Richard Madden Bolsters Bodyguard, Not Line Of Duty
Richard Madden gives line of duty viewers a reason to double back to Jed Mercurio’s Bodyguard, the six-part political thriller now on Netflix. The 2018 One series is being recommended as the stronger British police drama, and its numbers explain why the comparison still lands.
Bodyguard first premiered on One in 2018, then went on to post the highest viewing figures for a new drama in the multichannel era and the broadcaster’s biggest viewership since 2008. Those results put the series in a different league from a routine streaming recommendation; this is a title with broadcast scale behind it.
Richard Madden and Jed Mercurio
Richard Madden leads the series as Police Sergeant David Budd, a British Army war veteran with PTSD who works for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of the Metropolitan Police Service. Mercurio, who wrote and created the drama, built the story around Budd’s assignment to protect the home secretary, the Rt. Hon. Julia Montague MP, a controversial and ambitious politician.
One of Montague’s aides calls her “the sociopath,” and that line captures the series’ pressure point: Budd is protecting a politician pushing invasive new surveillance powers while carrying his own trauma. That clash gives Bodyguard a sharper political edge than a standard procedural, which is part of why it keeps resurfacing in best-of lists next to Line of Duty, Broadchurch and Prime Suspect.
Golden Globe and Emmy runs
Bodyguard collected two Golden Globe nominations and two Primetime Emmy nominations after its broadcast. It was nominated for Best Television Series – Drama at the Golden Globes and for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series at the Emmys, while Madden won the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Television Series Drama for playing David Budd.
That awards path matters because it gives Netflix viewers a built-in quality signal before they hit play: this was not just a hit in Britain, but a drama that converted audience size into industry recognition. The cast also included Sophie Rundle, Keeley Hawes, Ash Tandon, Vincent Franklin, Gina McKee, Pippa Haywood, Paul Ready, Nicholas Gleaves, Matthew Stagg and Bella Padden, giving the series a depth that supports a full six-part run rather than a one-off prestige spike.
Why Netflix viewers should care
Bodyguard’s combination of six episodes, scale, and awards history makes it a clean binge for anyone searching for a British crime drama with more commercial weight than a typical hidden gem. On Netflix, that kind of library title can pull in viewers who want a finished series with a proven audience and a lead performance that already beat out the field at the Golden Globes.
For readers choosing between it and Line of Duty, the practical answer is simple: Bodyguard is the safer first stop if you want a compact watch with major broadcast numbers, a lead who won, and a political storyline that keeps moving instead of stretching itself across more seasons than it needs.
