Bodyguard is a British television drama series, created and written by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions for the BBC. The six-part series stars Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes.[1] The series began broadcasting on BBC One on 26 August 2018,[2] achieving the highest viewing figures for a new BBC drama in the multichannel era and the highest BBC viewing figures since 2008.[3][4]

The BBC commissioned the series from the then independent World Productions in 2016. After ITV Studios Global Entertainment bought the company in 2017, they have handled international distribution for the series.[5] Netflix agreed to a distribution deal to broadcast the show outside the United Kingdom and Ireland.[6]

The series is set around the fictional character of Police Sergeant David Budd, a heroic British Army war veteran suffering from PTSD, who is now working as a specialist protection officer for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service. He is assigned to protect the ambitious Home Secretary Julia Montague, whose politics stand for everything he despises.