Tim McInnerny: From Blackadder Buffoon to Ruthless Tudor Mastermind in Jimmy McGovern's Explosive Drama

The Evolution of a Chameleon

For anyone who grew up on the buffoonish Lord Percy in Blackadder or the weaselly Captain Darling, the sight of Tim McInnerny in Jimmy McGovern's Gunpowder, Treason and Plot is a genuine jolt. Within seconds, all comfortable familiarity evaporates, replaced by the menacing, skeletal presence of Lord Robert Cecil—the ruthless Privy Councillor who pulled the strings behind Elizabeth I and James I.

McInnerny, now in his late 50s, has spent decades proving he's no one-trick pony. "It's funny what you get known for as an actor," he shrugs. "I loved Blackadder, and we had a ball making it. I'm really proud of the series, but bizarrely, I've spent the minority of my time in comedies." That's an understatement from a man who has terrorized audiences as the paranoid schizophrenic Eric in Trial & Retribution and cavorted as Frank 'n' Furter in the West End's Rocky Horror Show.

The Script That Changed Everything

When the script for Gunpowder, Treason and Plot landed on McInnerny's desk, he was floored. "Frankly, it's the best script I've read in the last ten years," he admits. "I was desperate to get the part." The drama, written by the legendary Jimmy McGovern, explores the tumultuous reign of the Stuarts and the Powder Plot that nearly blew Parliament sky-high. But McInnerny's Cecil is the dark heart of the story—a man who would sacrifice anyone for his vision of a unified England and Scotland.

Director Gillies MacKinnon and McInnerny spent hours discussing how to approach Cecil, but ultimately let the script guide them. "I'd read a certain amount, various background books, but more really to get a feel and sense of the period," McInnerny explains. "It was an interesting time, and I wanted to get into the mind-frame of that world." He adds a pragmatic caveat: "If we were being entirely historically accurate, I would never have got the part. Cecil was an extremely short man, who was also a hunchback. There comes a point, particularly when making a drama set in a contentious period in history, when you follow the script."

The First Modern Politician

McInnerny sees Cecil as a proto-modern figure—a visionary willing to cross any line. "I see Cecil as the first modern politician, a man who had a vision of England and Scotland as a single state," he says. "The fanatic within him would die for this abstract idea—he would do whatever it takes to preserve the state. The state is his only love, embodied in the legacy of Elizabeth I."

This fanaticism is what makes Cecil so compelling. McGovern's script doesn't take sides—Cecil, the King, the Catholics, the Protestants—all are driven by their own unshakable beliefs. "Everybody's a fascinating character," McInnerny enthuses. "I've very rarely read a piece that's got something like 15 characters, all with their psychological reasons for why they do what they do. It's Jimmy's exploration of different forms of fanaticism."

A Career of Masterful Turns

McInnerny's résumé reads like a masterclass in versatility. He played the title role in Hamlet at the Royal National Theatre, calling it "a great role to play—you get all the psychological complexity, and he gets to tell great jokes too!" Pop culture fans remember his cameo in Westlife's Comic Relief video Uptown Girl. Cinemagoers loved him in Disney's 101 Dalmatians and 102 Dalmatians, and in Notting Hill with Julia Roberts. "Julia was lovely and very professional," McInnerny recalls. "She knew all the names of the crew within three days—a feat I still hadn't mastered by the end of the shoot."

His latest feature, The Emperor's New Clothes with Ian Holm, is currently showing nationwide. But it's Gunpowder, Treason and Plot that has him buzzing. "Doing this kind of work is the reason I enjoy acting," he says. "It's the nearest thing I've done on telly or film to Shakespeare on stage."

From Cecil to Spooks

Next up, McInnerny dives back into the murky world of high-level intelligence as Oliver Mace, an old adversary of Harry's in BBC One's acclaimed thriller Spooks. "Who is... a ruthless manipulator consumed with ambition," McInnerny laughs. "I must be getting quite good at them." The irony isn't lost—he's once again playing a man who uses secrets as weapons, much like Cecil.

The Legacy of a Shape-Shifter

What makes McInnerny's Cecil so memorable is the quiet menace. He doesn't bellow or grandstand; he calculates. Every glance feels like a political maneuver. The duel between Cecil and King James (played with brilliant petulance by Robert Carlyle) becomes a psychological chess match. "The power duel between the ruthlessly manipulative Privy Councillor and the King is a separate story, unravelling behind the thrust of the Gunpowder Plot," McInnerny explains. "Cecil trains and grooms the new king in politics until, ironically, James doesn't need him anymore."

For fans of Blackadder, McInnerny's transition is a stark reminder of acting's power. The same man who once accidentally burnt down a house with a crossbow (Percy's finest moment) now commands the screen with a chilling stillness. That's the mark of a true artist—always reinventing, always surprising.

As the BBC's press pack (pun intended) storms the airwaves, McInnerny is basking in a renaissance. He's the actor who can do comedy, tragedy, horror, and history—often in the same week. And with Spooks on the horizon, audiences will have plenty more chances to be frightened, thrilled, and dazzled by a man who makes every role feel like the one he was born to play.

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