Bodyguard (British TV series)

For the South Korean television series with the same name, see Bodyguard (2003 TV series).

Bodyguard
Genre	Drama Political Thriller
Created by	Jed Mercurio
Written by	Jed Mercurio
Directed by	Thomas Vincent John Strickland
Starring	Richard Madden Keeley Hawes
Composers	Ruth Barrett Ruskin Williamson
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Simon Heath, Jed Mercurio, Elizabeth Kilgarriff
Producers	Priscilla Parish, Eric Coulter
Production locations	London, UK
Cinematography	John Lee
Editor	Steve Singleton (EP1-3) & Andrew John McClelland (EP4-6)
Running time	56 – 58 minutes
Production company	World Productions
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	26 August 2018 (2018-08-26) – present

Bodyguard is a British television drama series, created and written by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions for the BBC. The six-part series stars Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes. ITV Studios Global Entertainment handle international distribution for the series. The series began broadcasting on BBC One on 26 August 2018, achieving the highest viewing figures for a new BBC drama in the multichannel era.

The series is set around the fictional character of Police Sergeant David Budd, a heroic but volatile war veteran now working as a specialist protection officer for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service. He is assigned to protect the ambitious Home Secretary Julia Montague, whose politics stand for everything he despises.

Cast

• Richard Madden as Sergeant David Budd, a war veteran and Protection Command bodyguard. He is married to, but separated from, Vicky, with two children of primary school age. He and Montague develop a secret relationship.
• Keeley Hawes as The Right Honourable Julia Montague, the Home Secretary and Conservative MP for Thames West, and Roger Penhaligon's ex-wife. She and Budd's develop a secret relationship.
• Gina McKee as Commander Anne Sampson, Head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command.
• Sophie Rundle as Vicky Budd, David's estranged wife, and the mother of their two children. She informs David that she is in a new romantic relationship with unnamed man, and she works as a ward sister at a London hospital.
• Paul Ready as Rob MacDonald, Special Adviser to the Home Secretary.
• Vincent Franklin as Mike Travis, Minister of State for Counter-Terrorism.
• Stuart Bowman as Stephen Hunter-Dunn, Director General of MI5
• Nina Toussaint-White as Detective Sergeant Louise Rayburn, Counter Terrorism Command.
• Stephanie Hyam as Chanel Dyson, PR Adviser to Julia Montague.
• Tom Brooke as Andy Apsted, a war veteran and friend of David who leads the anti-war Veterans Peace Group.
• Matt Stokoe as Luke Aitkens, a mysterious man working with Dyson.
• Pippa Haywood as Chief Superintendent Lorraine Craddock, Head of Protection Command and Budd's superior.
• Nicholas Gleaves as The Right Honourable Roger Penhaligon, the Conservative Party Chief Whip, and Julia's ex-husband.
• Shubham Saraf as Tahir Mahmood, PR Adviser to Julia Montague.
• Claire-Louise Cordwell as Constable Kimberley "Kim" Knowles, a Protection Command bodyguard.
• Richard Riddell as Constable Tom Felton, a Protection Command bodyguard.
• Ash Tandon as Detective Chief Inspector Deepak Sharma, Counter Terrorism Command.
• David Westhead as John Vosler, the Prime Minister.

Episodes

No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
1	"Episode 1"	Thomas Vincent	Jed Mercurio	26 August 2018 (2018-08-26)	10.40
Sergeant David Budd, an Afghanistan war veteran and Metropolitan Police Protection Command officer, is on a train from Glasgow Central to London Euston when he intervenes and foils a plot to blow up the train. Due to his actions, both terrorist suspects avoid being shot by CTSFOs, enabling them to be arrested by Counter Terrorism Command. 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 on civil liberties by updating RIPA contrasting with Budd's experience as a soldier. Montague fires her adviser Chanel Dyson, who then tries but fails to blacken her reputation to the press. The Chief Whip (and her ex-husband) Roger Penhaligon suspect her of exploiting the terrorist threat for her own personal gain and that she intends to launch a bid to replace the Prime Minister John Vosler. Meanwhile, Budd struggles to deal with both his undisclosed PTSD and his deteriorating relationship with his wife, Vicky, from whom he is separated, and he is upset when he is informed by Vicky that she is in a new romantic relationship with an unnamed man. Budd meets Andy Apsted, an old army friend in the anti-war Veterans Peace Group. Andy, who was seriously injured whilst deployed, is disgusted with his friend's new career choice. After meeting with Andy, Budd loads an illegal Makarov pistol he has hidden in his flat.
2	"Episode 2"	Thomas Vincent	Jed Mercurio	27 August 2018 (2018-08-27)	10.00
Stephen Hunter-Dunn, Director General of MI5, informs Montague of intelligence that suggests a terrorist plan to attack Budd's children's school as retaliation for him foiling the train bombing. He advises her to keep it secret, fearing a member of the police might have leaked Budd's information to the terrorists. Montague later controversially transfers investigation of the foiled train bombing to MI5. The terrorist attack on the school is prevented by an ARV, but they manage to detonate the bomb in the street, killing five police officers. Budd's family is relocated to a safe house, and although he is temporarily removed from Montague's detail, she insists that he is reinstated. She also gets Budd's son offer of a place at a specialist school. Returning from a COBRA meeting, Montague's car comes under sniper fire that kills her driver, but she and Budd survive. Budd pursues and corners the sniper, revealed to be Andy, who kills himself. That evening, Budd and Montague sleep together. The next day he is instructed by Sampson and his superior, Lorraine Craddock, to record Montague's meetings. They also tell him she had prior knowledge that his children's school was a target.
3	"Episode 3"	Thomas Vincent	Jed Mercurio	2 September 2018 (2018-09-02)	10.16
Montague is given a tablet by a man named Longcross, containing compromising information about someone close to the Prime Minister. Budd is unable to find him in the PNC. Montague corners the PM at Chequers unannounced, and appears to blackmail him into organising a reshuffle that would allow her to take his place. Budd is interviewed by Counter Terrorism Command detectives, who seem unconvinced of his story about the sniper attack. RIPA 2018 passes the third House of Commons vote. Travis meets Penhaligon to express concern about Montague's relationship with MI5. Budd and Montague's sexual relationship begins to deteriorate when he accidentally attacks her during a PTSD fit. Before Montague gives her speech at St. Matthew's College, she tells Budd that she knew the name of his children's school because it was one of many that had been possible targets. She also tells him that she wants him by her side, not because it is his job, but through choice. As she is giving her speech, Budd sees her PR advisor Tahir outside the auditorium, but allows him in after checking his briefcase. However, seconds later, as a man is approaching Montague on stage, a bomb explodes just before Budd and Knowles can reach her, leaving her fate uncertain.
4	"Episode 4"	John Strickland	Jed Mercurio	9 September 2018 (2018-09-09)	N/A
It is revealed that Montague, PC Knowles and Tahir Mahmood were killed in the blast. Mike Travis, Montague’s junior Minister of State is appointed Acting Home Secretary and transfers responsibility for investigating the train bombers from MI5 back to Counter Terrorism Command. The police believe that Mahmood was responsible for the bombing, although there is video evidence that the explosion did not emanate from the briefcase. DCI Sharma and DS Rayburn also interview Budd and search his property and electronics. CCTV evidence from the House of Commons shows Rob MacDonald handing Mahmood the briefcase. Before he is interviewed by police, he meets Travis who tells him to stick to a re-arranged story and assures no traces of explosives will be linked to him. Budd attempts to commit suicide, but is unsuccessful due to an unknown party having accessed his flat and replaced bullets in his hidden pistol with blank rounds. Returning to Montague's hotel, he discovers the security footage has been tampered with to remove all trace of Longcross's visit. On orders from Sampson, he accompanies Rayburn to interview Nadia about the bomb maker that supplied her husband with the explosives for the foiled train attack, but she does not identify the bomb maker among the pictures she is shown, which include one of Mahmood.
5	"Episode 5"	John Strickland	Jed Mercurio	16 September 2018 (2018-09-16)	N/A
6	"Episode 6"	John Strickland	Jed Mercurio	23 September 2018 (2018-09-23)	N/A

External links

• Bodyguard at IMDb
• Bodyguard at BBC Online
• Bodyguard at epguides.com