The Royal Bodyguard (2011–2012) User Reviews

Hapless and unfunny

[Prismark10 · 3/10 · 9 December 2013]

David Jason returns to BBC sitcom land where he has had great success in the past.

He plays Captain Guy Hubble; an ex-guardsman who becomes the Head of Security at the Buckingham Palace car park.

He then gets promoted as the Royal Bodyguard after somehow saving the Queen's life at the State Opening of Parliament.

Geoffrey Whitehead is Colonel Dennis Whittington; Hubble's hapless boss. He knows that Hubble is useless but is unable to fire him because Hubble somehow manages to please the Queen.

You can immediately guess that Jason plays a cross between Johnny English and Inspector Clouseau with Whittington essentially being Inspector Dreyfus.

At 71 years of age, Jason is rather too old to play such a role and looks it especially as is makes demands on him physically.

It also did not help that the sitcom is so lame, predictable and lacks an ounce of originality. You know where they got their inspiration from and Jason is miscast.

Sadly it hasn't improved with time.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 4/10 · 9 May 2022]

Guy Hubble saves the Queen from a runaway carriage, a faux Pas of his own making, promoted to Royal Bodyguard, he's less than competent.

When this first aired, I switched it off after ten minutes or so, having a weekend in bed unwell, I figured it was time to give it another try, and form a balanced opinion.

I can spot a comedy from Bussell and Sbresni a mile off, sometimes they nail it, sometimes they get it horribly wrong, this sadly is the latter.

I watched every episode, and must confess my laughter equipment had less than half a workout, painfully unfunny jokes, some wooden acting, and poor Sir David Jason looking like he was set adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in just a rowing boat.

Positives, Geoffrey Whitehead, he's the one shining light, when he's given half decent lines, he delivers with his usual brand of caustic, sarcastic wit. I have to admit to rather enjoying the fifth episode, where Guy goes undercover at Number ten, totally over the top and silly, but it broke the mould of every other formulaic episode, and Jason seemed to have fun as Sandra.

It's unsurprising that it was axed after just a single series, it really didn't work, I am surprised it made it to BBC 1.

4/10.

David Jason Saves the Day - But Only Just.

[zoe-butler51 · 5/10 · 9 January 2012]

A weak script with unlikeable supporting characters spoiled what could have been a great idea. As it is, The Royal Bodyguard is funny as a gentle comedy. It is not something David Jason will be remembered for, despite trying hard. Some people have said it would have been saved by a younger actor, but to me, this looks like missing the point. The premise is that Guy Hubble, a forgotten member of the security forces is given the job as a car park attendant so that he can carry on working out of harms way, but through being in the wrong place at the right time he impresses HM The Queen so much that she insists he be promoted way above his level of competence. It's a one joke film, of course. The only way the premise can be stretched is that everyone else is incompetent too. We have incompetent senior civil servants, incompetent security guards, even incompetent terrorists. It could be argued that the Queen herself is incompetent to be taken in, to the extent of insisting on Hubble being kept in his job. That is the weakness of the concept. An incompetent security officer in a highly efficient security department facing well organised, highly disciplined terrorists could have been far more suspenseful and therefore far funnier when the comedy relieved the tension. Instead we get situations where everyone falls over their own and each others' feet and Hubble wins by being the last man standing. This is not intelligent comedy at all.

Comparisons have been made with Norman Wisdom. But Norman Wisdom comedies had sympathetic characters. The foils for Wisdom's antics were always the mighty brought down. In The Royal Bodyguard, we don't care about any of the other characters, and the mighty are brought down by their own incompetence as much as anything.

There is one big mistake in Hubble's character. He blames everyone else. This is a believable flaw, but it alienates him from us. Hubble does too much of it. It is not well written because he is always childishly shouting, "That was your fault!" it is one thing to let someone take the blame, but to deliberately blame innocent passers by is not the way to endear audiences.

I have given this a fairly generous score of five out of ten. This is entirely for David Jason. He brings pathos to what would be - in real life - a tragedy. This is a story about someone who is overconfident and in over his head; an old man who is too proud to retire and take a less active role and who pathetically attempts to look younger by wearing an obvious wig. People like that really exist and, in these days, there are probably more of them than ever. With better writing, this could have rocked. With poor writing it crumbles.

so very sad

[paul-2878 · 1/10 · 3 January 2012]

Watching David Jason on The One Show recently, he was congratulated on his ability to spot a great script; one that produced a character the British public would take to their hearts such as Del Boy, Granville, Pop Larkin, Frost and the like. When asked if The Royal Bodyguard would follow suit he seemed almost embarrassed and gave a rather mumbling response inferring that he hoped so.

Clearly he knew what has become clear to all after just two episodes. This is quite possibly the lamest, least funny, most predictable and generally cringe-worthy "comedy" i have ever had the misfortune to suffer. The first episode was dire. More out of curiosity than anything else we gave the second episode a viewing; if anything it was even worse than the first. The thought of another four episodes is sheer purgatory and they will be avoided at all costs.

It is so very sad that one of our most cherished and respected actors in the fields of both comedy and drama finds himself as the central figure in such banal rubbish. I sincerely hope that he finds another, more suitable vehicle to banish all memories of The Royal Bodyguard to the scrapheap...............and soon. It would be a terrible shame for this shambles to to be remembered as his final offering.

The oft repeated Fools and Horses episodes never looked so good. Mind you, On The Buses looks good compared to this tripe!

Sub-Chuckle Brothers atrocity - only let the kids watch this if they've been naughty

[NitrousMcBread · 1/10 · 26 December 2011]

David Jason is a hugely talented comic actor. Why, then, are the BBC demeaning him by giving him such a catastrophically idiotic, derivative and mirth-free script as "The Royal Bodyguard"? And who on earth gave this pathetic dross the go-ahead? This is real car-crash television: you can see the 'jokes' coming light years away. Throughout a conversation with a pianist at a grand piano, we all know David Jason's character will somehow mistakenly knock the piano cover closed. The lead-up to this century-old comedy non-starter is excruciating, though when it finally happens, it's still amazing just how limp the payoff is.

Other 'highlights': he tries to eat a lobster but doesn't know how! He tries to attack a suit of armour!! He falls into some water!!! Ahahahaha haha hahahahaha!!!!! I could understand better if this mess was a one-off special for Boxing Day, when people are generally too drunk to get up and turn the telly off - but there's a whole series of "The Royal Bodyguard" on its way.... good grief! In conclusion: unbelievably pathetic, and a hugely embarrassing failure. If a 6-year-old had written this script for a school project, it would be returned with a red line through it. An insult to the abilities of David Jason and an insult to the viewer.

Oh dear!

[DaveFilmlover · 1/10 · 28 December 2011]

Big mistake. Woefully unfunny. Absolutely no story. David Jason trying to be a cross between Johnny English and (I suspect) Inspector Clouseau and failing dismally. Came across as a very embarrassing old man, wearing an awful hairpiece, and trying to re-live his youth. In his younger days Jason starred in a God awful LWT series called "The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs". This is a pale imitation of that show. How can such a fine comic/character actor get roped into something like this. I am a great fan of David Jason, his fabulous performances of Grenville, Del Boy, Blanco and Jack Frost made me forget some of his earlier stinkers. I am afraid that this has reminded me of the struggle he had in getting through what a comic talent he was/is. Give up on this one David. "Go on my son, you know it makes sense"

Ouch!

[per-181 · 1/10 · 11 March 2012]

The guys behind this dog's dinner also created The Worst Week of my Life, which was absolutely brilliant. Well written, well acted and very, very funny.

How then is it possible for them to come up with this absolute mess? The Royal Bodyguard is so bad that it defies description. Remembering David Jason's excellent performances in Open all Hours, The Darling Buds of May, Only Fools and Horses and A Touch of Frost, just to name a few, this is totally inexplicable. Why did he say yes to this? He must have made a quid or two over the years, enough to be able to turn down such a stinker.

Avoid this like the plague!

This is a truly awful 'comedy'

[jonnithomas · 1/10 · 18 September 2018]

David Jason has been given an impossible task in trying to make this rubbish work. His role has no character and the scenes are frankly shallow and totally unbelievable. Couple this with baddies that make the acting in ello ello look Shakespearian and you get the idea. It's a farce without any humour, subtlety or drama. I found this program to be cringeworthy and there is no way David Jason should have taken the role.

The Only Bad Script Jason Has Accepted

[plutus1947 · 7/10 · 1 January 2012]

David Jason is arguably the best UK TV actor ever. Whether it is comedy like Only Fools & Horses and Porterhouse Blue, or hard hitting dramas like Frost and All The King's Men, Jason's acting is impeccable.

He has, or had, a knack of selecting just the right scripts to show off his perfect acting ability.

Sadly, in the case of The Royal Bodyguard this knack appears to have eluded him.

SPOILER BEGINS:

David Jason plays the part of Captain Guy Hubble, an ex soldier, who, after saving the Queen's life by stopping her runaway carriage was given the post of The Royal Bodyguard. It was Hubble's fault the horses stampeded in the first place.

I must say this scene I thought was quite funny.

SPOILER ENDS

From there on what promised to be a typical Jason comedy series started to go down hill and if the first episode is anything to go by the series will continue to falter.

True I have only seen the first episode and because I love Jason as an actor I will continue to watch the series in the hope it will improve although I don't hold out much hope.

SPOILER BEGINS:

In the first episode Jason (Hubble) was employed to secure the Queen's safety at a conference, because he had saved the Queen's life.

The whole of the Government department responsible for the Queen's safety hate Hubble and want him replaced because of his total incompetence.

Of course that did not happen because through his incompetence he saved the life of the Queen yet again.

SPOILER ENDS

All through the thirty minute episode it was no more than a sequence of slapstick and farce. The plot and dialogue was totally forgettable, in fact it was thinner than a sheet of paper.

This series gives the impression that it was written after the author had seen Johnny English.

Johnny English was much better and much more enjoyable, probably because Rowan Atkinson who played English is perfect in this type of role, and if they had cast Atkinson in the part of Guy Hubble I have a feeling I would have thoroughly enjoyed The Royal Bodyguard, especially if they had named the main character Bean, the character Rowan Atkinson is most famous for.

I am so sorry Sir David but as much as I admire you as possibly Britains greatest TV actor I feel you have made a great mistake in choosing the role of Guy Hubble in this series.

Unless there is a drastic improvement in the next 5 episodes I really cannot see a second series.

I have given this first episode a 3 star rating simply because I love David as an actor and did enjoy the first scene.

ADDENDUM

Since writing the above review I have watched the complete first series and I owe David Jason a big apology.

Each episode became more and more enjoyable and in the end I was sorry to see the first series end.

Have no fears though The Royal Bodyguard is coming back for another series very soon.

Once again I hope David will accept my apologies.

So Bad To Watch It's Embarrassing

[ironorchid-1 · 1/10 · 24 January 2012]

I sat through two episodes of this as I though maybe I was being unfair by loathing it after just ten minutes, but I wasn't. And I also think I am being generous giving it one star as this is beyond awful it has got to be the worst thing I have ever seen passed off as comedy in all my 50 plus years. It's dreadfully trite, screamingly unfunny and so badly written it's embarrassing. How on earth David Jason was persuaded to put his name and prodigious comedy acting talent to this heap of nonsense is beyond me. If anyone from the BBC is reading this, get it off and don't make any more please. And if you are planning to watch it for the first time, don't bother, visit your dentist or clean the drains instead, it'll be more fun.

Hilarious series!

[gabrielledakers · 10/10 · 30 January 2012]

This has been the funniest series on television of late! David Jason is brilliant as are his colleagues in the series, actors Tim Bentinck and Geoffrey Whitehead. I really hope a second series is made! It is a great show to start the week with. Lighthearted and funny. So much better than the stand up comedians who are frequently on television who just aren't funny! So good to see a new and very British comedy on television instead of repeats or the same old thing. It is great to see David Jason back doing more comedy. He is wonderful in drag in one episode in particular. It may be quite a simple storyline, but that is part of what makes it work! I look forward to seeing more of The royal Bodyguard.

Stop with the hero worship

[bilevony · 1/10 · 25 July 2012]

I think it's a given that this show is rank awful. What I am getting sick of is people calling David Jason 'the best actor of his generation' etc etc. In my opinion Jason is at best an average actor who was lucky enough to be cast alongside a true comedy legend in Ronnie Barker in two truly great shows i.e porridge and open all hours, next he was lucky enough to be cast in a truly brilliantly written (for its time) show i.e only fools. If you watch Jason 'act' in anything else, such as Frost, he is I'm afraid completely average...bordering on terrible. He incapable of appearing natural within a scene. If you block out any scene he is in and actually watch his performance he is like a statue just waiting for his next cue and not altering the facial expression which he ended his last line with until he delivers his next one. I honestly think David Jason is a terrible actor who got INCREDIBLY lucky....

Quickly forgotten

[thereelalansmithee · 1/10 · 19 January 2012]

This series was awful, no doubt about it. The 'comedy' was clear to see coming from a mile off, and weakly executed. To be honest, I had to turn off before the end of the first episode, and chose not to return for the rest. However David Jason is a legend, who has played some of our favourite ever TV characters (particularly Del Boy and Arkwright). I'm sorry for David, but I congratulate him for not walking away from this project during production, probably for the sake of everyone else, more than himself. Don't worry David, you won't be remembered for this shambles. I've forgotten it already. You will, however, always be fondly remembered for the great stuff, and we still love you for having brought us so much laughter.

A sad day for David Jason's career

[elant712 · 1/10 · 15 January 2012]

What a catastrophe, was looking forward to watching this, but it is like watching a badly done Norman Wisdom film.

Surely the powers to be must have known this was a disaster, before it was televised. It seemed to have the budget, the stars, shame they had no money for the writers.

What a blot on his career, after "A Touch of Frost" one of the best TV series ever. The Royal Bodyguard is a really dreadful program, with stunts requiring doubles that look far to fit to play an ageing actor, in all a crying shame...........

I do not think after watching the first episode I will bother with the next five. My advice do not watch, and remember him for the other parts he has played.

Far from purrrrrfect

[PuravidaSlant · 3/10 · 31 December 2011]

I am a big fan of David Jason's work. I have enjoyed everything I have ever seen him do. I especially liked his very believable capacity of being the inside guy, the market hustler, the anti-establishment cop who got the bad guy, the charming rogue with a knowing smile and, when needed, the capacity for a spot of pathos. And now this. I don't know what demographic the executives at BBC were thinking of pleasing when they approved this stinker. A young viewer wouldn't find this Mister Magoo with bad lines and no plot worth their time. I guess the target demo might be older viewers who never liked David Jason and now find joy in watching him fail. The failure here is the "boss" who made the decision to let this poor concept get past the pitch. David my old friend, look for roles that cast you as a smartypants old duffer and we'll all go out laughing. Now that would be purrrrrfect!

David Jason reporting for duty

[studioAT · 4/10 · 3 January 2012]

Sir David Jason returns to comedy in this new role. After becoming such a huge icon through shows such as Open All Hours, A Touch Of Frost and Only Fools And Horses anything new he did was always going to pail in comparison but I don't think The Royal Bodyguard is as bad as people claim it to be.

It's very much on David Jason's head and much of it's humour derives from physical comedy. People will say that this is old fashioned but lots of people still enjoy things like Laurel and Hardy which is the same sort of thing.

It's refreshing that there are no sexual references or swearing and the BBC needs more of this.

The scripts waver from being good to lousy but there are enough good points to keep watching however you can't help but think that the bumbling fool in authority joke has been done better with Clouseau and Johnny English.

so bad it was funny

[koalafishy · 9/10 · 8 February 2012]

After completing the first episode I was stunned at why David Jason would ever sign up for this rubbish. that was before i realized the comedy gold i was watching. What makes this show so great is its predictability, time and again I called the exact next scene just by seeing the location. In most films this predictability makes it boring or cheesy. not in this! This show made my Christmas, leaving me doubled up in laughter and still chuckling about it days later.

A TRUE CLASSIC for the whole family, if you enjoy comedy and enter it not expecting carefully scripted and brilliantly acted Oscar/Bafta stuff your in for a treat.

A funny series

[dawn297 · 10/10 · 10 March 2012]

I think some very grumpy people with no appreciation for British humor have given The royal bodyguard a really bad review. It's not about what this series does not have (like making highly intelligent jokes) but about what it DOES have. And what it does have is fun and well I'll let you find out the rest for yourself. The actors are great and original. I must say i never liked MR Bean for instance. This series is somewhat similar to Mr Bean in the sense that it relies on silly happenings, but unlike Mr Bean, The Royal Bodyguard has silly happenings that could happen to anyone. It's great fun, and it's been a while that i laughed so hard. I gave it a 10/10 to compensate for the extremely negative reviews. I think it's more of an 8/10 :)

I like it!

[Ljpink · 9/10 · 16 January 2012]

I really like The Royal Bodyguard. Nice lighthearted TV show that I enjoy. Over 2 million people out there must agree with me. Some people have said it is unrealistic but there aren't many programmes that are and isn't that the whole point? I have seen the first 3 episodes and am still enjoying them as much as the first episode.

It makes me chuckle and that is something I need after a hard day, not coming in to watch miserable families going through a dreary day of their own! Too much misery for me! Please make a 2nd series and brighten my day. David Jason, you are still just as funny as ever and keep up the good work.

Buffoonery at its best

[michaelclancy1 · 10/10 · 10 September 2022]

My father who recently passed, only slightly ahead of her majesty. Being 97 himself (only slightly older) an appropriate exit for a loyal soldier.

He shared with his contemporary's ,a love of self deprecating humour.

His reaction to Jason's performance Pure joy

May l suggest that the arm chair critic's who did not serve her majesty in some capacity be deleted.

Apologies,I refer only to there scratching's.

May we honour a generation almost completely passed into history By allowing this form of levity to endure.

I'm sure that Philip shared a Royal chuckle with his love after an arranged Viewing.