Introduction

Bodyguard is a British police-thriller television series created and written by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions as part of ITV Studios for the BBC.

The six-part series features Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes, and includes Gina McKee, Sophie Rundle, Vincent Franklin, Pippa Haywood, Paul Ready, Tom Brooke, Nicholas Gleaves, Stuart Bowman, Stephanie Hyam, David Westhead, Matt Stokoe, Nina Toussaint-White, Ash Tandon, and Anjli Mohindra.

Outline

Police Sergeant David Budd, an Afghanistan War veteran, is on a train to London Euston when he foils a suicide bomber’s plot to blow up the train. Due to his actions, both terrorists avoid being shot, enabling them to be arrested. His heroism results in his promotion to serve on the detail of Julia Montague, the Home Secretary.

There is tension between the two, with Montague’s steadfast support of the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan and plans to infringe civil liberties by updating RIPA conflicting with Budd’s experience as a soldier. Her ex-husband and Chief Whip Roger Penhaligon suspects her of exploiting the terrorist threat, and that she intends to launch a bid to replace the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, Budd struggles to deal with both his PTSD and his deteriorating relationship with his wife. Budd meets Andy Apsted, an old army friend, in the anti-war Veterans Peace Group. Apsted is disgusted with his friend’s new career.

Bodyguard Series

You can find a full index of the Bodyguard series here.

Production & Filming Details

• Creator(s): Jed Mercurio.
• Director(s): Thomas Vincent and John Strickland.
• Producer(s): Simon Heath, Jed Mercurio, Elizabeth Kilgarriff, Priscilla Parish, and Eric Coulter.
• Writer(s): Jed Mercurio.
• Music: Ruth Barrett and Ruskin Williamson.
• Cinematography: John Lee.
• Editor(s): Steve Singleton and Andrew John McClelland.
• Production: World Productions.
• Distributor(s): ITV Studios Global Entertainment.
• Original Network: BBC One.
• Release Date: 26 August 2018.
• Running Time: 60 minutes.
• Country: UK.
• Language: English.