The Royal Bodyguard
| The Royal Bodyguard | |
|---|---|
Title card
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Written by | Mark Bussell Justin Sbresni |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Hat Trick Studios Busby Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Original release | 26 December 2011 – 30 January 2012 |
The Royal Bodyguard is a British television sitcom, written by Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni, and starring David Jason, Geoffrey Whitehead, Timothy Bentinck and Tim Downie. A series of six episodes began on 26 December 2011, concluding on 30 January 2012. The first episode picked up more than 8 million viewers but the series soon declined in ratings. The series was heavily criticised by viewers and critics. At 71 Jason was widely felt to be too old for the lead role.
The series was written by Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni following the success of their BBC sitcom The Worst Week of My Life. The pair came up with the idea of a Johnny English-type character who had to defend the royal family, but ended up doing so in a comic fashion. The pair immediately decided to make the programme family-orientated: at this stage, they did not envision Jason as the lead character. BBC comedy commissioner Cheryl Taylor lured Jason to the role, after initially offering him the job of executive producer. The series became the first for several years in which Jason had performed his own stunts. Filming on the series began in June 2011, and concluded in November. The first episode of the series was broadcast on 26 December 2011.
Just hours after its broadcast, the first episode was heavily criticised by fans of Jason and viewers alike. Jim Shelley wrote "The Royal Bodyguard was, the BBC trumpeted, Sir David Jason’s first Beeb comedy since Only Fools & Horses finished in 2002 - that was nine years ago. This fact alone should have alerted all involved to the fatal flaw at the heart of this debacle – namely that it was relying on the viewer’s fondness for Del Boy. It was a classic example of blind faith in the production’s star name. The prospect of seeing the 71-year-old star playing a former guardsman who had seen action in Northern Ireland and had now been appointed to the presumably prestigious position of royal bodyguard after saving the Queen’s life stretched this fondness to breaking point. After about two minutes. Never mind that the plot’s entire premise was stupid – that he was the incompetent former head of security at Buckingham Palace car park. The standard of the comedy was excruciating. It was blatantly designed to cash in on the appeal of characters like Inspector Clouseau and Johnny English. But the idea that Jason could play a clown as well as Peter Sellers or Rowan Atkinson was the only funny thing about it." Several of Jason's fans also took to Twitter to comment on the show: one claimed it to be "a very poor imitation of Johnny English".
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