Richard Madden, Keeley Hawes To Lead ‘Bodyguard’ For BBC One

Game Of Thrones alum Richard Madden and Line Of Duty‘s Keeley Hawes have been set to star in BBC One’s Bodyguard, a six-part drama created and written by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions. Set in and around the corridors of power, Bodyguard tells the story of a heroic but volatile war veteran assigned to protect the Home Secretary whose politics run contrary to his own.

Line Of Duty creator Mercurio is also exec producing the project with Simon Heath for World Productions and Elizabeth Kilgarriff for BBC One. Filming has begun in London with Thomas Vincent and John Strickland directing. Check out a first-look photo above.

Madden plays David Budd who is now working as a Specialist Protection Officer for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch 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?

Further cast include Gina McKee (Line Of Duty) Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders), Vincent Franklin (Happy Valley) and Rowena King (Trauma).

ITV Studios Global Entertainment is handling international distribution.

Madden is next up in feature comedy Ibiza and recently appeared in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams and Netflix’s Medici: Masters Of Florence along with co-leading 2015’s Disney pic Cinderella. Hawes’ other credits include ITV’s The Durrells and BBC/Starz’ The Missing.

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