Bodyguard episode 5 review

In every bad thriller, someone will do something indescribably stupid. Some sad idiot will, for reasons known only to them, want to just check what's going on in the woods, or test a theory all on their lonesome, or decide not to share what they know with the police. And you're sat at home lobbing stuff at the screen and shouting about how ludicrous the whole thing is.

BBC's Bodyguard is, obviously, not stupid. Far from it. From the first gripping terrorist attempt on a train to the series' penultimate episode, Jed Mercurio's police drama has been a run-away success, spawning a million online conspiracy theories and a million more complaints about 'spoilers' on Twitter.

But, as its weakest episode to date comes to a close, our hero David Budd (Richard Madden) makes a series of stupid and incriminating decisions that will leave your screen covered in the detritus of whatever you chuck at it.

Budd is finally getting to the bottom of all the secrets that have been hanging in the air since Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes) inexplicably knew the name of Budd's kid's school. In a move that would please all extreme right-wing American conspiracy theorists, our hero is uncovering a deep-state (so to speak), a shifty political unit working in the dark and in the pocket of the PM, who was being blackmailed by Julia before she died.

As Budd rampages around, with a wound on the side of his head from his attempted suicide, and losing his temper at civil servants and police officers alike, we're reminded that the officer's hands are hardly clean. The police are learning more about Budd's old chum Seargent Andrew Apstead – the sniper on the roof – and inching towards uncovering the friendship that Budd chose not to divulge.

The Home Secretary's fired PA is back in the picture, and it's difficult to know who to trust. But how very annoying all the same that Budd has decided to do an illegal gun-swap and visit the Home Secretary's house in the middle of the night and find that key piece of evidence that will prove that the security services are, at the very least, a law unto themselves.

But this is a topsy turvy world of double-crossers, and no doubt Budd's thinking will become clear in the finale. Two questions remain: will be get away with it? And also, if you're that way inclined, Keeley Hawes really dead?