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The Bodyguard (2018)

2018 · Crime,Drama,Mystery · spy-contemporary, political-drama, crime-procedural

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Bodyguard is a high-octane BBC thriller set in contemporary London, following war veteran and Metropolitan Police protection officer David Budd (Richard Madden) as he is assigned to guard a Home Secretary whose politics he despises, while managing severe PTSD. The show opens with one of the most celebrated action sequences in recent British television and sustains relentless tension across its six-episode run. It sits in a zone between prestige drama and pure thriller spectacle — propulsive plot mechanics and bravura set-pieces carry the weight, anchored by a star-making central performance. Its terrorism-era London setting and bodyguard-protectee power dynamic give it a distinctly contemporary political edge without deep ideological commitment.

From the reviewers

the first 20 minutes of Bodyguard are arguably one of the best thriller scenes
The acting, particularly from Richard Madden, is outstanding. Best known for his role as Robb Stark in Game of Thrones (2011), Richard Madden has an incredibly difficult job of playing someone whose world is starting to fall apart.
He's also dealing with PTSD from his time in Afghanistan. What follows is an action packed thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire season.
The tension is far more believeable as this drama is circulated around the times of today with terror attacks imminent and frequent on the streets of the UK, as most of us can remember seeing a situation like this unfold on the news in recent years.
The directions and mis-directions to keep you guessing do not under-estimate the intelligence of the audience, nor try to spell out every detail so it does require some attention, but is all the better because of this.

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