Bodyguard viewing figures grow by a million

Bodyguard has continued to grow in popularity, as the drama drew an additional million viewers with its penultimate episode.

Sunday night’s episode of the BBC One series had an average of eight million tune in, with a peak of 8.3 million, according to overnight ratings.

The hour-long programme had an audience share of 38.2 per cent.

Last week’s episode of the political thriller, starring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes, was watched by an average of seven million viewers, with a peak of 7.2 million and share of 34 per cent. This was an increase on the previous week’s average audience of 6.6 million in overnight ratings.

Bodyguard has been hailed as the biggest new drama on British television in more than a decade, achieving consolidated viewing figures (which includes recordings) of 10.4 million for its first episode.

The series, written by Line Of Duty’s Jed Mercurio, sees Madden playing protection officer David Budd, who is assigned to controversial Home Secretary Julia Montague (Hawes). Viewers were left stunned earlier in the series when Montague died after a bomb during a speech, leaving Budd trying to find her killer.

Following Sunday’s episode, some fans now believe that Montague may be alive, due to her having a small, private funeral.