Theresa May has snubbed the new BBC drama based on the story of a fictional home secretary played by Keeley Hawes.

The Independent understands that the prime minister could not bring herself to watch a whole episode of the show, which is said to already be in line for a second series.

Line of Duty star Hawes plays the ambitious home secretary Julia Montague in the political thriller, which also delves into the politician’s private life in steamy scenes.

But the programme apparently did not interest Ms May, with a source saying that she started to watch it but switched off after 20 minutes.

In the show Sergeant David Budd, played by Game of Thrones’s Richard Madden, is an officer of an exclusive branch of the specialist operations directorate of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, tasked with protecting Ms Montague, but the two end up having an affair.

The story has similarities with career of Labour ex-home secretary Alan Johnson, who was eventually reunited with his wife after she had an affair with his police protection officer.

Obvious comparisons have also been drawn with the fictional character and two previous female home secretaries, Theresa May and Amber Rudd.

Last week Hawes revealed she had drawn inspiration for her acting from Ms Rudd – who was forced to quit earlier this year.

Speaking about her time filming the six-part drama the 42-year-old said: “Obviously at the time Amber Rudd was the home secretary, so we were aware that there might be those parallels that were going to be drawn.”