Bodyguard is a British political drama television series created and written by Jed Mercurio. It was produced by World Productions for ITV Studios and aired on the BBC. The six-part series follows Police Sergeant David Budd (played by Richard Madden), a British Army veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He now works for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service. His job is to protect Home Secretary Julia Montague (played by Keeley Hawes), a political leader whose views he strongly disagrees with. The series explores topics such as government surveillance of private information, the challenges of dealing with terrorism, and the effects of PTSD.

The series first aired on BBC One on August 26, 2018. It had the highest number of viewers for a new BBC drama during the multichannel era and the highest BBC viewership since 2008. The BBC ordered the series from World Productions in 2016. After ITV Studios Global Entertainment bought World Productions in 2017, the company managed the series' international distribution. Netflix signed a deal to show the series outside the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The series received praise from critics, especially for Richard Madden's performance. It was nominated for many awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama. Richard Madden won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. The series was also nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards.

Cast and characters

• Richard Madden plays PS David Budd, a Scottish soldier who served in Afghanistan and now works as a Principal Protection Officer (PPO) at Protection Command. His experiences in the war have caused him to struggle with PTSD, leading to mood swings and distrust of politicians. He is assigned to protect Julia Montague, a politician he strongly disagrees with, which creates a difficult situation for him.
• Sophie Rundle plays Vicky Budd, David’s wife and mother of their two children. She works as a nurse at a London hospital. David’s unpredictable behavior and PTSD since returning from Afghanistan caused their relationship to become distant.

• Keeley Hawes plays The Rt Hon. Julia Montague MP, the Home Secretary and a Conservative Party member for the fictional area of Thames West. Montague is believed to want to become Prime Minister. She has proposed changes to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, called "RIPA-18" and "The Snoopers’ Charter," which would give police and security agencies more power to monitor personal communications. These proposals have made her many enemies.
• Vincent Franklin plays Mike Travis MP, the Minister of State for Counter-Terrorism. He becomes upset when he is not included in Montague’s discussions with MI5.
• Nicholas Gleaves plays The Rt Hon. Roger Penhaligon MP, the Government Chief Whip and a Conservative Party member for Surrey North. He was previously married to Montague and is now suspicious of her political goals.
• David Westhead plays The Rt Hon. John Vosler MP, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party.
• Paul Ready plays Rob MacDonald, a Special Advisor to the Home Secretary who has feelings for Montague.

• Gina McKee plays Commander Anne Sampson, the Head of Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) and the superior of Deepak Sharma. Sampson is worried about Montague’s preference for MI5 and asks Budd for help.
• Pippa Haywood plays CSI Lorraine Craddock, Budd’s commanding officer at Protection Command, who assigns him to protect Montague.
• Ash Tandon plays DCI Deepak Sharma, a senior detective in SO15 who is investigating recent terrorist attacks. He begins to suspect Budd as the investigation continues.
• Nina Toussaint-White plays DS Louise Rayburn, an SO15 officer working under Sharma who starts collaborating with Budd.

• Stuart Bowman plays Stephen Hunter-Dunn, the Director General of the Security Service (MI5). His surveillance powers would be greatly increased by RIPA-18. Montague’s support for MI5 creates tension between him and Sampson.
• Michael Shaeffer plays "Richard Longcross," an MI5 officer working under Hunter-Dunn who becomes involved in a conflict with Budd.

• Tom Brooke plays Andrew "Andy" Apsted, a war veteran and friend of Budd’s. Apsted was physically and mentally injured during his time in Afghanistan and leads the fictional "British Peace Group," which is accused of copying the logo of the real-life group Veterans for Peace without permission.
• Matt Stokoe plays Luke Aikens, a leader of an organized crime group who wants to harm the Home Secretary.
• Anjli Mohindra plays Nadia Ali, who was involved with her husband in an attempt to bomb a train heading to London.

• Matthew Stagg plays Charlie Budd, David and Vicky’s 8-year-old son. Charlie attends Heath Bank Primary School in Camberwell.
• Bella Padden plays Ella Budd, David and Vicky’s 10-year-old daughter. Ella also attends Heath Bank Primary School in Camberwell.

• Shubham Saraf plays Tahir Mahmood, Montague’s public relations adviser.
• Stephanie Hyam plays Chanel Dyson, a former public relations adviser to the Home Secretary who was fired by Montague.

• Claire-Louise Cordwell plays Constable Kim Knowles, a Protection Command bodyguard who works with Budd.
• Richard Riddell plays Constable Tom Fenton, a Protection Command bodyguard who works with Budd.

Production

The series was mostly filmed in real places in London, such as the Whittington Estate for Budd's apartment and Battersea for Montague's apartment. The explosion scenes in the last episode were filmed near CityPoint close to Moorgate and at Woburn Square and Senate House in Bloomsbury.

The train scenes in the first episode were filmed on the Mid-Norfolk Railway.

BBC reporters, including Andrew Marr, John Pienaar, John Humphrys, and Laura Kuenssberg, appear in the series as themselves.

Reception

The first episode of the series was watched by 6.8 million people on BBC One. An additional 3.6 million people watched it later on iPlayer or other platforms, making the total number of viewers over 10.4 million. This was the highest number of viewers for a BBC drama premiere. It was also the most-watched non-soap drama among people aged 16 to 34 during the year. The final episode was watched by an average of 10.4 million people live on BBC One, with as many as 11 million people watching at the end. This made it the most-watched BBC drama since the Doctor Who Christmas special in 2008.

Many viewers watched the series on iPlayer after it aired, leading to discussions about how the media should handle spoilers. Radio Times shared details about what happened to a character named Montague in a story on its cover during the show’s original broadcast.

On the review website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 71 critics gave the series positive reviews. The site’s summary says the show keeps viewers excited with its suspenseful story. Metacritic, which calculates scores based on reviews, gave the series a score of 79 out of 100, based on 12 critics, showing that most reviews were favorable.

Variety’s Daniel D’Addario wrote that the series is exciting and keeps viewers hooked. He said the show mixes deep character exploration with surprising twists and that the actor Madden’s performance is very convincing. Allison Keene from Collider praised the actors, especially Madden, and called the show exciting. Judy Berman from Time said the show uses thriller ideas in new ways. Lucy Mangan from The Guardian gave it five stars and called it dark and addictive. Hanh Nguyen from IndieWire called the show non-stop and said the acting was amazing. Robert Rorke from the New York Post said the show is exciting and that Madden’s acting is strong.

Robert Lloyd from the Los Angeles Times said some parts of the show felt strange and that some surprises made him talk to the screen. However, he said the action was well done and the suspense was tight. Sophie Gilbert from The Atlantic said the actor Hawes’s performance was good but that the show used common character types, which sometimes made it less impressive.

Alex Bomberg, CEO of Intelligent Protection International Limited, said on BBC Radio 5 Live that the relationship between a character named Budd and his charge would be considered unprofessional and risky. Detective Chief Inspector Steve Ray from the Royal and Specialist Protection Command told the BBC that relationships with people being protected must be strictly professional. He said anyone who broke these rules would be quickly removed from their job.

Red Nose Bodyguard

A skit called Red Nose Bodyguard was filmed to help raise money for Comic Relief. It included many actors from the series and performances by Joanna Lumley, Adrian Dunbar, and Sanjeev Bhaskar. The skit first aired on Red Nose Day 2019 on March 15, 2019.

Production Designer Jamie Lapsley worked together again with Jed Mercurio on this skit, after they successfully collaborated on the original series.