'COBRA's Second Episode Puts Us In The Room Where It Happens

As the second episode of COBRA opens, it's evening, three hours after impact, and Prime Minister Robert Sutherland and his team are prepared to work around the clock. Under the Emergency Powers Act, travel is restricted and enforced by the army, and tribunals will deal with civil disorder. COBRA (Cabinet Office Briefing Room A) is convened, and Robert shares that power should be restored in major cities, but it won’t be easy, as emergency staff can’t get to work. It's a different story in the more remote areas of Wales, Cornwall, Northumberland, and Scotland. Only three transformers are available, and it may take weeks for more to arrive from Europe, forcing Robert to choose which area will be dark.

Fraser: “My dad’s one of your biggest fans and thinks you should be leading the country. He’s a mean-spirited old bastard and a borderline racist with early-stage dementia.”

Archie is busy sparring again with the MI-5 director (remember he’s planning a coup — his interest probably isn’t sexual). She tells him she’s a Russian mole and leaves him looking foolish. As Robert and Anna leave the meeting, he draws her aside and tells her about the crisis in his family. He’s called in extra help from a man he doesn’t altogether trust, the slimy new Press Secretary Peter Mott (Edward Bennett). They both leave the office, Anna telling him that she will stay at Francine’s apartment, and Robert reminds her he’s not yet approved of her joining the team.