Keeley Hawes to star in drama from Line of Duty creator

Line of Duty star Keeley Hawes is joining up with the hit show's creator, Jed Mercurio, for a new six-part BBC One political drama called Bodyguard.

Hawes will play a home secretary, Julia Montague, while Game of Thrones actor Richard Madden will star as her police protection officer.

"Bodyguard is such an exciting project. I can't wait to get started," Hawes said.

Mercurio said he was "delighted" to be working with the pair.

Madden is probably best known for playing Robb Stark in Game of Thrones between 2011 and 2013.

Many may also recognise him as the prince in Kenneth Branagh's 2015 film Cinderella, opposite Lily James.

The bodyguard he plays is a heroic - but volatile - war veteran. Hawes's Line of Duty co-star, Gina McKee, is also part of the Bodyguard cast.

Mercurio said: "I'm hugely flattered by the superb cast who've joined Bodyguard, led by Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes, both of whom I'm delighted to be working with again."

Filming is now under way in London.

The BBC has also announced another new drama based on the so-called Profumo affair, written by Apple Tree Yard's Amanda Coe.

In 1963, it was revealed that minister for war, John Profumo, had had an affair with Christine Keeler while she was also seeing a Russian naval attache.

"The astonishing story of Christine Keeler and the so-called Profumo affair is the Salem Witch Trial meets OJ Simpson - a perfect storm of gender, class, race and power that resonates into the world we're living in today," said Coe.

No details of the cast have been released yet but filming is set to begin next year.

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