Cumbria Naturally
  • Home
  • Blog
  • My Books
    • Cumbrian Contrasts
    • A Lakeland Experience >
      • Introduction
      • Derwent
      • Langdale
      • Ullswater
      • Kentdale
    • About Scout Scar
    • Atlantic Odyssey
  • Other Writing
    • What Larks!
    • Further - Explore Shetland
    • Autumn Migration
    • Rydal and Nab Scar
    • Perspectives
    • The River Kent
    • Wings
  • Gallery
  • Contact

Bodyguard: a high calibre thriller

28/8/2018

0 Comments

 
 Home Secretary Julia Montague is assigned a  bodyguard, Sgt David Budd. The calibre of ‘Bodyguard’ is breath-taking. Jed Mercurio’s drama drives fast and clean through terrorist plots and at high velocity through rivalries, power-seeking and  machinations  within government. There are threats all around. There’s subterfuge and ambiguity, but a powerful narrative arc cuts through it all.  Whom do we trust?  Not Anne Sampson, the Head of Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command,  played by Gina McKee. Did she deliberately withhold back-up when  Julia Montague’s vehicle came under fire in an assassination attempt?  Montagu believes so.

When the Home Secretary’s bodyguard confronts the shooter he recognises his pal whom he fought with in Afghanistan.  A veteran who blames government, and specifically Julia Montague, for all that UK forces endured . He wants revenge.  Will David Budd  heed those last words before the man shoots himself: 'you've got to  finish the job, someone's got to stop  her. Get it done.'  The revenge theme of soldiers being sent to fight for their country, then being forgotten  harks back to the time of Elizabeth 1, and Shakespeare. No change there.
Mike Travis,  Minister of State for Counter Terrorism festers with resentment when excluded from private meetings held by Julia Montague. 'She must be stopped,' he mutters. Shades of Revenge, echoes of 'Hamlet.'
An assassination attempt on the Home Secretary sets the heart pounding.  The loneliness of high office and the sheer courage of protection officer and Home Secretary is moving.  After an assassination attempt she  is assigned secure quarters with a room that interconnects with David Budd, her bodyguard.  Who crosses that threshold first?  Can’t but remember Anne Sampson's chilling instruction to Budd that she wants the Home Secretary watched and under surveillance.  She arranged those interconnecting rooms. Are they being watched? 'Hamlet' again.  Spies are everywhere, everyone is spying and being spied upon. And disaster at the heart of the state will ricochet.  We are all collateral, as Budd tells the terrified Muslim woman co-erced by her husband to wreck a train and its passengers.
Keeley Hawes as Home Secretary is superb.  So is Richard Madden as her bodyguard. You don’t want to miss a word in this drama and Hawes' clarity ensures that you don’t .  Their courage and resilience under constant threat and the relentless pressures of the job. Home Secretary, Amber Rudd was called upon to take part in a televised pre-election debate, a day or so after her father died.  It took true grit to do that, a commitment to serve. Amber Rudd writes in The Sunday Times that she is watching 'Bodyguard.'  Mercurio's drama reminds us how much we ask of police, security service all first responders  and politician as they strive to keep us safe.
It's rumoured that RIchard Madden might reprise this role.  Bring back Amber Rudd too.  
 Presented with a drama as compelling as Bodyguard, i player is a boon.  Don’t lose concentration for a second. Where were we when Sgt David Budd hid a firearm behind wooden panelling, and sealed it so he’d know if anyone tampered with it?  What’s he planning?  We know from the first he disagrees with the political direction Julia Montague is travelling.  But as his intimacy with her develops how will  their personal relationship affect their views, their actions?  
Interesting that Jed Mercurio says he starts with a script, chooses the actors he believes can best deliver it.  Roles are gender-neutral, he says. Simply the best actor for the role. 
It's not often a drama of this quality comes our way.  Bring on  next Sunday’s third episode.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Jan Wiltshire is a nature writer living in Cumbria. She also explores islands and coast and the wildlife experience. (See Home and My Books.)

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    November 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    April 2010
    January 2010
    November 2009
    January 2009
    January 2004

    Categories

    All
    A Local Patch
    Birdlife
    Butterflies And Moths
    Flowers
    Locations
    Views
    Walks
    Weather
    WIldlife

    RSS Feed

Website
Home
Blog
Gallery
Contact



​Cookie Policy
My Books
  • Intro - My books
  • ​Cumbrian Contrasts
  • A Lakeland Experience
  • About Scout Scar
  • Atlantic Odyssey
    ​
Other Writing
  • Intro - Other Writing
  • What Larks!
  • Further - Explore Shetland
  • Autumn Migration
  • Rydal and Nab Scar
  • Perspectives
  • The River Kent
  • Wings
Jan Wiltshire - Cumbria Naturally
© Jan Wiltshire 2021 All rights reserved
Website by Treble3