The popular BBC One six-part series Bodyguard is headed stateside, starring Richard Madden in the titular role. Madden, who is best known for playing Robb Stark in Game of Thrones, stars as David Budd, a war veteran who works as a specialist protection officer (think the Secret Service) for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of London’s Metropolitan Police Service.
Budd gets assigned to protect powerful conservative Home Secretary Julia Montague (The Missing‘s Keeley Hawes), where he must reconcile his political differences with the Home Secretary in order to protect her and uncover a larger terrorism plot.
The miniseries was a smash hit in England, where the final episode garnered 10.4 million viewers (the largest audience of any broadcast outside the World Cup). The trailer plays like a combination of 24 and Homeland, and a short six-episode run makes it an easily bingeable drama for Netflix (where it premieres on October 24th).
The success of Bodyguard has led to rumors that Madden is next in line to play James Bond. With Daniel Craig retiring after Bond 25, all eyes are on who will take up the 007 mantle. Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba (who the internet seems to have chosen as Bond) have all been mentioned as possible replacements. Even Emily Blunt has been rumored as a possible lady Bond, but those hopes were dashed by Bond producer Barbara Broccoli who said, “Bond is male. He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male.”
Richard Madden is a solid, safe choice for James Bond … which is why it’s difficult to muster up the enthusiasm for him. If he ends up getting cast I’m sure he’ll be fine, but it would have been exciting to see the producers branch out with a Bond of color or another unconventional choice. And if they are going to go with another white British Bond, it would be great to see some diversity behind the camera.
In the meantime, if anyone wants to cast Emily Blunt as a globe-trotting spy who loves fighting crime in glamorous locales, I’m totally into it.
(via Deadline, The Daily Mail, image: screengrab)
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