I WAS surprised to see a new BBC primetime drama starring Worcester’s own Kit Harington had been receiving criticism in recent days.

The drama, Gunpowder, is focused on the plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 so you could imagine this was never going to be fluffy Saturday night entertainment.

My surprise did not come from the criticism - new dramas are often slammed before being given a chance - it was the type of criticism, specifically the “it is too gruesome” and it had “graphic scenes of violence”.

The violence these viewers focused on in the opening episode included close-up scenes of a young priest being hung, drawn and quartered and a woman stripped naked before being crushed to death.

One viewer labelled it “grotesque and completely unnecessary” while the majority, more than 50 per cent, in a poll on the Radio Times website said it was “too gory”.

I get that this was bold television, and not for everyone. But I mean, come on, too gory - it sounds like something from that famous moral campaigner, Mary Whitehouse’s, letters.

I thought we were passed all this.

Other viewers wrote one scene was “one of the most painful things I’ve ever witnessed on TV”, while another said they had been traumatised.

Don’t get me wrong, this is what freedom of speech is all about - but we should put this programme in context.

Firstly, it was screened after the watershed. Maybe by only minutes, but it was still after that crucial 9pm cut off point. And secondly, guess what, it was preceded by a warning.

If violence isn’t your thing, you have a choice. In this digital age there are other channels to choose from. You could even go and do something else. No one forces anyone to watch anything.

Harington, who plays his ancestor Robert Catesby in the three-part drama, has even been asked about this situation, with him saying the violence was justified by the context. A good point, but he shouldn’t be having to defend the programme.

The sad thing is, none of this criticism is part of an actual review - it’s just people focusing on violence. It is a shame for the team behind it, the result of their hard work not being given a fair chance.