The auditorium is in semi-darkness. Julia Montague, Home Secretary, is on stage giving her speech on combating terrorism. Sgt Budd, her bodyguard, sees a movement outside the hall, checks it out. Thinks it's a false alarm. But there is tension in a packed auditorium: a student protest, someone running in late, a pulsing soundtrack with a sense of foreboding grows frantic. The policewoman and sgt Budd see something and race toward the Home Secretary. There's a flash, an explosion. The aftermath isn't sensationalised. Darkness in the auditorium, and silence.
David Budd crouches over the body of Julia Montague, awaiting help.
Who was responsible and how was the assassination attempt effected? She had given a speech on anti-terrorism. 'You've won the House, now you must win the country. With a public appearance.' St Mathew's College is suggested. She demurs. She knows there's a security risk. At the last minute, her assistant Rob tells her he won't be accompanying her. That's suspicious. There's confusion over a laptop used for fact checks which we're told she needs. It's delivered once the speech is underway. All the while, Sgt Budd and policewoman are alert and watchful. What is it that each of them sees that sets them racing for the podium, toward the Home Secretary? There's a cameraman with tripod who comes into shot. But what happened?
What will happen next?
How do these three terrorism attempts connect? Who is behind it all, and to effect what?
Everyone is talking about Bodyguard. Speculating on where Jed Mercurio will take the next three episodes. The BBC cast list gives clues. There's a trauma surgeon who has not yet been introduced. We hear Julia Montague is seriously injured. Will she survive? The final shot implies that David Budd will become implicated because he knew Andy Smith, the shooter for the first assassination attempt. But everyone is implicated. Everyone is spying, lying, being sparing with the truth. But David Budd is vulnerable, having no power. King Lear's recognition that the law protects the rich and powerful. The poor are on their own.
The voices of John Humphreys, Martha Kearney, et al are a backdrop. And BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg who was herself given a bodyguard during the last Labour Party Conference, and subsequently!
The claustrophobic atmosphere of the corridors of power! And it's not simply loneliness we see in a beleaguered Home Secretary, it's desolation.
Over a chat, I hear first-hand from the officer on the gate when Airey Neave was assassinated.
Walking Scout Scar on a beautiful early September day, cloud sat low over Red Screes. Cloud felt like a metaphor for Bodyguard, impenetrable cloud. Or the mycelium hidden beneath larch trees, a spreading network of threads essential to the trees. All you see are a few fruit bodies in an orbit around the larch. You know the mycelium is there but you cannot see it at all. And it's workings are arcane.
Who was responsible and how was the assassination attempt effected? She had given a speech on anti-terrorism. 'You've won the House, now you must win the country. With a public appearance.' St Mathew's College is suggested. She demurs. She knows there's a security risk. At the last minute, her assistant Rob tells her he won't be accompanying her. That's suspicious. There's confusion over a laptop used for fact checks which we're told she needs. It's delivered once the speech is underway. All the while, Sgt Budd and policewoman are alert and watchful. What is it that each of them sees that sets them racing for the podium, toward the Home Secretary? There's a cameraman with tripod who comes into shot. But what happened?
What will happen next?
How do these three terrorism attempts connect? Who is behind it all, and to effect what?
Everyone is talking about Bodyguard. Speculating on where Jed Mercurio will take the next three episodes. The BBC cast list gives clues. There's a trauma surgeon who has not yet been introduced. We hear Julia Montague is seriously injured. Will she survive? The final shot implies that David Budd will become implicated because he knew Andy Smith, the shooter for the first assassination attempt. But everyone is implicated. Everyone is spying, lying, being sparing with the truth. But David Budd is vulnerable, having no power. King Lear's recognition that the law protects the rich and powerful. The poor are on their own.
The voices of John Humphreys, Martha Kearney, et al are a backdrop. And BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg who was herself given a bodyguard during the last Labour Party Conference, and subsequently!
The claustrophobic atmosphere of the corridors of power! And it's not simply loneliness we see in a beleaguered Home Secretary, it's desolation.
Over a chat, I hear first-hand from the officer on the gate when Airey Neave was assassinated.
Walking Scout Scar on a beautiful early September day, cloud sat low over Red Screes. Cloud felt like a metaphor for Bodyguard, impenetrable cloud. Or the mycelium hidden beneath larch trees, a spreading network of threads essential to the trees. All you see are a few fruit bodies in an orbit around the larch. You know the mycelium is there but you cannot see it at all. And it's workings are arcane.
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