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'Bodyguard' Fans Will Love New Drama 'Cobra' - And It Kicks Off This Week

'Bodyguard' Fans Will Love New Drama 'Cobra' - And It Kicks Off This Week

When the world is hit by a solar storm the government is forced to take drastic action – and fast.

Joanna Freedman

Joanna Freedman

If BBC's Bodyguard proved anything, it's that Britain loves a dark, gritty drama with politicians at the helm.

And that's exactly what we can expect from Sky One's new offering, Cobra, which lands on the channel this week.

Much like Bodyguard, Cobra offers a glimpse inside the inner workings of the UK government, when faced with a national emergency.

However, this time, rather than following Home Secretary (Keeley Hawes) in the face of terror and murder plots, the new drama will focus around Prime Minister, Robert Sutherland (Robert Carlyle) as he grapples with a brand new disaster.

Alongside his Chief of Staff, Anna Marshall (Victoria Hamilton), in Cobra, Sutherland is faced with restoring power to the country after the sun erupts with a gigantic solar flare.

The Prime Minister is plunged into national emergency (
Sky One)

This means that everywhere has been plunged into literal darkness, and worse still, satellite and GPS systems around the world are at risk of simply stopping working.

Scientifically, this sort of solar storm could actually happen, and while we don't know for sure how bad the repercussions could be, in the worst case, the national disaster could even cause planes to fall out of the sky, due to the clouds of plasma with a magnetic field heading towards earth.

In short: It's really not looking good for Sutherland's team.

In a bid to solve the disaster, the PM calls in a group of Britain's leading experts, crisis contingency planners and senior politicians to assemble under the name COBRA.

Chief of Staff, Anna Marshall is also working to grapple with the solar storm (
Sky One)

Joining the Prime Minister and his Chief of Staff is one of the country's best crisis contingency planners, Fraser Walker (Richard Dormer), and Home Secretary, Archie Glover-Morgan (David Haig).

But, as you'd expect in the world of politics, even amid national disaster, Glover-Morgan has his own intentions, as it soon becomes abundantly clear he has his eyes on Sutherland's job.

NASA state that, so far, the largest solar storm on record happened in 1859, with some US telegraph operators even claiming that their equipment burst into flames.

While the National Grid dispute that power supplies would be affected, the damage a future solar storm could cause is largely contested.

The cast hold COBRA meetings to tackle the storm (
Sky One)

Speaking about the equally terrifying and fascinating plot of the disaster series, David Haig said: "When you talk to Ben Richards [the show's writer] you realise it's absolutely true, and around the corner, and inevitable.

"A question of when, not if, and a question of how serious and how great a disaster it will be. But that it will happen at some point."

Meanwhile, Robert Carlyle reiterated: "It's not too far removed from the truth. It reminds you about the fragility of our species, the fragility of our world - it could be ripped apart in one night. I think that's something for people to think about."

Well, we're certainly not sleeping tonight, now.

Sky original COBRA will air on 17th January at 9pm on Sky One and NOW TV.

Featured Image Credit: Sky One

Topics: TV News, Sky,