Plot Synopsis

Follow Prime Minister Robert Sutherland and his Cabinet Office Briefing Room A (COBRA) committee, comprised of leading contingency planners and senior politicians, as they navigate the difficulties in overcoming a major national crisis. On the brink of a geomagnetic solar storm, a team comprised of Britain's leading experts, crisis contingency planners and the most senior politicians assemble under the name COBRA (taken from its meeting place in Whitehall's Cabinet Office Briefing Room A) to guide the country through turbulent times. The high-stakes series follows the members of this team as they take on the disaster; their missteps, political conflicts, personal drama, friendships and wit play out against the backdrop of an unfolding national crisis. Accompanied by Anna Marshall -- his brilliant and quick-thinking chief of staff and longtime friend -- Sutherland braces for the fallout of a major national disaster, as well as complications in his personal life that threaten his political standing. Also on the COBRA team is Fraser Walker, one of the country's leading crisis contingency planners, who is not as adept at overcoming problems in his personal life as he is in his political life. The most argumentative and calculating member of the team, Home Secretary Archie Glover-Morgan, looks to seize any opportunity for more power that presents itself. COBRA had its U.S. premiere on Sunday, October 4, 2020 at 10pm on PBS (check local listings).

The second season of the series, titled COBRA: CYBERWAR, made its U.S. debut on Sunday, July 10, 2022 at 10pm on PBS (check local listings). In times of national emergency, a team of Britain's leading experts, crisis contingency planners and most senior politicians assemble under the name COBRA to coordinate the response. The decisions this committee makes drive the action of Season 2, which reveals how their actions play out at ground level, in the worst hit parts of an already fractious country. But it is not just the nation that is rocked by the calamitous events of COBRA. From the corridors of Whitehall to the salons of No.10, the season also explores the lives of the politicians and advisors that make up the committee. By following these interior lives the story provides a unique look at the inner workings of a modern government made up by people under immense pressure of not only working to save the country, but also their complex personal lives. In COBRA: CYBERWAR, Britain is in trouble. Following years of political instability and a fractured relationship with the world's superpowers, t his is a nation and a government on the back foot, and one we now see struck by a major disaster without simple solutions. As the government scramble to combat a new, invisible threat they are forced to question everything they thought they knew about our relationship with the rest of the world. New allegiances are formed, new enemies discovered, and every piece of willpower, nerve and courage will be required to face this new and overwhelming foe.
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Season 3 of the series, COBRA: REBELLION, made its U.S. debut on Thursday, July 25, 2024 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings). Prime Minister Robert Sutherland is plunged into chaos when an environmental demonstration meets with grave consequences, just as his popularity is plummeting in light of a controversial police-protest bill. As an investigation gets underway, the PM is forced to reckon with the possibility that the most dangerous rebellion has come from within.