Bodyguard is the biggest drama on British TV in over a decade
The BBC's new political thriller Bodyguard has kept viewers on tenterhooks with high octane dramatic sequences, political rivalries and a racy romance between its stellar lead actors, Keely Hawes and Richard Madden. Now its viewing figures have confirmed that the series is one of the most-watched TV dramas in recent history.
The BBC One show, which was created by Line of Duty writer Jed Mercurio, stars Hawes as the Home Secretary and Madden as her bodyguard.
Bodyguard's ratings show the programme is not only the biggest BBC drama of 2018 so far, but one of the most watched dramas of the last decade across British television.
The series, which debuted with a back-to-back showing of its premiere and second installment over the Sunday and Monday of the August bank holiday weekend, had the highest launch figure of any drama debut in the last decade with 10.4 million viewers.
The live figures for the series premiere on August 26 stood at 6.8 million viewers, but the figure rose by 3.6 million in the week following, culminating in over 10 million viewers – a result of catch up services and over 2.6 million requests on iPlayer.
This figure makes it the BBC's biggest drama debut since records began, and the biggest drama debut on television since 2006.
Bodyguard has also been an unprecedented hit among the difficult-to-attract 16-34 age bracket. Over 1.2 million tuned in for its premiere, which makes it the biggest non-soap drama of the year for the demographic.
The series also started the Autumn ratings war in spectacular fashion as it easily saw off its competition – as it more than doubled the viewing figures of ITV's new period drama Vanity Fair on Sunday night.
The show's executive producer, Mercurio, said: “The success of Bodyguard is a tribute to the magnetism of our two leads, Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes. I'm exceedingly grateful to World Productions and to the BBC who have supported the project throughout production, and to the viewers who’ve responded with such enthusiasm.”
In a statement Charlotte Moore, the Director of BBC Content, said: “I’m thrilled with the response to BBC One’s new Sunday night drama Bodyguard, the figures are extraordinary and all credit to the mastermind creator and writer Jed Mercurio who is surprising the audience at every turn.”