The Bodyguard

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 Written by Jed Mercurio, produced by the BBC, and starring Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden. I was on the edge of my seat from about 4 minutes in and I stayed there. The Bodyguard is utterly gripping.

 I will not drip feed you the plot, there are no spoilers here, suffice it to say that set in the UK today it is both relevant and believable. Power, its uses and abuses are interestingly observed in a variety of ways.

 David Budd (Madden) war veteran turned protection officer, is assigned the role of Bodyguard to the Home Secretary Julia Montague (Hawes) 

 It's great to see Keeley Hawes back in full stride, playing a role that so becomes her. I am not a fan of The Durrell's, any of them. I am an Ashes to Ashes fan, to me she is forever immortalised as D.I. Drake. Here, she is back in kick ass mode playing a ruthless, ambitious politician who pulls no punches. 

 Jed Mercurio writes well for women, no paper cut out dolls here. Hawes gets to deliver some acerbic dialogue which she does with great superiority and withering looks. At last it feels like I am watching a true reflection of women in the workplace, in jobs we know they do but for some reason are never seen to be doing on our screens.

The character of Budd, haunted by his experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, his personal life in shreds is so tightly wound the tension is palpable. Madden perfectly conveys a calm and controlled man who is emotionally hanging by a thread. 

 Episode 1 is 60 minutes, starting Sunday, August 26th on BBC1 at 9 pm I recommend that you don't miss it.


 © Theresa Collins

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