Bodyguard: TV Preview at BFI Southbank

Created and written by Jed Mercurio, and starring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes, Bodyguard is a timely original six-part drama set in and around the corridors of power, coming soon to BBC One.

Working as a Specialist Protection Officer for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch (RaSP) of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, David Budd (Madden) is a heroic but volatile war veteran. On a train to Euston with his two children, he notice a suspicious man on the platform.

Right from the start of the episode, we can clearly feel the trauma Budd suffered from his time in Afghanistan. Fearing his PTSD might cost him his job, he has no other choice but to fight it constantly, and like many fellow soldiers, his refusal to seek treatment is impacting his family, from whom we soon realise he is estranged. His wife, while understanding, is wary of him and they are both visibly lonely but unable to overcome a trauma Budd denies suffering from.

It is this duality in him, the strength of his character combine with the violence of his trauma, that sets a darker tone to his personality and keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat for the whole 60 minutes of the episode. He is a complex individual who fought in Afghanistan and killed to free people from the terror induced by Al-Qaeda, but even though he is back in the UK, the battle is still raging in him.

It is after his successful handling of a suicidal bomber in a train to Euston that Budd is assigned to protect the ambitious and powerful Home Secretary, Julia Montague (Hawes), whose politics stand for everything he despises. Montague is a strong and opinionated woman with an agenda of her own and who refuses to have her day-to-day life dictated by her new bodyguard, be it for her safety or not. Inevitably, sparks fly between the two, while both stand their ground, wanting nothing more than to prove to the other there is a reason why they are so good at their respective jobs.

When Montague later learns that Budd is the officer responsible for saving so many lives on that train to Euston, she ask for a truce, but it is a short-lived one as her following controversial interview with Andrew Marr triggers the suspicions of her bodyguard regarding her true nature and positions on military matters.

As the story unfolds, Budd is definitely torn between his duty and his beliefs. Though responsible for her safety, could he become her biggest threat?

It is with a talent like no other that Jed Mercurio signs, once again, a brilliant and gripping drama for the BBC. We were promised this first episode was only the beginning of what was to come, and I am excited to see it on BBC One very soon.

Review by Helene COLIN.