A protection circuit for protecting driven circuitry against voltage peaks in a radio frequency signal, "V RF ", past a predetermined voltage level "V detect ", the protection circuit comprising: an input for receiving the radio frequency signal; a plurality, N, of amplification stages arranged in a linear chain to improve a bandwidth available for the production of an amplified signal based on V detect - V RF , the plurality of amplification stages including: a first amplification stage coupled to the input; an N th amplification stage having an output operable to output the amplified signal based on V detect - V RF ; and at least one intermediate amplification stage coupled between the first amplification stage and the N th amplification stage in the linear chain; a hold circuit operable to determine, from the amplified signal produced by the at least one amplification stage, whether a peak voltage V peak of the radio frequency signal exceeds V detect and to output: a first detection value if V peak exceeds V detect ; and a second detection value if V peak does not exceed V detect ; and a latch circuit operable to latch the detection value outputted by the hold circuit, wherein: the latch circuit comprises an output operable to output a control signal for enabling/disabling an output stage of the protection circuit according to the latched detection value; or the protection circuit further comprises a programmable attenuator for attenuating the radio frequency signal according to the latched detection value. an input for receiving the radio frequency signal; a plurality, N, of amplification stages arranged in a linear chain to improve a bandwidth available for the production of an amplified signal based on V detect - V RF , the plurality of amplification stages including: a first amplification stage coupled to the input; an N th amplification stage having an output operable to output the amplified signal based on V detect - V RF ; and at least one intermediate amplification stage coupled between the first amplification stage and the N th amplification stage in the linear chain; a first amplification stage coupled to the input; an N th amplification stage having an output operable to output the amplified signal based on V detect - V RF ; and at least one intermediate amplification stage coupled between the first amplification stage and the N th amplification stage in the linear chain; a hold circuit operable to determine, from the amplified signal produced by the at least one amplification stage, whether a peak voltage V peak of the radio frequency signal exceeds V detect and to output: a first detection value if V peak exceeds V detect ; and a second detection value if V peak does not exceed V detect ; and a first detection value if V peak exceeds V detect ; and a second detection value if V peak does not exceed V detect ; and a latch circuit operable to latch the detection value outputted by the hold circuit, wherein: the latch circuit comprises an output operable to output a control signal for enabling/disabling an output stage of the protection circuit according to the latched detection value; or the protection circuit further comprises a programmable attenuator for attenuating the radio frequency signal according to the latched detection value. the latch circuit comprises an output operable to output a control signal for enabling/disabling an output stage of the protection circuit according to the latched detection value; or the protection circuit further comprises a programmable attenuator for attenuating the radio frequency signal according to the latched detection value. <EOS>