Richard Madden/Keeley Hawes Lead Cast In ‘Line Of Duty’ Creator’s New Show ‘Bodyguard’
Back in May, we got the news that the next season of ‘Line Of Duty’ would probably not arrive until 2019. That was due to show creator Jed Mercurio working on another project called ‘Bodyguard‘. Now the BBC has announced the lead cast for the new show will be ‘Game Of Thrones’ star Richard Madden and ‘Line Of Duty’ star Keeley Hawes.
Set in and around the corridors of power, Bodyguard tells the fictional story of David Budd (Madden), a heroic but volatile war veteran now working as a Specialist Protection Officer for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch (RaSP) of London’s Metropolitan Police Service. When he is assigned to protect the ambitious and powerful Home Secretary Julia Montague (Hawes), whose politics stand for everything he despises, Budd finds himself torn between his duty and his beliefs. Responsible for her safety, is he actually her biggest threat?
“I’m very excited to be working with Jed Mercurio again, and thrilled to be working with Keeley Hawes for the first time,” said Madden. “Jed has created a remarkable story that resonates with the very heart of modern-day London and real characters trying to survive in this world.”
“I’m delighted to be working with Richard Madden and once again with Jed Mercurio, and the hugely talented team behind Line Of Duty, Keeley Hawes adds. “‘Bodyguard’ is such an exciting project. I can’t wait to get started.”
Further cast includes Gina McKee (‘Line Of Duty’, ‘Our Friends In The North’), Sophie Rundle (‘Peaky Blinders’, ‘Jamestown’), Vincent Franklin (‘Happy Valley’, ‘Cucumber’) and Rowena King (‘Trauma’, ‘The Wrong Mans’).
‘Bodyguard‘ is a 6-episode, hour-long series produced by World Productions for BBC One. The series will be executive produced by showrunner Jed Mercurio, Simon Heath for World Productions and Elizabeth Kilgarriff for BBC One. Filming has begun in London, with Thomas Vincent (‘Versailles’, ‘The Tunnel’) and John Strickland (‘Line of Duty’, ‘In Plain Sight’) directing. The series is expected to land on BBC1 next year.
