Virtually everybody in the UK is talking about the new BBC drama/thriller Bodyguard. Starring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes, the BBC confirmed that the show attracted 8 million viewers for it's latest instalment. Over 10 million have now caught up with the opener, making it the biggest watched new drama in the UK in more than a decade.
Bodyguard is set in and around the corridors of power and tells the fictional story of David Budd, a heroic but volatile war veteran now working as a Specialist Protection Officer for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch (RaSP) He has been assigned to protect the ambitious and powerful Home Secretary Julia Montague.
It is riddled with plots, secrecy, betrayal, violence and explosions and has more twists and turns than a helter skelter. It is quite simply brilliant. So brilliant in fact that Netflix bought the distribution rights.
With the international rights secured, Netflix can show it in every available country outside the UK and Ireland from next month. Netflix had picked up the series at the script stage, without knowing it would become such a breakout hit. Whether or not they will secure an exclusive deal for a second season remains to be seen.
The show's writer, Jed Mercurio, looks unlikely to be lured to a rival broadcaster, having recently praised the BBC for backing Bodyguard “to the hilt”. One thing is for sure, if the rest of the world responds as favourably to the Bodyguard as the UK has, then Netflix is in for another bumper month!
