Viewers were left open-mouthed in shock when writers killed off their main character, halfway through smash-hit Sunday night drama Bodyguard – but there may still be hope!
Many of the show’s 7.2 million viewers are convinced they’ve found evidence Keeley Hawes’ character, Julia Montague will return for a twist-filled finale.
Fans took to Twitter to point out that the actress – whose character apparently died in a bomb explosion – is listed on the internet movie database, IMDb as appearing in episode 6.
One wrote: “Looks like #Bodyguard producers need to speak to IMDB next time they want to try a fake death storyline….”
Another added: “#BodyGuard Looks like Julia won’t be in episode 5… but is she returning for episode 6? This is what IMDB is saying”.
A third wrote: “On IMDB, @Misskeeleyhawes is down as doing 5 episodes of the Bodyguard… so is she dead, as she has only done three…?”
It followed the hugely controversial twist on Sunday, which had viewers questioning everything.
Read more: Bodyguard writer Jed Mercurio drops huge clue about future of David Budd
But creator and writer Jed, 52 told Radio Times magazine why he had to kill Home Secretary, Julia.
He explained that he likes to “move the story on”.
There is an expectation that a TV series “will always orbit around an equilibrium, in which nothing much changes for the main stars, and there are no drastic changes to the set-up”, he said.
“I like to try to do things that move the story on, and with Bodyguard I wanted to have this event mid-series that would completely alter the dynamic.”
He said of his star actress: “I think, hope, she’d take the view that it’s better to do a few episodes of something meaty than lots of episodes of something thin.”
Jed said the shows he watched while growing up often featured a “can’t-die” character.
He said: “Even though you’d just seen a completely crazed Mr Spock strangle Captain Kirk to death (in Star Trek), you’d know that a few minutes later there would be some bizarre twist involving the time-space continuum and Kirk would be alive on the Starship Enterprise.”
Jed also told the magazine that it could be more tricky to book Richard Madden – who has been tipped as a future 007 – for a second series as bodyguard David Budd now that he is being coveted for even more high-profile roles.
The Line Of Duty creator said: “He’s the genuine article, a real leading man. And I think this role has put him very much in the spotlight for bigger things.
“So the practicality may be that we have to work around his availability, if we are lucky enough to get him back.”
Whatever happens next, there’s no denying it’s been compelling viewing. Bring on the finale!
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