'Surprise! It was the Muslim all along' Why everyone is NOT raving about the BBC's 'Bodyguard'

Some viewers were quick to point out the familiar harmful stereotypes about Muslims.

The final episode was watched by 11 million viewers making it the highest rated drama on the BBC.

In episode 6 Nadia – played by Anjli Mohindra – was revealed to be a major part in the bombings. For some this seemed to perpetuate the myths that Muslims even seemingly submissive and innocent ones can be guilty.

Genuinely shocked at how upset I am about about Muslim representation in #bodyguard it’s really affected me - I think I’ve woken up to realise how little things have changed - I thought we’d come far in terms of representation but we’ve gone backwards it makes me angry and sad

— hannah khalil (@hannykha) September 24, 2018

The disgraceful and dangerous portrayal of Muslim women as manipulative terrorists in BBC's #Bodyguard should not go unchallenged. It is lazy representations like this which create and sustain Islamophobic violence against Muslim women.#bodyguard

— Michael Mumisa (@MichaelMumisa) September 23, 2018

So what was all the fuss #Bodyguard was total rubbish, badly written, badly acted (looked like they where reading off cue cards),Badly Shot, Very poor sound. If it was a B movie the critics would have killed it. It also had no twist as it was obvious- Blame the Muslim was sloppy

— Jon Thompson (@JohnnyFocal) September 24, 2018

In 2003, following the drama Spooks, a Birmingham Mosque was sprayed with graffiti “kill the suicide bombers” and “there is a suicide bomber inside the mosque”. When viewing figures are so high, do what Muslims think matter? #bodyguard https://t.co/aKVC0smocr

— AssedBaig (@AssedBaig) September 24, 2018

#Bodyguard was brilliantly written and tense. Last night's episode was so skilfully plotted and nail biting. But can't help feel disappointed that the only muslim woman in it was a Jihadi, bomb making engineer intent on killing our white hero's children in their school.

— Tanika Gupta (@Tanika_Gupta) September 24, 2018

I called out this very stereotype of Muslim women before tonight’s #bodyguardfinale saying female Muslim characters inevitably depicted as oppressed victims and at the same time perpetrators of terror #bodyguard hit tropes in a 2-for-1 @theriztest @rizmc https://t.co/XVYAfTsfuJ

— Shelina Janmohamed (@loveinheadscarf) September 23, 2018

Quite annoyed with the #Bodyguard finale tbf. Just feels like lazy writing. Inevitably perpetuating the same stereotype we thought it was shattering and further fuelling islamaphobia / hatred towards Muslims and (by extension) the entire South Asian community. Nice work.

— Antonio Aakeel (@AntonioAakeel) September 23, 2018

So rather than the British political elite or aristocratic security services, turns out the culprits of #Bodyguard were (surprise!!) a Muslim woman and a lower class criminal 👍🏼👍🏼

— Laura Hackett (@HackettLaura) September 23, 2018

And the twist ending is... Muslims, ladies and gents. Biggest live drama hit in years and it has just two things to say:

1) heavily militarized police are super cool
2) In the end, Muslims are the villains

Great. #bodyguard

— Ryan Kenny (@Ryan_Kenny1) September 23, 2018

Why are writers for mainstream TV dramas consistently failing to get it right when it comes to Muslim women? https://t.co/WMz648LbxP… #TheBodyguard #bodyguardfinale #bodyguard pic.twitter.com/neQBNBwDsk

— aisha ali-khan (@aak1880) September 24, 2018

So mystery solved. It was the Muslim suicide bomb woman all along! #Bodyguard

— Baroness Hussein-Ece (@meralhece) September 23, 2018