What beats Bodyguard? Jed Mercurio's shows: ranked and rated
As the creator of both current ratings-gobbler Bodyguard and acclaimed police thriller Line Of Duty, Jed Mercurio is riding high.
The former RAF pilot and hospital doctor has enjoyed a surprisingly eclectic 15-year writing career as he honed his craft, spanning genres from sci-fi to period romance, military action to knockabout comedy – and that's before you get to a brief foray into porcine farce.
Here are all 11 entries on Mercurio's TV CV, ranked from worst to best – along with where you can find them...
11. The Legend of The Tamworth Two (2004)
Swine Of Duty, anyone? Somewhat bizarrely, one of Mercurio's mid-career writing credits was this hour-long comedy drama telling the true story of pigs Butch and Sundance, who escaped from a Wiltshire abattoir and remained at large for a week, while the media descended and joined the chase. Babe meets The Fugitive – but sadly, not as good as that sounds. Oink.
Find it on: DVD
10. Strike Back (2010)
Not strictly a Mercurio creation but he wrote the first four episodes of this testosterone-drenched action drama, based on the novel by SAS veteran Chris "The one who isn't Andy McNab" Ryan. It aims for Spooks but hits Ross Kemp's Ultimate Force, with Richard Armitage and Andrew Lincoln starring as the soldiers shooting, punching and grunting their way from Iraq to Zimbabwe.
Find it on: Amazon Prime Video
9. Frankenstein (2007)
It's alive! Well, sort of. Mercurio wrote and directed this high-concept one-off yarn, updating Mary Shelley's Gothic classic to a 21st-century setting. Geneticist Dr Victoria Frankenstein (Helen McCrory) accidentally creates a monster from stem cells while growing organs to save her terminally ill son. Cue a poignant CGI man-child and a fudged ending.
Find it on: DVD
8. Critical (2015)
Mercurio returned to the hospital settings of his early work with this glossy medical take on 24, each episode counting down the "golden hour" as a trauma team try to save a seriously injured patient's life in real-time. Lennie James led the cast, hi-tech machines beeped and blood spattered. Bold but cold, its ratings were low and it was axed after one series.
Find it on: Amazon Prime Video
7. Invasion: Earth (1998)
It only lasted six episodes but this dark slice of BBC sci-fi was bracingly gritty and gut-wrenching. Inter-dimensional aliens crash-landed in England during the chaos of the Blitz, abducted British soldier Anton Lesser, then hopped forward half a century to conquer Earth. A ragtag military team – drawing on Mercurio's RAF experience – formed to fight the extra-terrestrial threat. Clever and culty with an unflinching climax.
Find it on: DVD
6. The Grimleys (1997-2001)
Of the four "Comedy Premiere" pilots aired by Granada in 1997, two got commissioned: Mike Bullen's Mancunian romcom Cold Feet and Mercurio's warmly nostalgic Midlands period piece, which ran for three series. Set on a Dudley council estate during the Seventies, it revolved around an Adrian Mole-ish schoolboy with a crush on his teacher (Samantha Janus in the pilot, Amanda Holden in the series). A rude, raucous script was supplemented by glam rock soundtrack and retro cameos from the likes of Noddy Holder, Pam Ayres, Alvin Stardust and Bamber Gascoigne.
Find it on: VHS
5. Lady Chatterley's Lover (2015)
Part of a BBC season of 20th century literary adaptations – alongside Cider With Rosie, The Go-Between and An Inspector Calls – came Mercurio's abridged but rather lovely version of DH Lawrence's class divide romance. The young cast were cracking, with the aristocratic Chatterleys played by James Norton and Holliday Grainger, while Richard Madden – the Bodyguard himself – was gamekeeper Mellors. It proved good practice for, ahem, certain scenes.
Find it on: Netflix/Amazon Prime Video.
4. Cardiac Arrest (1994-1996)
Mercurio was still working as a junior doctor himself when he made his debut with this darkly comic BBC series, written under the pseudonym John MacUre. Scabrously cynical yet voted TV's most realistic medical drama by healthcare professionals, it was like This Life with a white coat and stethoscope. Hospital wards were a world of bullying, sexual harassment and sleep-deprived incompetence. As ice queen Dr Claire Maitland, Helen Baxendale has never been better.
Find it on: DVD
3. Bodies (2004-2006)
A decade after Cardiac Arrest, former doctor Mercurio delved even deeper into medical malpractice with this coruscating and criminally underrated BBC Three hospital drama. Misdiagnoses, negligence, arrogantly incompetent doctors, scant funds, choking bureaucracy and a corrupt complaints system ("Doctors look after doctors" went the motto) all combined to paint a pulverisingly bleak picture of the NHS, shot through with black humour. Patrick Baladi and Max Beesley were the rival surgeons on call.
Find it on: Amazon Prime Video
2. Bodyguard (2018)
The six-part series which currently has the nation gripped on Sunday evenings. Explosive set pieces punctuate the political conspiracies and illicit romance as Richard Madden's troubled war veteran tries to protect Keeley Hawes' ambitious Home Secretary from all manner of threats. It might stretch credibility at times but it's action-packed, addictive and a bona fide ratings phenomenon
Find it on: BBC One, 9pm Sundays. Previous episodes on iPlayer
1. Line Of Duty (2012-present)
Bodyguard might be pulling in bigger ratings right now but his police procedural thriller is still Mercurio's crowning achievement. Across four superlative series, anti-corruption unit AC-12 have rooted out and interrogated bent coppers - getting promoted from BBC Two to BBC One in the process. Twists, turns and heart-pounding tension come as standard. Memorable adversaries include Mercurio regulars Keeley Hawes and Lennie James. Series five, shooting now, arrives on our screens in 2019. Post-Bodyguard, it looks bound to be bigger and better than ever.
Find it on: Netflix/Amazon Prime Video
