'Bodyguard' creator Jed Mercurio in talks for a second season but hopes for four more after show's ratings soar

'Bodyguard' creator Jed Mercurio in talks for a second season but hopes for four more after show's ratings soar

After it's successful first run, the BBC 1 hit 'Bodyguard', starring Richard Madden, might be stretched out for four seasons long-series. The show has been so intriguing that around 10.4m people (11m peak, 47.9% share) had tuned in for the finale which gave the episode the largest viewership since the periodical drama 'Downtown Abbey', which had aired on ITV in November 2011, with almost 10.6 million viewers. 

While Twitter almost faced a meltdown following the finale, viewers have already begun their speculations regarding the title of the upcoming seasons in the series. In an exclusive interview with The Sun, writer Jed Mercurio mentioned that he would want the series to go up to at least four seasons, just like his previous show, 'Line of Duty', which already has four seasons and will probably get two more. Mercurio said, "We have been very fortunate with the success of series one. It’s probably fair to say we would probably approach any thoughts of a second series with the idea that it would create an opportunity for a third or fourth.”

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Considering how season 1 ended where Home Secretary Julia Montague (played by Keeley Hawes) was killed, it certainly leaves behind a lot of questions regarding the future of her bodyguard, David Budd (played by Madden). However, Mercurio mentioned that he had left no loose ends in the season 1 finale since it was initially written as a one-part series. However, the viewership seems to have been strong enough to make Mercurio come up with several more plotlines. "To adopt a sporting phrase, we kind of decided to leave everything on the field for series one."

 



 

 

He further confessed, “So you are a hostage to fortune in that sense. And we do feel very privileged and fortunate that there’s been such a response that it gives us that opportunity to at least think about doing more.” However, unfortunately, the second season will probably have to wait until Mercurio is done working on 'Line of Duty' Season 5, which means that the writer will not even touch the script until mid-2019. "It’s all about the script development, the production schedule and a whole bunch of things that are all part of a giant jigsaw puzzle which has to be put together with any production.”



 

 

The writer further told ITV's 'This Morning', that he has only been in talks with BBC regarding the second season for 'Bodyguard', although he would love to work on a four-seasons lone series. "We know that people out there are loving series one and that there would be an appetite for series two, but we'll just have to wait and see. A lot goes into setting up a production, and none of those conversations have taken place yet which would allow us to facilitate that production." 

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 Bodyguard Writer Jed Mercurio in only in talks for a second season but would love to work for a four seasons long series