BODYGUARD Even star’s big sister is in the dark
Millions prepare to tune in for the climax of TV thriller as experts claim it has changed the way we watch
Bodyguard proves that broadcasting, rather than catch-up and boxset binges,
has a future – Professor John Cook, expert in TV drama
Its
sudden twists and surprise turns have gripped fans for six weeks and tonight’s final episode of Bodyguard is likely to thrill more viewers than ever.
The highly-anticipated finale of Bodyguard is likely to attract one of the biggest TV audiences for a drama series this decade.
Ratings for the smash hit thriller, about a controversial Home Secretary and her Ptsd-suffering protection officer, have climbed since episode one.
It launched with the highest figure of any new drama, with 6.8 million viewers. But by last week’s episode, the figures had rocketed to 8.3 million.
The latest available figures adding iplayer viewers are for the fourth episode, screened a fortnight ago, which has now been seen by 11.1 million fans. But the success of the BBC drama has, according to experts, given broadcasters hope for the future of as-it-happens TV. The surprises come thick and fast in a series which has undermined the notion that, in the age of on-demand and catch-up channels, most viewers no longer watch programmes as they are screened.
The BBC1 series – starring Richard Madden as Afghanistan veteran turned police protection officer David Budd – is the biggest hit of the year.
And, after the shocking death of Keeley Hawes’s Home Secretary, who had been widely criticised for pushing a new counter-terrorism bill through Parliament which would give the security services the ability for mass surveillance, one million more viewers watched the next episode live to avoid spoilers.
“Bodyguard proves that broadcasting, rather than catch-ups and boxset binges, has a future,” said John Cook, media professor at Glasgow Caledonian University who lectures on TV drama.
“It shows that we still want to have a shared national experience. When it’s done this well with drama, it can work really powerfully.”
Professor Cook has used Jed Mercurio’s work in his coursework ever since the writer and producer’s early days with Cardiac Arrest, made by BBC Scotland and filmed in Glasgow. “People are hooked on Bodyguard because Mercurio’s work, like Line Of Duty, is always full of plot twists and incidents. He crams a lot in over a few episodes and they are classic potboilers.
“They work perfectly for serial dramas like this where you have a weekly interruption and have to wait seven days for the next
episode. Mercurio is very much in the traditional drama market of telling a gripping story over a small number of episodes, unlike many of the slower, long-form dramas on the likes of Netflix.
“People don’t want to watch at different times and at a different pace. And they don’t want to hear about what’s happened before they’ve caught up, so it is the perfect ‘appointment to view’ television.”
The BBC have launched half a dozen new series in the past couple of weeks, including Press, Black Earth and Killing Eve. It’s their biggest autumn drama blitz for three years and is part of their response to the threat posed by global giants Netflix and Amazon. “It’s a difficult age for traditional broadcasters and Bodyguard shows they are doing their very best to compete,” said Professor Cook.
“Its success really strengthens the hand of Mercurio who the BBC really see as their next big TV writer. They’ll want to do everything to keep him and showcase his work.”
Filming is already under way on the fifth series of Line Of Duty and a new Bodyguard series will follow.
Meanwhile, it’s the biggest weekend of the year for the BBC with Strictly returning last night.
Bodyguard will come to a conclusion at 9pm on Sunday on BBC One.