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Shows that feel likeBodyguard (2018)

A troubled war veteran is assigned to protect a controversial politician who may be the target of a terror plot.

If you loved Bodyguard, the closest series we have are Shooter (2016), Designated Survivor (2016) and Homeland (2011). All three share Bodyguard's contemplative and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Diplomat (2023).

★ 8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗1 season · BBC Onecreated by Jed Mercuriogrittycontemplativebleaktwistyparanoid
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:Netflix ↗

If Bodyguard hit the spot, these will too

Shooter poster
Shooter
2016–2018 · 3 seasons · USA Network
★ 7.5action & adventure · war & politics · drama

Both are working the same pair: assassination, police

The difference: Easier on the grit than Bodyguard

Bob Lee Swagger is an expert marksman living in exile who is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president.

Designated Survivor poster
Designated Survivor
2016–2019 · 3 seasons · ABC
★ 7.4drama · war & politicsNetflix

The same two preoccupations: politics, and conspiracy

The difference: Trades the grit of Bodyguard for an angle of its own

Tom Kirkman, a low-level cabinet member is suddenly appointed President of the United States after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union kills everyone above him in the Presidential line of succession.

Homeland poster
Homeland
2011–2020 · 8 seasons · Showtime
★ 8.3drama · war & politics · crimeNetflixHulu

Both are built on the same subject: terrorism

The difference: Takes it somewhere less twisty than Bodyguard does

CIA officer Carrie Mathison is tops in her field despite being bipolar, which makes her volatile and unpredictable. With the help of her long-time mentor Saul Berenson, Carrie fearlessly risks everything, including her personal well-being and even sanity, at every turn.

The Night Agent poster
The Night Agent
2023– · 4 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.4action & adventure · drama · mysteryNetflix

The same preoccupation in both: conspiracy

The difference: Leans harder into action & adventure than Bodyguard does

Brought together by a midnight phone call, an FBI agent and a cybersecurity expert must unravel an ever-growing web of political conspiracies.

Taboo poster
Taboo
2017 · 1 season · BBC One
★ 8.3drama · mysteryPeacock

Contemplative where it counts, twisty underneath

Adventurer James Keziah Delaney returns to London from Africa in 1814 along with fourteen stolen diamonds to seek vengeance after the death of his father.

The Diplomat poster
The Diplomat
2023– · 4 seasons · Netflix
★ 8drama · war & politicsNetflix

Two things both keep coming back to: politician and female politician

Amid an international crisis, a US diplomat contends with her high-profile job as ambassador to the UK and her strained marriage to a political star.

American Gods poster
American Gods
2017–2021 · 3 seasons · STARZ
★ 7.6drama · mystery · sci-fi & fantasyPrime Video

Drama with a pulse of paranoia, in both cases

An ex-con becomes the traveling partner of a conman who turns out to be one of the older gods trying to recruit troops to battle the upstart deities. Based on Neil Gaiman's fantasy novel.

Reacher poster
Reacher
2022– · 4 seasons · Prime Video
★ 8action & adventure · crimePrime Video

One thread runs through both: police

Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator, has just recently entered civilian life. Reacher is a drifter, carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served.

The Chestnut Man poster
The Chestnut Man
2021–2026 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.6drama · crime · mysteryNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: detective

At a grisly murder scene sits a figurine made of chestnuts. From this creepy clue, two detectives hunt a killer linked to a politician's missing child.

The Wire poster
The Wire
2002–2008 · 5 seasons · HBO
★ 9.3crime · dramaMax

Gritty crime, and it commits to that

Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.

Slow Horses poster
Slow Horses
2022– · 6 seasons · Apple TV
★ 8.4crime · drama · mysteryApple TV+

Common ground: terrorism

Follow a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents—and their obnoxious boss, the notorious Jackson Lamb—as they navigate the espionage world's smoke and mirrors to defend England from sinister forces.

Project Blue Book poster
Project Blue Book
2019–2020 · 2 seasons · History
★ 7.6sci-fi & fantasy · mystery · drama

Both lean on stillness more than on mystery

A chronicle of the true top secret U.S. Air Force-sponsored investigations into UFO-related phenomena in the 1950s and ’60s, known as “Project Blue Book”.

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The best-reviewed series that share Bodyguard’s defining feeling.