Yahoo News Bodyguard episode 6 explained
BBC One's smash-hit series Bodyguard drew to a close tonight, with a predictably unpredictable finale delivering plenty of big reveals we didn't see coming.
More than that, it also omitted one particular plot twist that we were all certain was in the offing.
But with the answers coming thick and fast in the episode's final 20 minutes, you'd be forgiven for having got a little lost. So here are all the important events from the series closer, deciphered and explained.
Is Julia Montague still alive?
No. She's dead.
Who killed Julia Montague?
Crime lord Luke Aitkens (Matt Stokoe) and his goons.
"It was business," Aitkens confesses, held at gunpoint by David Budd (Richard Madden). "It was nothing personal."
He'd found out that Julia, once she became Prime Minister, was planning to transfer greater powers to the security services, enabling them to quash the sort of criminal enterprises that made Aitkens his money.
He had his men plant the bomb that took Julia's life at the political conference. It's not explicitly stated how Aitkens' men were able to avoid detection and edit the CCTV footage to remove all evidence of their crime, but it's implied that it was through a combination of bribery and intimidation.
Related: Bodyguard episode 6 review: BBC One thriller subverts expectations to the end
Who was the police leak?
Though we were thrown one last red herring regarding Anne Sampson (Gina McKee) and her history with Aitkens, it was actually Budd's direct superior Lorraine Craddock (Pippa Haywood) who'd been leaking sensitive information.
Craddock was in Aitkens' pocket, exchanging the Home Secretary's itinerary and details of her security precautions to the crook in exchange for cash.
This not only allowed Aitkens to plant the bomb, but also to set up the earlier attempt on Julia's life at Thornton Circus, recruiting and arming the troubled Andy Apsted (Tom Brooke).
Who was building the bombs?
It was... *gasp* Nadia!
Yes, Anjli Mohindra's would-be train bomber was not actually a helpless victim, bullied and brainwashed by a domineering husband. "I built all the bombs," she boasts, after Budd twigs she knows more than she's saying. "I am an engineer. I am a jihadi."
Again, Nadia and her terrorist cohorts worked with Luke Aitkens for money – to build more bombs and further their cause.
The incident on the train in episode one, it transpires, was all a ploy – part of a (rather convoluted) masterplan to draw in David Budd, place him at the Home Secretary's side and, ultimately, frame him for her murder.
(During his negotiation with Nadia, Budd had appealed to her by revealing that his two children were on the train, even giving up their names and ages. Nadia later used this information to orchestrate the attack on their school in episode two, passing the pertinent details onto her terror cell from prison.)
Related: Bodyguard series 2: Cast, release date, spoilers and everything you need to know
Who was Richard Longcross?
Just a shifty MI5 grunt, following orders.
As a member of the security services, 'Longcross' (his real name goes undisclosed) was involved in Julia's plot to blackmail and subsequently overthrow the Prime Minister, so later worked to recover the Kompromat to cover up MI5's involvement in the attempted coup.
(You might remember that Nadia identified Longcross as the bomb-maker, but that was a lie – the various attempts on Julia's life weren't his doing at all.)
After Anne Sampson leaked the Kompromat, the PM was forced to resign, but so was MI5 boss Stephen Hunter-Dunn (Stuart Bowman). Longcross, presumably, skates free, with Hunter-Dunn having previously secured his agent's release from police custody.
What were Mike Travis and the PM's cronies up to?
Just as the Home Secretary and MI5 were conspiring to oust the Prime Minister, Mike Travis (Vincent Franklin), Roger Penhaligon (Nicholas Gleaves) and Rob Macdonald (Paul Ready) were conspiring to stop her.
Again, though, they only wanted to undermine Julia and prevent the PM being compromised – they had no direct involvement in the assassination plots. (Travis ends up holding on to his job as Montague's replacement, staying on to "make sure RIPA '18 gets kicked into the long grass", according to Anne Sampson.)
What was David Budd's involvement in all this?
Budd had no involvement in the conspiracy to murder Julia Montague.
He'd been identified as "the perfect fall guy" by Lorraine Craddock because of his war trauma and psychological struggles, hence the subterfuge on the train. Post-October 1, Craddock was able to promote the troubled Budd to the position of Julia's PPO, where he could be easily framed for her killing. (She and Aitkens, and Nadia, couldn't have known of course that Budd and Montague would end up sleeping together.)
Aitkens' heavies later broke into Budd's home and replaced the rounds in his guns with blanks – since they were trying to frame him, they "couldn't take the chance" of leaving him with live rounds. (They couldn't just steal Budd's gun, or he'd immediately deduce that someone had been inside his flat.)
Once the whole truth comes out, Budd enters treatment for his mental health issues and is able to repair his relationship with his wife and kids. Yes, our hero gets a happy ending and finally finds some peace... until Bodyguard returns, of course!
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