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.
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.
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