BBC faces fight to keep Bodyguard for season 2 as Netflix buys distribution rights

The BBC could face a fight to keep Bodyguard, its biggest hit, after  Netflix signalled its interest in the drama by acquiring the international  rights. 

The announcement came on the day that the BBC director-general said the  corporation must find more money to compete with US streaming giants,  raising the prospect of an increase to the licence fee. 

Lord Hall of Birkenhead said government "raids" on the BBC must end and  called for a public debate on how the organisation is funded. 

"The cracks are beginning to show. More cuts have been taking place over a  far longer period than any other in the BBC’s history,” Lord Hall told an  audience at the Royal Television Society. 

"While we believe the BBC's public mission is as important as ever, we do  not believe what we currently do is sustainable with the resources we have." 

Netflix has secured the international rights to Bodyguard, and can show it  in every available country outside the UK and Ireland from next month. 

The show, starring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes, has given the BBC its  biggest drama debut since records began, with more than eight million  viewers tuning in to last Sunday's episode. 

Netflix picked up the series at the script stage, without knowing it would  become such a breakout hit. The show's writer, Jed Mercurio, has said he  has ideas for a second series, and Netflix would relish the opportunity to  acquire it. 

But Mercurio is unlikely to be lured to a rival broadcaster, however deep  its pockets. He recently praised the BBC for backing Bodyguard "to the  hilt". 

Lord Hall, in his speech to the RTS, said that Netflix's £8 billion content  budget, and Amazon's £5 billion, dwarf those of British broadcasters whose  joint budget is £2.5 billion. 

He said it was time for a national conversation about how the BBC is  funded. "I'm making the point that we need to find more money," he told the  audience. 

Options include an increase in the licence fee, commercial revenue streams  and an end to free licences for all over-75s. 

Jeremy Wright, the Culture Secretary, said he would "listen carefully to  any requests made" about the future of the licence fee. 

"I'm certainly not going to turn a deaf ear" he said. "I would expect the  BBC to do their best with the resources they have available to them now.  And then I'll listen carefully to the arguments they make to me for more. 

"It would be unwise to rule out anything."  Lord Hall said that in the past “great programmes have been  decommissioned or lost to other broadcasters, purely to meet savings  targets” and he did not want that the one happen again.