Episode 1

-Mayday, mayday, mayday.

Alpha-075.

I'm declaring a fuel emergency.

-Alpha-075, how many souls do you have on board, and what's your current fuel status?

-295 souls on board.

Current fuel status is half an hour.

We spent too long over France.

We won't make Newcastle.

-They've had avionics issues since the storm hit, and then with the situation at Charles de Gaulle... -Where is he now?

-Approaching Northumberland, but we keep losing him.

-Try Newcastle.

-He doesn't think he'll get there.

[ Alarms blaring ] [ Pilots speaking foreign language ] -Okay, Alpha-075, I have new vectors for you.

We're sending you to RAF Coningsby.

-[Breaking up] No, we won't make that...need to land.

[ Alarms blaring ] ♪♪ -Yeah, look.

That's exactly what I said to them.

We don't have the officers.

[ Engines rumbling ] Christ!

A plane just went over really low, but I can't see any lights.

[ Alarms blaring ] ♪♪ -"COBRA" was made possible in part by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

[ Bell tolling ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Text tone chimes ] ♪♪ -You're smoking.

-No.

-Why can't you vape?

-Oh, real men don't vape.

-Oh.

[Chuckles] Where's your protection officer?

-Oh, risk is part of smoking.

Take that out, what have you got?

-Lymph nodes.

I called James.

He's just coming.

-So, uh, can I go to the party?

-[ Chuckles ] -As long as we can video you Milly Rocking.

-Oh.

-[ Laughs ] -You think I don't know what this is, right?

-He doesn't, really.

-We don't really do parties anyway.

-Oh, really?

What do you call them now then?

-Just a few friends coming 'round.

-Yeah.

-For tea and biscuits.

-Yeah, well, enjoy yourselves, You deserve it.

-[ Cellphone rings ] -I love you.

Call me later.

Bye, Georgia.

-Fascist scum!

Hey, Sutherland!

Resign!

-Yes, make that move.

-Bye, Mr Sutherland!

-Are you sure?

-Been a long time coming.

What about the other issue?

-Still waiting for an update from Fraser.

-Okay.

I'm on my way.

-Okay.

I'll call you as soon as I hear anything.

[ Phone clicking ] Dan, I want an immediate update if there's any evidence of panic-buying at the petrol stations.

-Anna.

You didn't answer my letters.

♪♪ -They didn't deserve an answer.

♪♪ -[ Door opens ] -Mum?

-Please go.

-You don't even want to know what happened.

-No.

-Mum, who's this guy?

Is he hassling you?

-No, it's fine.

He's just going.

♪♪ Come on.

Come inside.

Come on.

♪♪ ♪♪ -X5.

And another one.

-I'll let them know.

♪♪ [ Phone unlocks ] [ Cellphone ringing ] -Anna.

-Multiple X5's.

-Right.

Do we know...?

-That's all we've got.

But we've gone from moderate to significant threat, and we've informing all go commanders.

-I'll tell the Prime Minister.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cellphone rings ] ♪♪ -Anna.

-Multiple X5's.

We've gone to significant threat.

And it could be heading our way.

-Convene a full COBRA for the morning.

♪♪ ♪♪ -♪ It's strange ♪ ♪ But I don't need space from you ♪ ♪ And every single thing you do ♪ ♪ I like ♪ ♪ I've been chased ♪ ♪ Maybe I just knew I had to wait for you ♪ -So...shall I be mum?

[ Both chuckle ] -♪ It feels nice ♪ -I've never done it like this before.

-Oh, it's cool.

-You know, I might just drop a couple of downers.

-No, no.

Later, babe.

Honestly.

Trust me.

It's like you're riding down a river on a swan.

[ Both chuckle ] It just takes the edge off everything.

Here.

-♪ And every single thing you do ♪ -Cheers.

-Cheers.

-♪ I like ♪ -Ohh.

-[ Laughter ] [ Siren wailing in distance ] [ Indistinct conversations, telephone ringing ] -Dominic Knight's on the way.

-Great.

Thanks.

[ Knock on door ] -Hey, Anna.

You wanted to see me?

Hm.

-[ Paper thuds ] -It wasn't me.

-It was you.

-No, I didn't -- I didn't -- -You did.

I did an interview a while back.

"What's the most important function of being the PM's Chief of Staff?"

Do you know what I was tempted to say?

Knowing where the nearest toilet is at all times.

Sure, there's the strategic input, the diary management, controlling access, but really it comes down to making sure he always has somewhere to take a... You don't get to choose your level of loyalty when you work at this address.

We have a COBRA on the solar threat at 11:00, and you have until the end of the day to draft your resignation letter.

-You cannot -- That is outrageous.

-You're quite right.

You don't need all day for such a short letter.

Two hours should be plenty.

Have it done by lunch.

The Civil Service are waiting.

We should be going.

Oh, and Dominic?

You can leave by the public entrance.

Queen takes Knight.

We should expect a counterattack.

-Don't worry.

Got the next move all planned out.

♪♪ -Peter will brief the press that the threat level has been raised to significant.

-All the petrol stations seem to be working.

There's no sign of panic yet.

-That's 'cause people don't know what to panic about.

[ Keypad beeps ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] -Morning, Archie.

-...that!

Have you just sacked Dominic Knight?

-Shouldn't it be... "Prime Minister"?

-You should have talked to me first.

-I really don't think that's part of my constitutional obligations, actually.

-You know how it looks.

Dom's closely identified with me.

-Don't go there, Archie, or I'm going to be forced to ask who gave him the nod to brief against a policy he helped devise.

-They're ready for us now.

-Oh, I'm sorry, Lady Macbeth.

I didn't spot you lurking there for one delightful moment.

-That might work if I was his wife.

-Never too late.

♪♪ -So, which virtue-signaling ponce has been lined up to replace him?

-I have a couple of ideas.

Francine Bridge was one thought that occurred to me.

♪♪ -We'll have to have a chat about that.

♪♪ -Now, as you are already aware, this morning, the threat from extreme space weather was raised from moderate to significant.

There is some uncertainty as to the impact zone, but the UK is certainly at risk.

I'll now hand over to the Chief Scientific Officer.

-Uh, yes, as I briefed the Director of the Civil Contingency Secretariat last night, the Met Office has been seeing fairly significant activity on the eastern side of the sun.

-But we planned for all this, though.

There was the seminar you did at the Home Office.

W-What was it called again?

The last bad one, a couple of centuries back?

-The Carrington Event.

-And a few telegraph operators got singed eyebrows, right?

-The point is, though, Home Secretary, as I'm sure you'll recall from my presentation, that our technologies are much more sophisticated now.

-The impact of a similar-sized storm will be considerably worse.

-Okay, but it's not a great big meteorite or the sun suddenly blowing up.

-It's neither of those scenarios, and I shall be making the press very aware of that later.

It'd be great if we could all stay on message on this one.

-While I have a bottle of Lagavulin with the Foreign Secretary, this will all go the way it normally does.

-I am sure we're all hugely reassured by that, Archie.

Now, perhaps we could pick up the thread in terms of practical implications, just in case the shark actually is in the water, like the last time.

-Of course, Prime Minister.

Stage one of a bad solar storm would knock out satellites, potentially destabilizing all transport and navigational systems.

-I understand aviation is the biggest concern.

-Yes, there are real worries over flight safety after a serious particle blizzard.

-But stage two is potentially the most disruptive part.

The storm will almost certainly release several blasts of plasma into space, and if one of these reaches Earth, it could cause huge damage to the power supply through voltage instability and transformer damage on the network.

Some areas could be without power for months.

-The National Grid begs to differ.

They think it could be restricted to a couple of remote areas.

-And it could.

We just don't really know, and neither do they.

But even one day without power is enough to drive most people insane and do huge damage to the economy.

Think of the impact of weeks.

Or even months.

-When are we gonna know whether all or any of this is going to happen?

-We expect to see more large flares on the visible face of the sun.

The Met Office are monitoring for plasma launches, but even then, it would have to come our way.

And even then, there would still be one critical variable left.

Does the incoming plasma field have a north or south magnetic orientation?

-Which is the one we don't want?

-Hot South, bad.

Frozen North, harmless.

The probability is absolutely 50/50.

The plasma eruption could have very little impact at all... or it could be extremely serious.

-When do we know, for certain?

-So, once released, it could take up to two days to cover the 90 million miles from sun to Earth, but we'll only know if we're Hot South when it passes our satellite at the L1 point.

That's about one million miles from Earth.

-Do the math, Archie.

-Last time I tried that in public, Eddie Mair made a bit of a...out of me.

[ Laughter ] -Half an hour.

-Correct.

There will be just 30 minutes before we know if this storm will fuse a few kettles or send us back to the Stone Age.

♪♪ -Archie's face was a picture when you told that brilliant joke about Francine Bridge as the new head of the Policy Unit.

Great timing, as well, just before we got to the briefing room, leaving him no time to respond to your hilarious quip.

-I believe that expression is called, "What the actual...?"

by the young people who've abandoned our party in their droves.

-You weren't joking, were you?

-No.

-What the actual...?

-She's brilliant.

She's unemployed.

Did I mention young people?

-She was a Labor MP.

-Yes, but... -Why does everybody assume all people under 20 are transgender vegans who only care about tuition fees?

-If you only ever take one piece of advice from me, it is never make jokes about gender.

People literally lose their...over it.

-How about vegans?

-Stick to what you know.

-Can we not just start moving replacement transformers in advance?

-Have you ever seen a transformer?

They're not small, you know.

-Okay.

In awe at the size of -- -Absolute unit.

-The sun is not going to explode.

There are no fireballs or meteorites.

It is an invisible geomagnetic storm that could disrupt things.

We have measures in place.

Please, please, please, please, please, pretty...please... report this responsibly.

-So, what time exactly does the sun explode?

I will brief you again if the threat level moves to serious.

-Move the security meeting with The Crab back to 11:30, please.

Well, they stockpiled CS gas and baton rounds for the last false alarm.

Wait, Ed, don't hang up.

I've got Dom Knight calling.

♪♪ Dom?

Oh, for God's sake.

Are you there, Dom?

Ah, good.

Never trust this hold-and-accept malarkey.

Oh, you bet we'll meet later.

Don't worry.

I'm not taking this lying down.

-Look, my daughter spends most of her time signing petitions on social media, and my son sings that stupid lefty chant in the bath.

To them, we're still the nasty party who hates animals and refugees whilst favoring tax dodgers.

-Our party does contain people like that.

We can't just wish them away, or Archie would not be Home Secretary, which brings me to Francine Bridge.

-She isn't a member of her party any longer.

She even resigned her seat in parliament.

-Okay, but there's still one massive problem.

-Yeah, I know what you're going to say.

-No, you don't.

You're going to say... "None of this matters because she won't accept."

-Okay, that is what I was gonna say.

-It's a problem.

It's not an insurmountable one.

Leave it with me.

I'm meeting her for a drink later.

-[ Knocking at door ] -Met Office has just seen a massive solar flare with multiple plasma launches.

We need to raise the threat level to serious and recall COBRA immediately.

So, having analyzed the data, we can now confirm that a high-speed plasma eruption is heading straight for us.

-When does it arrive?

-It depends on whether it maintains current speed, so we can't say for certain.

They're, um -- They're currently estimating some time late tomorrow afternoon, with a margin for error of about five hours.

-In the meantime, we do already have an immediate impact on planes.

We're getting reports of avionics issues, like false warnings and autopilots suddenly disconnecting.

-Isn't that why we still have real pilots on board?

-It is, Home Secretary, although when an Air France crew faced a similar scenario some years ago, they hit the ocean 15 minutes later.

The glidepaths at two French airports have failed.

They need to divert traffic our way.

-Can't they go to their pals in Germany?

-You voted to leave the EU, Archie, not the human race.

♪♪ Well, it's fairly obvious what the issue is here.

Do we ground all flights?

-That would have a very high cost, both human and financial.

Department of Biz is opposed.

-I trust you all remember the ash cloud.

-If the situation in the air is manageable and it's Frozen North, then this is as bad as it gets.

In which case, we should just wait until morning.

-Grounding all flights has real human impacts and indirect danger to life.

This is a hard decision, but we do have to decide as there's no middle ground here.

♪♪ Flights will remain operational until we have more information.

-It's the right decision.

♪♪ -Keep me updated on the plasma eruption.

-Will do.

-I'm going to stay here until we know if it's north or south, so you guys should probably just -- -We'll stay, too.

We'll take it in turns to sleep.

-Okay, well, we could be here for a while, so...

I need to pop out for an hour.

Need to make sure Mabel's okay.

It's my dad's dog.

Cockapoo.

Staying with me while he's in the care home.

-How is the old man?

-Well, he thinks the Home Secretary should lead the country, so possible early-stage dementia.

I need to speak to the hospital social worker, but I haven't had a second.

-Do you need anything?

-Uh, get some food in a bit later.

-Pizza or curry?

-Pizza.

Something with loads of anchovies.

-Mmm!

-I thought for a minute... -Me too.

[ Chuckles ] Did you ever meet his ex-wife?

-Unh-unh.

More Dobermann than Cockapoo.

He's better off with Mabel.

[ Indistinct conversations ] -So, will you do it?

-Of course I won't.

-Doesn't have to be Policy and Research.

You can have any job title you please.

-Uh, Chief Adviser to the Duchy of Narnia.

-[ Laughs ] What do we really disagree on?

-Corporation tax.

Public services.

The unquestionable superiority of Western values.

-Yeah.

I've seen the alternative.

-Also, you're not your party.

-And you would answer only to me.

-I can't.

I got badly burned in the split.

I just want -- -You want what all normal people want.

Respect.

Trust.

Decency.

And a bit of help with the school fees, of course.

Just universal credit doesn't cover that, right?

-You are such an operator.

♪♪ -You still getting flak for going private?

-Yes.

I didn't change my principles, Anna.

He got threatened with bloody acid by kids who weren't messing about.

-You don't have to convince me.

I believe in choice, remember?

-Yeah, but I don't really.

Plus, it's not choice.

It's purchasing power.

-That's part of choice once you've paid your tax.

See?

I don't need us to agree on everything.

I just want somebody who's not an... that I can trust.

-Ever think you might have chosen the wrong career?

-No.

[ Indistinct conversations ] [ Mabel panting ] [ Mabel whimpers ] -Don't be fooled, Mabel.

I hate and despise you.

The sooner I'm on my own again, the better.

[ Mabel whining ] Heather, it's me.

You'll probably have seen on the news about the possible power complications.

Take them seriously.

Get yourself a wind-up radio... plenty of food and water, extra fuel for the car.

In spite of your successful attempts to destroy my relationship with the kids, I love them very much.

It might be difficult over the next few weeks, so prepare yourselves.

♪♪ -The situation in Paris is causing chaos.

They're sending more and more our way.

-We're running out of slots.

A couple of flights have declared fuel emergencies.

[ Distorted voice on radio ] -I don't know where I am.

They're still getting false alerts and losing comms.

Some of them are getting so confused, they don't even know where they are anymore.

-Try and prioritize.

All we can do.

♪♪ -We're treating this as a rising-tide level of emergency insofar as we have a level of advance warning of the threat involved.

But, at the same time, I'm afraid we also have very little guidance from London as to what, if anything, is actually going to happen tomorrow.

If the worst does happen and we are without power for a lengthy period of time, I'll chair and host Gold Command from the Royal Northumberland Hospital near Hexham.

Our main priorities will be maintaining health care, ensuring protection for the vulnerable, safeguarding key sites and essential fuel supplies, while maintaining law and order.

And perhaps our biggest challenge will be getting vital staff to their places of work.

Now, you all have a copy of the civil emergencies guidelines, but I imagine you also have some questions.

-[ All clamoring ] -One at a time, please.

-How real is the threat from the solar storm?

-Oh.

It's real.

They've convened my Local Resilience Forum for the morning.

-Might only cause minor disruption.

Good chance of nothing at all.

So...a funny thing has happened.

-Funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?

-When I was reporting in Bosnia, there was a local translator working for the UN forces around Tuzla.

His sister was in Visegrad, and when the local Serbs took that town, that was not a good place to be a young woman.

-Nowhere is during war.

-And Visegrad was hell.

Stuff went on there that...

It's why I can't tolerate people who take what we have for granted.

-So, what happened?

-He went to look for her, and he just vanished.

I never saw him again.

Until now.

-He's turned up?

-Literally on my doorstep.

-Did he find his sister?

-I don't know.

We haven't spoken properly.

-But you're going to, right?

-It was so long ago.

Oh, come and work with me, what larks.

-Yeah.

That is not going to happen.

There will categorically be no larks.

-Yes, there will!

-[ Both laugh ] -I want a secure video link to all police Gold Commanders.

We also need to ensure that all essential staff can be brought to places of work.

I'll get back to you.

-Uh, Air Traffic Control are reporting a mayday from a diverted flight from Málaga to Oslo.

Up until ten minutes ago, it had contact, but now they've lost all comms.

-Okay.

Well, where was this plane re-routed to?

-Newcastle.

They're assuming it's close to -- -Well, let's not make assumptions when it comes to large metal objects full of jet fuel.

-That's the problem, though.

It's not full of jet fuel.

They think he's running on fumes.

-Get me Bob Jones at NATS.

Patch him over to the briefing room.

♪♪ OK, Alpha-075, do you want to divert?

[ Radio static ] Please respond, Alpha-075.

-I'm declaring a fuel emergency.

I repeat.

A fuel emergency.

-Alpha-075, how many souls do you have on board and what's your current fuel status?

-295 souls on board.

Current fuel status is half an hour.

We spent too long over France.

We won't make Newcastle.

-Believe me, Dominic, I did everything in my power.

I begged him not to do it.

I told him it would come back to haunt him.

-Oh.

It will.

Served deep-frozen.

And that total bitch Anna Marshall.

-Well, they were both in the Tory Reform Group at Balliol.

-[ Chuckles ] -You were at Christ Church, weren't you?

-No, I was at Oriel.

-Rumor's they had a bit of a thing once.

I mean, let's be fair.

She's a handsome woman.

-I mean, you definitely would.

-[ Laughs ] Well... [ Soft piano music playing, indistinct conversations ] So, who are they replacing me with?

-She mentioned Francine Bridge.

-You've got to be... kidding me.

-I'd be surprised if even Robert lets her go ahead with that one.

-When are you going to make your move, Archie?

-Well, you know what they say about shooting the king.

[ Beeping ] -We've picked him up again.

He's over Lincolnshire.

He won't make it to Newcastle now.

-There must be somewhere he can land.

-One of the RAF bases.

Coningsby if necessary.

-How about Coningsby?

-Okay, Alpha-075, I have new vectors for you.

We're sending you to RAF Coningsby.

-[Breaking up] No, we won't make that...need to land.

♪♪ [ Alarms blaring ] [ Pilots speaking foreign language ] -Yeah, look.

That's exactly what I said to them.

We don't have the officers.

[ Engines rumbling ] Christ!

A plane just went over really low, but I can't see any lights.

[ Alarms blaring ] ♪♪ -Oh, my God.

I think he crashed into the motorway.

♪♪ [ Horn blares ] -[ Breathing heavily ] ♪♪ [ Emergency brake clicks ] ♪♪ [ People shouting ] ♪♪ -This is Chief Constable Collier.

We've got an emergency on the A1 just past Newton Aycliffe.

A plane has crashed on the road.

We need to declare a major incident.

[ Woman shouting ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Help.

Help.

-Help!

Please!

-Help's on its way, okay?

Help's coming.

[ Man coughing ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Car alarms blaring ] ♪♪ [ People screaming ] [ Baby screeching ] ♪♪ [ Woman crying, shouting indistinctly ] ♪♪ -Ma'am, help is coming.

Help is on its way, okay?

-My baby!

I can't move!

-Your baby?

Wait there!

Don't worry!

[ Woman shouting indistinctly ] [ Baby crying ] ♪♪ [ Grunting ] ♪♪ [ Baby wailing ] [ Woman shouting ] [ Electricity zapping ] ♪♪ [ Woman shouting and crying ] -Where is she?

Where is she?

-[ Explosion ] -Do you know?

I'll find her.

Don't worry.

Don't worry.

I'm gonna find her, okay?

It's gonna be okay.

-[ Baby crying ] -I can hear her.

I can hear her.

It's okay.

♪♪ [ Baby crying ] ♪♪ There.

I can see her!

It's okay.

I've got her!

She's okay!

-[ Woman pleading ] [ Baby crying ] [ Woman shouting ] -My baby, please!

♪♪ -She's here.

[ Sirens approaching ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Indistinct shouting ] ♪♪ -Okay.

Thanks.

Where in Portugal?

That's good of you.

I really appreciate it.

Yeah.

Bye.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -What does Tuzla mean?

-Tuzla.

It's in Bosnia.

Yeah, just you -- Go ahead.

[ Chuckles ] -Mmm!

Not bad.

This was my favorite thing.

Oh, that tastes of being young.

-So, is the sun gonna blow up?

-No.

Dad's flight's being diverted to Portugal.

-Then what?

-Then...I don't know.

He'll have to wait until it's safe to fly again, I suppose.

-Funny how it all happens when you lot fall behind in the polls again.

-Hello to you, too.

Actually, it's because we're about to invade Venezuela.

You won't read about that in the mainstream media.

-They've got oil.

-They're also eating dead cats.

-Ohh.

-Look, I might have to stay up in town a few nights this week, I mean, just until this fake news blows over.

-[ Cellphone ringing ] -Spoon!

Yep.

Oh, God.

Where?

Are there any survivors?

-Dad?

No, it's fine.

It's not his plane.

Yeah, go on.

-So, they're bringing the rest of the planes into the nearest available landing points.

So far, no further incidents.

-If only we'd grounded the planes.

-It would have made no difference at all.

The plane was already in the air.

It crashed because the sun took out the glidepaths in France, or it would've landed safely.

You made the right decision for the right reasons.

-[ Scoffs ] Funny feeling that's not how others will see it.

-Well, we're not others, though, are we?

We're the ones who have to make the decisions while others talk about them in pubs.

-Keep me updated on casualties.

♪♪ [ Sighs ] -[ Cellphone ringing ] -Hiya, darling.

-[Crying] Mum.

Mum, it's Georgia.

I'm at the hospital.

And they can't bring her 'round, Mum.

She's not breathing!

It's a nightmare!

-Ellie, Ellie, Ellie.

Just calm down.

Calm down.

What happened?

-We've been up all night, Mum.

We were taking stuff.

-What are you talking about?

What kind of stuff?

-[Crying] Oh, God.

Mum, it's all my fault.

It's all my fault.

-Robert!

Ellie, listen to me.

You need to keep it together, and I don't want you to speak to anyone.

-Okay.

-All right, sweetheart?

I love you, and I'll be there as soon as I can.

-Okay.

I love you, bye.

[ Phone clicks ] God.

Ohh.

-[ Sighs ] -What's happened?

-Ellie's friend Georgia is in a coma.

-What?

-Drugs.

They've been up all night doing drugs after graduation.

-Christ.

She's okay, though.

Ellie's not...?

-She's in bits.

-Oh, God.

Poor kid.

[ Cellphone chimes and vibrates ] Well, the Met Office say the CME's trajectory is faster than anticipated.

-I don't have a...clue what that means.

-Well, it means I have to reconvene COBRA.

-Our daughter is in trouble, Robert!

We... -Look.

We've got a plane crashed on the A1.

We have a solar storm that could wipe out our power supply.

I just don't have time for this.

-Okay.

I'll go and get her.

Leave it with me.

Go on.

I'll text you with any news.

-I'll have Peter Mott come first thing in the morning.

He has to be across this.

-Yes, that would be a really good idea.

Leave it with us.

It'll be okay.

It'll be okay.

♪♪ [ Ellie sobbing ] ♪♪ -Accident investigators are at the site of yesterday's tragedy on the A1.

There has been speculation that the crash was caused by a particle blizzard associated with a solar storm, and fears are mounting that it is just the start of the full-blown chaos that... -Okay, so, we're going to set up the strategic command center at the hospital.

Lot of ghouls are trying to get to the site and blocking B roads.

-What's the status with the survivors?

-The pilot did pretty well and saved the majority.

Uh, current fatality count is 25.

That's expected to rise but not significantly.

Uh, we have 17 in intensive care.

Six of them are touch-and-go.

The rest are mostly multiple fractures.

Uh, we have three burns victims from the cars the plane hit.

I, uh...

I picked a baby out of the wreckage.

The dad is in an induced coma.

And the mum's about to have an operation on her back to see if they can stop her from being paralyzed.

♪♪ It really wouldn't be a great time to lose power right now.

-Okay, Stuart.

[ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Okay, first things first.

Tell her not to say a word to anybody until I've spoken to her.

-Going the wrong way, aren't you, Peter?

-Always, Archie.

I'm on my way.

-Stuart Collier's the Police Gold in Hexham.

-Mm.

He's good.

Young but level-headed.

The main problem is getting the medical staff around the road blockage caused by the plane.

-Okay.

-[ Speaking indistinctly ] Yeah.

-Where's the Prime Minister?

-He's on his way over from Number 10.

-A word to the wise, Anna.

As you know, I have the highest admiration for you.

-Get on with it.

-I don't care how far you two go back or how much you feel the party needs a makeover.

Put Francine Bridge in the Policy Unit even making the coffee, and I will give you a lesson in payback you will not forget in a hurry.

-Thanks, Archie, and in similar spirit, get your hand off my arm and back...off.

I'm not some little volunteer you can get handsy with on the battle bus.

-You just crossed a line, Anna.

When he goes, which will be sooner than you think, he will at least be able to do some lucrative after-dinner speaking.

You, on the other hand, won't be able to get yourself arrested.

I am feeling both positive and patriotic this morning.

I've got a feeling I'm going to be a bottle of Scotch to the good by the end of this meeting.

-Better find out, hadn't we?

♪♪ -There are two possible impacts on the grid when the storm hits.

The first is voltage instability.

Now, we need that to stay running at 50 hertz.

If it goes a couple of points above or below, we'll start getting trips.

The other problem is burn-out damage to transformers if the power from the storm surges into the network.

-Okay, Prime Minister, we're pretty close to getting the orientation now.

We're getting the data from the satellite position at L1.

[ Man clears throat ] I'm afraid the news is not what we were hoping for, Prime Minister.

We can expect a massive geomagnetic-storm surge in the coming hours.

It's Hot South.

[ All groaning ] -There goes my Lagavulin.

-Upgrade threat level to critical... -And here comes the sun.

-...and get me Evan Milligan from the Grid.

[ Excited conversations ] -A major incident has been declared at this hospital.

We are receiving multiple casualties.

Non-urgent cases will not be seen, and you should await instructions on transfers to other sites.

Thank you for your patience.

[ Indistinct conversations ] [ Electricity buzzing ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Bollocks.

That's not good.

♪♪ [ Electricity pulses ] The emergency generators are detecting the voltage instability.

-Do we have a direct link to the National Grid Command Center?

-I think they're just a little bit busy down there right now.

Okay, uh, early evidence is that coastal areas have taken a massive hit, and this is just the start.

The surges will just keep coming like tsunamis.

What about the rest of the world?

-No clear picture as yet, although early reports say that France and Spain are almost totally blacked out.

Three transformers are out already, and that's set to rise.

The entire system is on the brink of collapse, and blackouts are now imminent across all major cities.

I am sorry to say that the power of this storm is far worse than even our most pessimistic forecast.

[ Breathes sharply ] -I will now speak to the Palace so that Her Majesty can authorize the necessary powers under the 2004 Civil Contingencies Act.

This is now a national emergency, and COBRA will remain active till its conclusion.

♪♪ -♪ If you want my blood ♪ ♪ Ohh, join me at the front ♪ -Anna, it's me.

I've been giving it some thought.

Call me back.

-♪ If you want my love ♪ ♪ Ohh ♪ ♪ You better come see me, you better come see me ♪ ♪ You better come see me ♪ [ Music distorts and stops ] [ Crowd gasps ] VO: Next time on COBRA.

ANNA: Some of the blackouts are more serious than others.

Four regions have suffered major damage to their infrastructure.

FRASER: Situation's getting worse here minute by minute.

ROBERT: Good evening everyone.

WOMAN: MI5 are monitoring the situation.

ROBERT: We can get through this if we remain strong and stay together.

ARCHIE: He must be hoping it will all just go away.

RACHEL: We will get through this.

MAN: This doesn't look good.

AGENT: We can't control this.

This place is a bomb waiting to go off.

ANNA: You need to be very careful.

-To order "COBRA" on DVD, visit ShopPBS or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

Also available on Amazon Prime Video.

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