Lake), Shaun Dooley (Broadchurch) and Robert Emms (Happy Valley) will also star in the series, of which Harington is a co-executive producer.

The three hour-long episodes will be shown this autumn on Saturday nights on BBC One.