History Series / BodyguardUK2018

* GenderMisdirection: On both sides.

''Bodyguard'' is a British BBC One/ITV drama series, created and written by Jed Mercurio (showrunner of the critically acclaimed BBC police series ''Series/LineOfDuty''). Starring Creator/RichardMadden and Creator/KeeleyHawes in leading roles, the first episode aired on August 26, 2018 with a rating of [=10.40m=] viewers in the country; the series went on to become the biggest new BBC drama in at least a decade. It's also going to be released worldwide (except Britain/Ireland) via Netflix.

'''Beware of spoilers since the show has just finished airing in the UK/Ireland.'''

** Kicked UpToEleven in the second episode with a [[spoiler: ram-attack-cum-bomb on the playground of the school David's children attend. ''Almost'' successfully thwarted by TheCavalry, since none of the children die]].

* CIAEvilFBIGood: The British equivalent. [=MI5=] are not shown in a particularly flattering light [[spoiler: urging Montague to not order visible preventive measures against a terror attack in case it tips the attackers off, and seemingly providing her with blackmail info against the Prime Minister so she can take stage a soft coup)]], whereas the Met's [=SO15=] and Protection Command are shown to view her collusion with the security services as a threat to democracy. However, after [[spoiler: Montague is killed in the St. Matthews College bombing, it is the Met who are keen to close the case fast and pin blame on Tahir Mahmood, whilst [=MI5=] appear not to jump to conclusions and want to investigate properly]].

[[caption-width-right:300:Julie Montague and David Budd]]

%%* BewareTheNiceOnes

* AcronymAndAbbreviationOverload: Being written and created by the same guy who made the surprisingly accurate ''Series/LineOfDuty'', the show is full of UK police procedural acronyms, only some of which are explained on screen on inferrable from context.

** Kicked UpToEleven in the second episode with a [[spoiler: ram-attack-cum-bomb on the playground of the school David's children attend. ''Almost'' successfully thwarted by TheCavalry]].

* RealityEnsues:
** [[spoiler: During the sniper attack on Montague's ministerial car, the bulletproof glass only prevents two shots from penetrating the driver's window, with the third managing to penetrate the weakened glass and kill her driver. Budd then tells her to stay low, as the sniper bullets will eventually penetrate the glass but won't be able to get through the car's armour plating]].
** [[spoiler: The same scene also features a gruesome aversion of PrettyLittleHeadshots. The hit to Terry covers the interior of the car - including David and Julia - in blood and brains]].

* NotSoDifferent: How Budd is able to talk down Nadia, the reluctant would be train bomber in the first episode.

** [[spoiler:Julia Montague's plot to blackmail and take the place of the Prime Minister using her own SinisterSurveillance, complete with collusion from [=[=MI5=]=] who are anxious to share in the spoils]]

Meanwhile, senior members of the Metropolitan Police, including Commander Anne Sampson of Counter Terrorism Command and Chief Superintendent Lorraine Craddock of Protection Command begin to grow suspicious of Montague's activities, especially her preferences towards the more secretive [[MI5 Security Services]], and instruct Budd to begin spying on her, testing his loyalties further.

* CIAEvilFBIGood: The British equivalent. MI5 are not shown in a particularly flattering light [[spoiler: urging Montague to not order visible preventive measures against a terror attack in case it tips the attackers off, and seemingly providing her with blackmail info against the Prime Minister so she can take stage a soft coup)]], whereas the Met's [=SO15=] and Protection Command are shown to view her collusion with the security services as a threat to democracy. However, after [[spoiler: Montague is killed in the St. Matthews College bombing, it is the Met who are keen to close the case fast and pin blame on Tahir Mahmood, whilst MI5 appear not to jump to conclusions and want to investigate properly]].

** [[spoiler:Julia Montague's plot to blackmail and take the place of the Prime Minister using her own SinisterSurveillance, complete with collusion from [=MI5=] who are anxious to share in the spoils]]

** Commander Anne Sampson believes that Montague is working in secret with the Security Services to undermine the government and police, replace the Prime Minister and infringe on civil liberties, so she and Chief Superintendent Lorraine Craddock give Budd orders to monitor and record all her meetings with MI5 officials.
** However, when [[spoiler: Montague is killed in the St. Matthews College bombing, it is suggested that elements of the government, such as MI5 Director-General Stephen Hunter-Dunn, Chief Whip Roger Penhaligon and Counter Terrorism Minister Mike Travis conspired to have her assassinated when she went against their plans and blackmailed the Prime Minister into organizing a reshuffle at her own volition]].

** Even more so between Counter Terrorism Command and MI5, who are at each others throats regarding who gets custody of and is able to interview the captured train bombers. Commander Anne Sampson and Director-General Stephen Hunter-Dunn have a particularly frosty relationship, with Sampson accusing MI5 of being nontransparent and conspiring with Montague to get RIPA 2018 passed, and Hunter-Dunn accusing the Metropolitan Police of both incompetence and leaking information to terrorists.

* LightIsNotGood: The Metropolitan Police, the Office of the Home Secretary, the MI5 are all supposed to be civil servants with the best interest of the public in mind. But behind the scenes, they show themselves to be quite ruthless with their own personal and professional goals at the forefront of their priorities and showing a certain disdain for the general populace.

* BondVillainStupidity: Why does [[spoiler:Nadia]] feed the information about David's kids to [[spoiler:the terrorist cell], and more to the point, why do they even bother acting it? Just to be assholes, it seems, and more importantly, [[spoiler:to give David grounds to realize that Nadia is not the victim she appeared to be.

* GoThroughMe: Believing that one of the train bombers, Nadia, is willing to give herself up without setting off the device, Budd embraces her so the CTSFO officers and sniper are unable to shoot her without shooting him also.

* YourCheatingHeart: Although they're separated, they're still officially married and [[spoiler:both Victoria and David engage in an extramarital affair]].

* NotableOriginalMusic: The low-key, brooding, relentlessly pulsing techno-infused soundtrack (frequently featuring a DroneOfDread) ''really'' helps ratchet up the tension in key scenes.

* BewareTheNiceOnes

* TheWarOnTerror: A cornerstone of the plot, and ostensibly why [=RIPA-18=] is required.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bodyguard2018.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Julie Montague and David Budd]]

->'''Sergeant David Budd''': My job is to keep you safe ma'am, I won't tell you how to do yours.
->'''Julia Montague''': No, but you're happy to make it harder.

* BulletsDoNotWorkThatWay: Despite a generally realistic depiction of firearms, [[spoiler: a blank round at close range is quite capable of killing you and at point-blank range is almost certain to. Potentially given a HandWave in that the rounds in question don't ''look'' like blank rounds (something an ex-soldier and firearms officer would recognise immediately) and were purposefully swapped to render the gun useless if it was ever used in anger]].

* MoralPragmatism: Parties on all sides are willing to lie, sneak, spy, and manipulate to get the outcome they want, all claiming it's for the good of national security.