Keeley Hawes watched ‘a lot’ of politicians to play home secretary in new drama

By Press Association

August 26 2018, 2:47 am

The Bodyguard(BBC/World Productions/Des Willie)

Bodyguard – a new political thriller starring Keeley Hawes – makes its debut tonight.

The BBC1 drama is written and created by Jed Mercurio, the creator of TV hit Line Of Duty.

It stars Hawes as a home secretary and a Conservative MP, who is pushing a controversial new counter-terrorism bill through Parliament.

Richard Madden plays a Helmand veteran assigned to protect her.

"The threat is closer than you think" pic.twitter.com/9HEGQhik5J
— Jed Mercurio (@jed_mercurio) August 15, 2018

The Durells’ and Line Of Duty actress Hawes said that she watched an “awful lot of politicians” to ensure that her alter-ego was “very good at public speaking”.

And she said: “It is the toughest job – I wouldn’t want to be a politician. You just can’t win.”

The first episode of Bodyguard airs at 9pm on BBC1, with episode two following on Monday at 9pm. The series continues on Sundays at 9pm.