In the world of close protection the stakes are always
high. On a good day, the bodyguard will get the bullet first.
On a bad day, they will fail to live up to their motto "never
survive the person you are protecting."
They mix in the glamorous world of powerful politicians,
celebrities and even royalty, constantly assessing any threat,
always ready for action.
Louise Lombard, Sean Pertwee and John Shrapnel are
the stars of BODYGUARDS. Shrapnel plays Commander MacIntyre who
is given the task of setting up the Close Protection Group, an
organisation specifically tasked with protecting everyone from
members of the Royal Family and foreign diplomats to key witnesses
to crime.
Two of MacIntyre's first recruits to his CPG are
Elizabeth Shaw (Louise Lombard), a former Special Branch close
protection officer, and Ian Worrell (Sean Pertwee), an ex-fighter
pilot turned CID officer.
Their first task is a baptism of fire - to provide
security for a high level governmental conference by rival candidates
for the presidency of an African country, who are under threat
of assassination. The CPG's assignments include a Bosnian Serb
diplomat, with a potentially murderous past, a 13-year old eye-witness
to the vicious murder of a priest, a controversial American Senator,
a prominent businessman due to give evidence in an arms enquiry,
a cold war defector returning to Britain for the funeral of his
granddaughter and an author whose allegedly blasphemous book against
Islam has earned him a fatwa. Their work takes them from a council
house in the East End of London, through the elegant residences
and luxury hotels of the wealthy and powerful, to the wilds of
the Scottish highlands.
BODYGUARDS producer Nigel Stafford-Clarke says: "When
we first started researching the world of close protection one
of the things that came across was how varied their assignments
can be. The sort of people who may need protection range from
the man in the street to some of the most powerful leaders in
the world."
This Carlton ITV production was created by Jeffrey Caine, who wrote the successful James Bond movie, Goldeneye, and is written by Caine, Julian Jones and Steve Griffiths. Technical consultants for the series were an SAS historian and Gulf veteran, as well as the person responsible for guarding Salman Rushdie, and Britain's No 1 woman protection officer whose charges have included Lady Thatcher and who passed on her knowledge to Louise Lombard in a one-on-one training session.
Issued by SABC 3 Publicity
