Mother of Manchester terror attack survivor slams BBC drama Bodyguard for using its own reporters – including Andrew Marr and Laura Kuenssberg -saying they make the show TOO realistic
- Thriller Bodyguard has seen a string of cameo appearances from real-life journalists including Andrew Marr, Sophie Raworth and Laura Kuenssberg
- BBC drama stars Richard Madden as policeman David Budd and Keeley Hawes as the UK Home Secretary Julia Montague
- Lisa Fenton, the mother of a teen who survived the 2017 Manchester bombing, said use of real-life reporters blurred lines too much between fiction and drama
- Andrew Marr agreed to take part in the show because he’s a fan of Keeley Hawes
- Fifth episode of six-part series, written by Jed Mercurio, airs on Sunday at 9pm
The BBC has been slammed for its use of real-life journalists in the Bodyguard, with viewers, including a mother caught up in the 2017 Manchester terror bombings, saying it blurs the line between reality and drama too much.
The hit political thriller, which sees close protection officer David Budd (Richard Madden) deal with a series of London terrorist attacks, including the assassination of the Home Secretary (Keeley Hawes), has so far seen cameos by Andrew Marr, Sophie Raworth, Laura Kuenssberg and Gordon Corera.
However, the mother of a Manchester terror attack survivor said the hyper-realistic scenes had been upsetting – and that the BBC should use fictional reporters instead.
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The BBC drama the Bodyguard sees Richard Madden star at close protection officer David Budd. Keeley Hawes played Home Secretary Julia Montague for three episodes in the six-part series before being assassinated in a bomb attack
Lisa Fenton, right, whose daughter, Kallie Fenton, left, from Blackpool, survived the Manchester MEN arena bomb attacks on May 22nd 2017 said she’d found the graphic depiction of terror attacks and the use of real-life BBC reporters upsetting
A scene from the drama sees BBC News branding used and the corporation’s political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg appear in a cameo role reporting an attack on the series’ Home Secretary (Keeley Hawes)
Lisa Fenton, 35, from Blackpool, was outside the MEN arena on 22nd May last year when 22 people were killed by bomber Salman Ramadan Abedi.
She had been waiting to collect her daughter and stepdaughter who had been attending the Ariana Grande concert.
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Fenton told the Telegraph that the BBC’s use of its own reporters in fictional drama was hard to watch: ‘It blurs the lines. Having been through the situation myself, it does make me second-guess what’s going on in real life.’
Across the first four episodes high-profile names including Andrew Marr, Sophie Raworth, Laura Kuenssberg and Gordon Corera have all made cameos alongside another ten real-life BBC journalists in the show.
Andrew Marr, famous for his Sunday morning BBC show, appeared in the first episode of Jed Mercurio’s latest show, interviewing Keeley Hawes’ character. He said he agreed to appear because he was ‘dead keen’ on Mercurio’s writing and admires Keeley Hawes
BBC daily news controller Gavin Allen defended the use of BBC News show branding saying background music and television angles made the scenes ‘clearly fictitious’
Andrew Marr has explained that he was happy to appear in the thriller because he’s a huge fan of actress Keeley Hawes.
Writing in the Guardian, he said: ‘Hawes is an awesome talent and, in an age of strong women, a brilliant portrayer of slightly brittle self-confidence.’
He added that he admired writer Jed Mercurio and was ‘dead keen’ to see him at work.
There are strict guidelines in place over branding when it comes to using the corporation’s news studios, which appear to have been heavily breached by the show.
Reporter Gordon Corera also makes an appearance: BBC guidelines say that branding and reporters shouldn’t be used to ‘front a fictitious news report
The guidelines state: ‘It will normally be inappropriate to use a BBC correspondent in the field to front a fictitious news report.
‘High-profile presenters should not be used in their usual news setting.
‘Current presenters of BBC news programmes should not appear as news presenters in a fictional bulletin if it is at all likely that his could cause confusion and concern.’
Defending the apparent breach, BBC daily news controller, Gavin Allen, said: ‘There are very clear visual and audio clues’ including different background music and angles that make it clear the setting is ‘clearly fictitious”.
MailOnline contacted the BBC for further comment. A spokesperson said: ‘It is very clear to the audience from the onset and throughout the series that Bodyguard is a work of fiction.’
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