Bodyguard - Season One Review

From its jaw dropping action sequences to its nail-biting moments of suspense, the BBC’s Bodyguard is an emotional rollercoaster ride from start to finish. The Investigative drama explores many of the important issues of our generation; from the effects of war and PTSD, to the complications of privacy in the modern world. Its extra-ordinary events are set against a relatable London backdrop which only helps to further invest the viewer into its excellent plot and characters.

The series centres around David Budd (Richard madden), an ex-military man who served in Afghanistan. Budd finds himself working for the metropolitan police and from the very beginning; we are thrust into a high stakes scenario aboard a train. David encounters a suicide bomber, and he must stop her from detonating an explosive device.

We see from this extremely tense opening scene that David is calm under pressure, but also that he is empathetic and compassionate, someone who’s willing to put himself in harm’s way for the sake of the greater good. However, David’s home life is stressed. His wife confesses to having an affair and the war in the Middle East is still haunting him.

This vulnerable side of David however is in stark contrast to his usual stone-faced demeanour when on the job, and when he is assigned to be the bodyguard for the home secretary Julia Montague, it becomes clear that David is almost two different people.

One is the loving family man, and the other is an emotionless professional badass, capable of doing anything to achieve the objective.

From the very first episode increasing levels of conflict are established in every scene as powerful forces pull David in opposing directions. His beliefs, his family, his career, his sense of purpose, all begin to collide into a thrilling and entertaining mess that you can’t look away from.

Keeley Hawes plays the Home secretary and she fits the role extremely well.

Julia is a calculated, confident and a fierce politician, but also someone who holds many of the same vulnerabilities as David. Soon enough the pair become close, blurring the lines between business and pleasure.

It’s in these moments that we come to realize that many of our previous assumptions about Julia are inaccurate, and this serves as a reminder that even high profile figures are in fact, just as human as we are.

The pair have excellent on screen chemistry and this adds yet another reason (apart from the killer action scenes) to keep watching. Bodyguard is also shot superbly and the attention to detail contributes a great deal to the feelings of mystery and espionage.

In many of the action scenes, we see tight shots and quick cuts. This creates a constant feeling of panic and confusion and certainly gets the blood pumping.

Throughout the series we see that nobody is ever completely trustworthy. It exposes a world that many of us have no experience with, a world of political scandal and state secrets from within the inner workings of number ten.

Bodyguard shines in its cliff-hanger moments. Moments where a seemingly impossible decision has to be made and where David’s opposing worlds collide.

My only real criticism is the ending. As much as it created a rather satisfying conclusion on the one hand, I couldn’t help but feel that it was all slightly thrown together at the last minute. There are many loose ends towards the final fifteen minutes of the last episode that some of the dialogue begins to sound forced and clunky.

There are multiple confessions from characters that seem to lay everything on the table, when in reality; I feel that they would continue to fight their case, especially under the circumstances that unfold.

The final twist however I did not see coming and as an overall viewing experience, I’d say that it’s one of the best UK Dramas of the last five years.

Bodyguard is a story about ordinary people in extra-ordinary circumstances, it’s about what happens when innocent people are caught in the crossfire between party politics, terrorist plots, and the media. All of this makes for a memorable and unique experience, and despite a few issues here and there, fantastic television.

If you're yet to check out the Bodyguard, it’s available to stream on BBC iPlayer.