So, it was a conspiracy then, and a weirdly multicultural one, involving Islamist extremists, a bent copper, and some trad gangsters. And there really was a murder. Steely-but-vulnerable home secretary Julia Montague (richly nuanced by Keeley Hawes), has indeed been assassinated – and not stored in a BBC props cupboard/secret service safe house, awaiting a dramatic reincarnation as was widely, and wildly, speculated. Blown to bits, she was. Not sure what that means for the second series… seeing as Hawes/Montague was the best thing in it. Still, Bodyguard was compelling viewing, smashing records. It made Sunday night TV great again. Bonnets and breeches were banished to the costume drama warehouses whence they sprung. Jed Mercurio’s topical, breathtaking, lively script was matched by peerless performances. A hard act to follow, Bodyguard, even for Mercurio himself. Despite earlier hints, Sergeant David Budd (Richard Madden), Montague’s protection officer/part-time lover/PTSD sufferer/chauffeur/potential assassin was not just innocent, but brought those responsible to justice. It would have been too bizarre for him not to, I suppose – the skill was in making the possibility of betrayal seem so creepily possible for so long. And the killers? Hiding in plain sight. Montague had to die because she was going to pass tough anti-terror laws and give more powers to the security services. An organised crime boss, Luke Aitkens (Matt Stokoe), fearing that the new laws would make life impossible, therefore organised a conspiracy to get rid of them, and her. We know this for absolute certain because when Budd confronts Aitkens about why he “killed Julia”, Aitkens says “it was business” (a line much better delivered with a Chicago accent). Aitkens got a police officer he had corrupted already to frame Budd as a fall guy for the assassination. This was Chief Superintendent Lorraine Craddock (Pippa Haywood) who no one took much notice of, but lived in a suspiciously grand house. It was she who appointed Budd, having checked out his CV, and leaked the home secretary’s itineraries to Aitkens. He then teamed up with some Islamist extremists, who needed no encouragement. He supplied the money; they found guns, built and planted the bombs, and skilfully misled the police about a non-existent “traitor” within the security service. Instrumental in this organisation was Nadia, the timorous suicide train bomber we met in the first episode. Then, to tie things up, literally, Budd is abducted by Aitkens and fitted out in one of Nadia’s bespoke suicide bomb vests, and dumped on the streets of London to take his chances with trigger happy armed police. Most of the final episode was concerned with bodyguard Budd’s desperate efforts to guard his own life. To most reasonable eyes, as Craddock and Aitkens intended, Budd was the assassin, or an accomplice to one. He had served in Afghanistan with his friend who had tried to shoot Montague dead in an earlier instalment, he had a history of mental illness, and was always close enough to Montague to put a bomb under a podium. The scenes where Budd was defusing the bomb strapped to his torso were as tight and tense as anything before. He manages, of course, to free himself, but maybe Mercurio killed the wrong character off. The 50 best TV shows on Netflix UK Show all 50 1 /50 The 50 best TV shows on Netflix UK The 50 best TV shows on Netflix UK Bojack Horseman A cartoon about a talking horse, starring the goofy older brother from Arrested Development… on paper little about BoJack Horseman screams “must watch”. Yet the series almost immediately transcended its format to deliver a moving and very funny rumination on depression and middle-age malaise. Will Arnett plays BoJack – one time star of Nineties hit sitcom Horsin’ Around – as a lost soul whose turbo-charged narcissism prevents him getting his life together. Almost as good are a support cast including Alison Brie (Glow, Mad Men), Aaron Paul, of Breaking Bad, and Amy Sedaris as a pampered Persian cat who is also BoJack’s agent. Season five touches the live rail of harassment in the movie industry, offering one of the most astute commentaries yet on the #MeToo movement with an episode based centred around an awards ceremony called “The Forgivies”. The sixth and final series was split in two, with part one debuting on 25 October and part two on 31 January 2020. Netflix The 50 best TV shows on Netflix UK Stranger Things A valentine to the Spielberg school of Eighties blockbuster, with Winona Ryder as a small town mom whose son is abducted by a transdimensional monster. ET, Goonies, Close Encounters, Alien and everything Stephen King wrote between 1975 and 1990 are all tossed into the blender by Millennial writer-creators the Duffer brothers. It was clear Stranger Things was going to be a mega-smash when Barb – the “best friend” character eaten in the second episode – went viral the weekend it dropped. Netflix The 50 best TV shows on Netflix UK Daredevil Netflix’s Marvel shows tend towards the overlong and turgid. An exception is the high-kicking Daredevil, with Charlie Cox’s blind lawyer/crimefighter banishing all memory of Ben Affleck's turn donning the red jumpsuit in 2003. With New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood as backdrop, Daredevil is caked in street-level grit and features a searing series one performance by Vincent D'Onofrio as the villainous Kingpin. The perfect antidote to the deafening bombast of the big screen Marvel movies. Netflix The 50 best TV shows on Netflix UK The Staircase Did he do it? Does it matter considering the lengths the Durham, North Carolina police seemingly went in order to stitch him up? Sitting through this twisting, turning documenting about the trial of Michael Peterson – charged with the murder in 2003 of his wife – the viewer may find themselves alternately empathising with and recoiling from the accused. It’s a feat of bravura factual filmmaking from French documentarian Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, which comes to Netflix with a recently shot three-part coda catching up with the (very weird) Peterson clan a decade on. Netflix The 50 best TV shows on Netflix UK Dark Stranger Things: the Euro-Gloom years.<doc-sep>Oh. My. God. Oh. My. God. Oh. My. God. If you’ve seen the ‘Bodyguard’ finale, that is guaranteed to be your internal (or external, depending on the company you’re in) monologue right now. And if you haven’t watched it yet, then get the hell out of here, as we are about to drop some massive spoilers. Seriously, massive. BBC Jed Mercurio’s hit drama came to an earth-shattering climax on Sunday night, and quite honestly, it’s a miracle the nation managed to survive it, given the shocking twists and turns it served up. As you try to process what you’ve just seen (and begin properly grieving Julia Montague, now we know she’s not coming back, *sob*), we’re reliving the moments the finale had us not just on the edge of our seats, but with our hearts in our mouths and our stomach in knots... The pre-titles recap Obviously we’d seen all the action so far (we’ll confess we’ve even watched some episodes twice), but recapping what had happened over the last five episodes reminded us just how bloody incredible this show has been. When DCI Sharma suspected Commander Sampson was involved A police insider had long been indicated at, but when Sampson drew a blank when Sharma pointed out she’d previously investigated Luke Aitkens’ criminal empire, we were forced to look at her in a whole new light. BBC When David realised Aitkens had swapped the bullets for blanks in his gun It had been one of the biggest questions of the series, but we finally got our answer, and a massive indication that Luke had a huge part to play in what had been going on. When the police finally realised David’s connection to Andrew David officially became the prime suspect for Julia’s murder when his colleagues cottoned on to the fact he had served with Andrew in Helmand. It was just rather unfortunate that at the time they realised this, he was in a very compromising condition indeed... When David awoke to find he was strapped to a bomb After being kidnapped and knocked unconscious by Aitkens and his heavies, David woke up strapped to a bomb, just like the one Nadiya had been wearing during the 1 October attack. And it that wasn’t tense enough, his thumb was taped to the detonator. The ultimate “FML”. BBC When David then realised he was a wanted man Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse, he dropped himself right in the shit when he called the police to let them know of his whereabouts, not realising the severity of the situation he was in. When the penny finally dropped with him, we could literally feel his sheer panic through the screen. When David pulled off the blanket to reveal the bomb OMG, THIS REALLY ISN’T HELPING HIS CASE. When the critical shot was authorised With all those guns pointing at him, it was the first point where we genuinely thought he was a goner. The race between the security service and police to get to David’s flat Police had no idea security services were listening into their exchanges with David over radio, and after he told of where they could find the hidden blanks from his gun, there was a race against time to get to the flat. Luckily though, David was one step ahead of us all, and Longcross finally got his comeuppance thanks to David’s booby trap. BBC When Vicky ran towards David to save him from being shot The ultimate declaration of love had us reaching for our tissues, as well as clutching our chests. When David started trying to detonate the bomb ASRIYEWOPRTJKJVDSGPOEFKSFOERYBDKJWEETOIERUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s pretty much the only way we can describe how we felt when his thumb came off the spacer, the stunt went on and the wires were cut. The piercing sound of his breathing also did nothing to help out increasing blood pressure, with our heart literally pounding out of our chest. When David did a bolt Seriously, that man was like a ninja. When Craddock was caught with Luke Deepack and Louise’s suspicions about Sampson had pointed us in completely the wrong direction - it turns out the one we really should have been looking closer at was Craddock, who had been working with Luke. BBC When Luke admitted to killing Julia and David toyed with shooting him Even when we heard the words that Luke had masterminded the St Matthew’s College bomb that killed the Home Secretary, we still had a vague hope she might still be alive. Alas, not. BBC When it was revealed Luke recruited Andy With all the pieces of the puzzle finally coming into place, our heads were spinning with all the revelations. But even then, we knew it wasn’t just Luke and Craddock behind it all. Then came the biggest bombshell of all... When Nadiya’s true colours were revealed It’s no exaggeration to say audible gasps could be heard up and down the country as it transpired train bomber Nadiya was not the easily-manipulated woman we’d all be led to believe. In fact, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. It turned out she was a Jihadi, and revealed herself as the bomb-maker. She had been conspiring with “non-believers” (aka Luke and his cronies) for money so she could build more devices, buy more guns and - in her words - “spread the words to her brothers and sisters, convincing the world that they had put a knife through the heart of the British government”. The scene where her façade dropped and David realised just how much he’d underestimated her will undoubtedly go down as one of the TV moments of the year. BBC<doc-sep>The BBC's political thriller Bodyguard reached its nail-biting conclusion on Sunday night, with viewers catapulted through some major twists and turns. The culprits behind the plot to assassinate Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes) were finally unmasked. However, since there is still so much of the story left to tell, with the terrorist cell responsible still active, creator Jed Mercurio is likely be hoping for a second series. That outcome is looking highly positive, as Bodyguard's finale is predicted to have brought in one of the biggest TV audiences for a drama series this decade. However, critics had somewhat of a more mixed reaction to the show's conclusion. Here's what the critics made of Bodyguard's finale episode. The Independent - Sean O'Grady "Bodyguard was compelling viewing, smashing records. It made Sunday night TV great again. Bonnets and breeches were banished to the costume drama warehouses whence they sprung. Jed Mercurio’s topical, breathtaking, lively script was matched by peerless performances. A hard act to follow, Bodyguard, even for Mercurio himself." The Guardian – Lucy Mangan "The whole thing has been a retro-rush. Weekly, unbingeable episodes parcelled out like old times. Cliffhangers you talked about the next day on Twitter, the gig economy’s water-cooler. An ancient story – soldier fails in noble duty, runs towards danger and atonement, sword aloft – in modern dress captured our imaginations once again." The Telegraph – Bryony Gordon "It wasn’t that this was bad television – quite the opposite, to have 11 million people tuning in each week. It was more that it was good television that could have been brilliant, but somehow failed to reach its potential. "Watching the final episode unfold felt a bit like witnessing a grade-A student open up their envelope on exam results day to find a string of Bs. It had tried too hard to impress, and ended up collapsing under the weight of its own expectations." TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 Show all 17 1 /17 TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 Maniac 21 September, Netflix Starring: Jonah Hill, Emma Stone, Justin Theroux Emma Stone & Jonah Hill star as two people in a three-day drug trial which promises no complications or side-effects whatsoever… Things do not go as planned. Netflix TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 The Deuce 10 September, Sky Atlantic Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Franco, Dominique Fishback Picking up five years after the events of the first season, this new run will focus on the 'Golden Years' of the US porn industry in 1977. HBO TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 You 10 September, Netflix Starring: Penn Badgley, Shay Mitchell A dark 21st-century love story about an obsessive, yet brilliant twentysomething who uses the hyper-connectivity of today’s technology to make the woman of his dreams fall in love with him. Netflix TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 BoJack Horseman 14 September, Netflix Starring: Will Arnett, Paul F. Tompkins, Alison Brie The animated sitcom in which humans and animals live side-by-side returns for its fifth run. Netflix TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 Killing Eve 15 September, BBC iPlayer Starring: Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Fiona Shaw, Kim Bodnia Fleabag star Phoebe Waller Bridge's series follows a desk-bound MI5 officer, who begins to track down talented psychopathic assassin Villanelle. BBC America TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 American Horror Story: Apocalypse September TBA, FOX Starring: Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Cheyenne Jackson, Jessica Lange This crossover season featuring characters from 'Murder House' and 'Coven' will focus on Michaen Langdon, the antichrist born at the end of season 1. FOX TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 Sick Of It September TBA, Sky One Starring: Karl Pilkington, Sondra James, Craig Parkinson A new scripted comedy set in the mind of Karl Pilkington. YouTube TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 The Walking Dead 8 October, FOX Starring: Andrew Lincoln, Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan New threats surface a year-and-a-half after the climax of All Out War which saw Rick defeat Negan in the battle against The Saviours. Gene Page/AMC Studios TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 The Romanoffs 12 October, Amazon Prime Starring: Christina Hendricks, John Slattery, Isabelle Huppert Anthology series from the creators of ‘Mad Men’ about the descendants of the last dynasty to rule Russia. YouTube TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 26 October, Netflix Starring: Kiernan Shipka, Michelle Gomez, Miranda Otto Sabrina Spellman must reconcile her dual nature as a half-witch, half-mortal while fighting the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit. Netflix TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 Narcos: Mexico 16 November, Netflix Starring: Michael Peña, Diego Luna Episodes will chart the rise of the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1980s, with Luna playing Félix Gallardo and Peña playing the DEA agent chasing him. Netflix TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 Cold Feet series 8 Autumn TBA, ITV1 Starring: James Nesbitt, Hermione Norris, Fay Ripley The five pals - now in their 50s - return to our screens once again. ITV TV preview: The 18 shows to look out for before the end of 2018 Doctor Who Autumn TBA, Amazon Prime Starring: Jodie Whittaker, Tosin Cole. Mandip Gill. Bradley Walsh The 11th run sees Jodie Whittaker succeed Peter Capaldi as the beloved Time Lord.<doc-sep>LAST night's Bodyguard finale on BBC One was incredibly tense – so you'd be forgiven for missing a geeky gaffe during one of the most gripping scenes. Producers working on the show failed to get a small technical detail right when filming the bomb-defusing scene in Bodyguard episode six. 5 Bodyguard's gripping finale included a terrifying scene where Sergeant Budd had to defuse a complicated suicide vest he'd been forced to wear Credit: Bodyguard 5 Bomb disposal experts aided Budd with a specialised robot that recorded live video footage Credit: Bodyguard 5 The robot beamed footage straight back to explosive expert Daniel Chung Credit: Bodyguard Sergeant David Budd, played by Richard Madden, was strapped into an explosive vest by a sinister criminal organisation. After convincing police that he wasn't a terrorist, Budd asked if he'd be allowed to defuse the bomb. Explosives expert Daniel Chung agreed, sending over a bomb disposal robot to help Budd safely deactivate the vest. The robot was equipped with a microphone and speakers, so that Chung could talk to Budd. 5 The camera in question was a GoPro Hero 4 Silver, which displays recording information on its screen when filming Credit: Bodyguard But the bot was also equipped with a small camera that gave Chung a live feed of Budd's chest – to which the bomb's controller circuitry was strapped. The camera was actually a GoPro Hero 4 Silver Edition, which is recognisable due to its large frontal power button, and small rectangular display. And if you look really closely, you can see that the camera isn't even turned on. 5 The robot's camera was turned off during the pivotal bomb disposal scene Normally when a GoPro Hero 4 Silver Edition is recording, the screen will display information. This includes the amount of battery power left, as well as the length of video you can still record, based on remaining storage space. It'll also show the video resolution you're shooting in – for instance, 1080p at 60 frames per second. But the Bodyguard GoPro had nothing on the screen, which means it was switched off completely – and couldn't have been beaming footage back to Chung. "It annoyed me from the moment it rolled up to Budd," said Mark Clews, a video and camera expert at The Sun, who first spotted the blunder. MOST READ IN TECH BOUNCE BACK Dogecoin founder thanks Elon Musk for tweet as crypto market stages comeback Live Blog LOOK UP Lunar eclipse 2021 LIVE: Blood Moon and total eclipse happening NOW PHENOMENON Lunar eclipse 2021: Why the Super Blood Moon isn't visible in the UK LOST & FOUND New Google Maps feature means you'll NEVER get lost again OPEN WINDOW Microsoft boss reveals NEW 'next-gen' Windows coming six years after Windows 10 BLOOMING Super Flower Moon will fill skies tonight – how to see stunning lunar spectacle It also suggests that budgets might be tight at the Bodyguard's explosives disposal department, because the GoPro Hero 4 is hardly the latest model. The action camera came out back in 2014, as a cheaper alternative to the Hero 4 Black Edition. It's since been replaced several times, with the latest GoPro Hero 7 launched just last week. Unlike newer models, the Hero 4 Silver was unable to shoot in 4K quality at the usual 30 frames per second you'd typically expect to film in. It also wasn't waterproof as standard (unlike the Hero 7), and required a large case to protect it from moisture. If you're a Bodyguard fan, you'll be pleased to hear that showrunner Jed Mercurio is plotting four spin-offs. While you're waiting for those, you can also check out the latest Bodyguard conspiracy theories floating around online. And you can read about why some Bodyguard fans are convinced Chanel is the long-lost sister of Made In Chelsea's Louise Thompson. What did you think of last night's Bodyguard episode? Let us know in the comments! Here's how the villains in Bodyguard fooled us after endless twists and turns We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.<doc-sep>
Warning: this piece contains spoilers. Phew … and breathe. So what did everyone make of that then? Personally, I loved it. There’s been a lot of talk in the past six weeks about Bodyguard and whether it’s good or bad, realistic or unrealistic, utterly over-the-top or pitched at the sweetest ratings spot. My take is that it may not be the most serious, or even the best drama of the year, but it’s certainly the most enjoyable. It’s a clever piece of popcorn TV that made for perfect Sunday night early autumn viewing. Why shouldn’t art be entertaining? There’s room on my TV for dramas that demand contemplative thought and dramas that drag you along in their exhilarating wake. Over the past six weeks, Bodyguard has kept me on the edge of my seat and biting my nails. For that, Jed Mercurio, I salute you. The bodyguard A happy end then for David, who nailed the bad guys (I particularly enjoyed the setup for Longcross). He faced his demons, saw a therapist and took the first fragile steps towards reconciliation with wife Vicky. Along the way there were some fantastic (and ludicrous) moments, as David was initially outsmarted by criminal not-quite-mastermind Luke Aitkens (extra bonus points to everyone who spotted that he’d been at Andy’s veteran’s meeting) and woke to find a suicide bomb strapped to his chest. David Budd Photograph: BBC/World Productions/Sophie Mutevelian Walking a fine line between dark comedy and edge-of-the-seat drama, he then faced off with pretty much every member of the already over-stretched police force over whether or not to try to defuse it, made a definitive speech about war, love and the fragility of man and then headed off on his very own long walk accompanied by Vicky and followed at a distance by various police officers. Luckily, Richard Madden’s charisma proved more than equal to the over-the-top plotting and I was able to ignore the more mad moments in favour of desperately hoping that David made it to the end of the episode. The politicians It’s always the quiet ones. Sneaky, determinedly uncharismatic Mike Travis ended the episode as the last man standing after both the prime minister and secret service boss Stephen Hunter-Dunn fell spectacularly from grace after Ann Sampson’s decision to leak the kompromat. How far were the security services involved? I tend to think that they saw a chance in the aftermath of Julia’s death to get Ripa18 passed and acted accordingly and opportunistically. The real conspirators were, of course, elsewhere. Anne Sampson. Photograph: BBC/World Productions/Sophie Mutevelian The conspiracy I’m very fond of how all this worked out. From the revelation that it was Craddock rather than Sampson who was the guilty one (something I began to wonder after her perfunctory attempts to talk to David at the hostage scene); to the unveiling of Nadia as a scornful, fully-qualified engineer and bomb creator. Full credit in particular to Anjli Mohindra, who played Nadia and who managed to say so much with her eyes throughout the series. From the terrified naivety she presented at the start, to the calculated zealotry she revealed at the end. That switch was in direct contrast to Gina McKee’s Anne Sampson, a woman who always sounded several shades more guilty than she actually was, but who turned out to have a moral code. Her line about a woman having been murdered demonstrating that she at least was always aware that this was more than a political game. Vicky Budd Photograph: BBC/World Productions/Des Willie Additional notes I still wasn’t entirely sure of Chanel’s exact role in the criminal organisation – sister, girlfriend, heir, boss? The last seems unlikely but it was an interesting thread left hanging. I was glad that Julia did not rise from the dead. Her death was the engine that drove the plot and it would have been a cheap piece of theatre to go back on that. I rather enjoyed Gina McKee’s little Francis Urquhart moment, even if it did leave me unsure as to whether she was entirely a force for good. When Sharma became suspicious of Sampson, I half expected the scene to cut straight to Ted Hastings and the AC-12 team for the Line of Duty/Bodyguard crossover. A few end-of-season shoutouts: to John Strickland for a tensely directed final episode, Sophie Rundle for ensuring that her part was always more than simply that of the wife and Stuart Bowman for making Stephen Hunter-Dunn superbly slippery.