Bodyguard is ‘CONFIRMED for season two with Richard Madden to return as PS David Budd in hugely popular Jed Mercurio directed drama’
- Actor Richard, 36, played the role of PS David Budd in the 2018 show which was created and written by Line of Duty’s Jed Mercurio
- Now Jed has finished writing Line of Duty season six and Richard has completed filming Eternals, the pair can start work on the follow up together
- Season one followed David Budd and Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes) after he is appointed as her dedicated Principal Protection Officer
- Excluding live events, Bodyguard became the most watched programme of 2018, with 17 million people tuning in to see the final episode
The BBC is reportedly set to make a second series of their hit drama Bodyguard starring Richard Madden.
Actor Richard, 36, played the role of PS David Budd in the 2018 show which was created and written by Line of Duty’s Jed Mercurio.
The Sun reports that now Jed has finished with Line of Duty season six and Richard has completed filming the Marvel superhero film Eternals, the pair can start work on the follow up together.
Exciting: The BBC is reportedly set to make a second series of their hit drama Bodyguard starring Richard Madden
Season one followed David Budd and Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes) after he is appointed as her dedicated Principal Protection Officer.
Excluding live events, Bodyguard became the most watched programme of 2018, with 11 million people tuning in to see the final episode, and six million more watching on iPlayer.
An insider told the publication: ‘The drama is the most eagerly-anticipated in the world of TV and all the stars are finally aligning.
‘Mercurio has always been too preoccupied with Line of Duty to apply himself to Bodyguard II, and after the show’s success, Madden was snapped up by Hollywood.
Plot: Season one followed the relationship of David Budd and Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes) after he is appointed as her dedicated Principal Protection Officer
‘Now with both men available, the creative process has kicked off and the BBC are thrilled it could materialise within the next two years.’
The BBC declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.
Writer Jed was recently reluctant on revealing news about another series and when asked in an interview if he was working on it he said: ‘I can exclusively reveal that there are no plans for me to answer that question.’
Star: Actor Richard, 36, played the role of PS David Budd in the 2018 show which was created and written by Line of Duty’s Jed Mercurio (pictured)
He added: ‘I learned a lot from the success of Bodyguard. It was heartening to see how an audience would come to something that is fresh and original.
‘Bodyguard was just an original concept and people hit the ground running with it. I would love to do something in the next couple of years.’
Richard will soon be seen in Amazon Prime spy series, Citadel.
Popular: Bodyguard became the most watched programme of 2018, with 11 million people tuning in to see the final episode, and six million more watching on iPlayer
The six-part series centred around Police Sergeant David, a British Army war veteran suffering from PTSD who ends up working for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of the Metropolitan Police Service.
After an act of heroism which prevents a terrorist attack on a train, he is assigned to protect the Home Secretary, Julia Montague. While trying to remain professional he finds himself conflicted.
He served in Afghanistan and saw many of his comrades killed or maimed in a war which Montague was to a degree responsible for due to her decisions in government.
In addition, he soon finds himself trapped in a political power struggle while terrorist activity is on the rise.
At the end of series one fans watched in horror as it was revealed it was David’s own boss Chief Superintendent Lorraine Craddock played a key role in Julia’s death, before the final twist was revealed.
It was a double blow for Budd as the true identity of the female train bomber from the first episode, Nadia, who he believed he had saved, was revealed as the bombmaker who attempted to murder his own children.
Busy: The Sun reports that now Jed has finished writing Line of Duty season six and Richard has completed filming the Marvel superhero film Eternals (pictured), the pair can start work on the follow up together.
Viewers watched as Craddock had been delivering information to Luke Akins, an organised crime boss against the RIPA-18 bill led by the home secretary, which enabled him to execute the bomb attack in which she perished in the third episode.
Fan theories had also been rife that the Home Secretary wasn’t actually dead, especially as viewers weren’t shown her demise on screen – but they were left ‘fuming’ that she had been killed after all.
Budd had been hot on the heels of crime boss Luke Akin, after learning that he had supplied his former army comrade Andrew Apstead with the weapons used in the first assassination attempt of Julia.
Drama: In the final episode of series one Budd had been captured by Akins and strapped with a suicide vest and had his hand taped to a dead man’s switch – but had to convince the police that he had been set up
He was lured into a trap set up by Montague’s former PR advisor Chanel Dyson and ended up being punched unconscious and kidnapped – waking up with a suicide vest strapped to his chest with a dead man’s switch taped to his thumb.
MOST WATCHED TV SHOWS OF 2018…
1. 20.7m – World Cup Croatia vs England match
2. 18m – Royal wedding
3. 17.4m – World Cup Sweden vs England
4. 17m – Bodyguard
Meanwhile SO15 officers DCI Deepak Sharma and DS Lousie Rayburn were left seething when they learned of Budd’s connection to Apstead and were out for his blood.
They caught up with Budd in the middle of London and he tried in vain to convince his fellow officers that he had been set up, with his estranged wife Vicky making a strong case for innocence.
He was able to give vital information that proved he’d been set up, using the blank bullets from his gun that Akins had switched out and left fingerprints on – with Vicky confirming that her ex had tried to take his own life.
Budd had a set a booby trap for the security service knowing that the cagey boss Stephen Hunter-Dunn was monitoring their radio contact – and his suspect Richard Longcross was doused in a painful liquid.
It was enough to convince Commander Anne Sampson and DCI Sharma to help Budd and he was given the chance to deactivate the bomb.
Eventually in what some viewers called one of the most tense scenes they’d ever seen, Budd removed his thumb from the switch and cut the wires.
Drama: The six-part series centred around Police Sergeant David, a British Army war veteran suffering from PTSD who ends up working for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of the Metropolitan Police Service
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