BBC One is re-teaming with Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio for Bodyguard, a six episode thriller which focusses on the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Protection Command (US readers, think the UK’s version of the U.S. Secret Service).
Bodyguard follows a unit within the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch – the arm of protection command tasked with protecting the Royal family, dignitaries, the Prime Minister and other senior government officials. The team is led by a Specialist Protection Officer, a heroic but volatile Gulf War veteran expected to lay down his life for the powerful – whether they deserve it or not.
Jed Mercurio created the series and is penning all six scripts. World Productions, the indie behind Mercurio’s fellow BBC One series Line Of Duty, is producing. Mercurio is the showrunner and will also serve as an executive producer alongside World Productions’ Creative Director Simon Heath and BBC Northern Ireland’s Stephen Wright.
“Jed Mercurio has created an original and modern take on the crime genre for BBC One”, said the BBC’s Director of Content Charlotte Moore. “In his own unique and clever way, the series takes us into the corridors of power in thrilling style – all seen through the eyes of the bodyguard.”
“I’m immensely flattered by the unstinting support my work has received from Charlotte Moore and the whole BBC Drama Team”, added Jed Mercurio. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to create a brand-new thriller series for the BBC and looking forward to continuing my collaboration with Simon Heath and Priscilla Parish at World Productions and Stephen Wright at BBC Northern Ireland.”
The news of this commission, which was announced by Charlotte Moore earlier today at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, comes shortly after several details were announced about the fourth season of Mercurio’s Line Of Duty. As TVWise previously reported, Thandie Newton (Rogue) is joining the cast as DCI Roz Huntley, the new target of AC-12. Other new cast additions for season four, which starts filming next month in Belfast, is Lee Ingleby (Our Zoo), Jason Watkins (The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jefferies) and Royce Pierreson (Death In Paradise).
