The Protectors (Danish TV series)

The Protectors (Livvagterne) is a Danish crime TV series from 2009 that follows the police bodyguard squad P.E.T. (Politiets Efterretningstjeneste), which is in charge of protecting VIPs, including Danish royalty and politicians.

Overview
The series follows three recruits, Jasmina El-Murad (Cecilie Stenspil), Jonas Goldschmidt (André Babikian), and Rasmus Poulsen (Søren Vejby), who go swiftly from training camp to full-fledged police bodyguards. Jasmina is the only woman, and an Egyptian Muslim, on the team.

Cast

 * Cecilie Stenspil as Jasmina El-Murad, a newly trained bodyguard; she is the only woman in the class of 20 who train to become bodyguards
 * Søren Vejby as Rasmus Poulsen, a newly trained bodyguard; he lives in a church building he renovated
 * André Babikian as Jonas Goldschmidt, a newly trained bodyguard; he is Jewish and is married with one child. In the second episode he tells his wife he had an affair
 * Thomas W. Gabrielsson as Leon Hartvig Jensen, PET's Chief of Security
 * Ditte Gråbøl as Diana Pedersen, Secretary at PET
 * Rasmus Bjerg as 'Lille Kurt' Birk, the PET Group Leader who is in charge of training the new bodyguards
 * Ellen Hillingsø as Benedikte 'Tønne' Tønnesen, PET
 * Tommy Kenter as Jørgen Boas, PET psychiatrist
 * Michael Sand as Store Kurt, a veteran bodyguard
 * Benjamin Boe Rasmussen as Trikker
 * Kim Jansson as Fjordby
 * Anne Birgitte Lind as Claudia
 * Kate Kjølby as Asha El-Murad, Jasmina's sister

Series overview
A first season aired in 2009. A second and final season was released in 2010, each season had 10 episodes.

Production
The Protectors was created and written by Peter Thorsboe and Mai Brostrøm. The show was the third in a trilogy of shows created by Thorsboe: Unit 1 (Rejseholdet) and The Eagle (Ørnen: En krimi-odyssé).

Broadcast
The series screened in Australia in 2011 and 2012 on SBS and is available on DVD and Hulu with English subtitles.

Awards and nominations
It won an International Emmy Award from the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for best non-American television drama series in 2009. The series was filmed on location in Copenhagen (Denmark).