'Bodyguard' is the latest hit British TV show that Netflix has streamed to American audiences, and it has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

bodyguard

"Bodyguard" is the latest hit British TV series Netflix is streaming outside of the UK.
The show stars "Game of Thrones" actor Richard Madden and has a 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Netflix regularly works with international production companies to nab global distribution rights, and has acquired a number of other British shows, including "The End of the F---ing World."
It's a strategy that works for Netflix and British television networks: the shows are introduced to a wider audience, and they can reel in potential subscribers.

Netflix has added to its impressive catalog of British TV series with "Bodyguard," a new thriller starring "Game of Thrones" alum Richard Madden and "Peaky Blinders" actress Sophie Rundle.

The series debuted on the streaming giant on October 24 and has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic score as of Monday. Netflix describes the series this way: "After helping thwart a terrorist attack, a war veteran is assigned to protect a politician who was a main proponent of the very conflict he fought in."

Indiewire called it "a gripping and thoroughly entertaining adventure that’s emotionally deft." The Hollywood Reporter said it's "six-plus hours of pulse-pounding action and brain-bending twists."

The show originally premiered on the UK's BBC network in late August and grabbed viewers with its twists and turns. It's the latest British series to be streamed outside of the UK by Netflix, which regularly works with international production companies to acquire global distribution rights, according to Deadline, which first reported the "Bodyguard" deal in September.

Other British shows that Netflix has acquired include cult hit "The Frankenstein Chronicles," which stars another former "Game of Thrones" actor, Sean Bean; "Collateral," starring Carey Mulligan; "Wanderlust," starring Toni Collette; and "The End of the F---ing World," which Netflix recently renewed for a second season.

It's a strategy that has worked in both Netflix and UK networks' favor, as Netflix is able to introduce the shows to a wider audience. Some series don't manage to grab audiences in the UK, but once streamed on Netflix, shows like BBC's "The Last Kingdom" found success. Its third season debuts November 19.

"The first season didn’t break through on BBC America, but it did on Netflix in the US,” executive producer Gareth Neame told The Guardian in April. "Their mission seems to be to back storytellers and let them get on with it."

And hidden gems are just as integral to Netflix's business strategy as its massive hits like "Stranger Things."

“While it might be inconceivable for an old-style network to greenlight a series that appeals to 0.5% of its viewers, for Netflix, if that series is the reason that 0.5% choose to subscribe, that is enough to justify it,” said Joshua Gans, an Australian economist, in the Harvard Business Review last year (via The Guardian).

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