Cobra season 2: writer 'refused' coronavirus storyline before pandemic

COBRA is back after more than 18 months off-screen, with the first season making its debut on Sky just before the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK last year. The second season has been

compromised of another six episodes and stars Robert Carlyle as Prime Minister Robert Sunderland and Victoria Hamilton as the Downing Street Chief of Staff Anna Marshall who work together to

stop impending threats destroying the country and the world. The first outing saw the team deal with the repercussions of a solar storm whereas the next set of episodes will focus on cyber

warfare and the popularity of fake news. However, a pandemic was considered in the very clary days of production, with the writers having no idea how close to the truth they were. The writer

and creator of the drama, Ben Richards, has offered some insight into how his team were looking to the future of the series. "Funnily enough, one of the crises before pre-Covid that we

considered was a pandemic but I thought it might be a bit boring," he told press, including Express.co.uk. "Like hundreds of people turning up at the hospital and nobody being

able to work and how wrong I was about that. "And I thought, 'Flu, not flu. A major flu crisis in this country? That would just be sort of anti drama'. So that shows how much

I know. "We actually started developing season two pre-Covid and obviously it was a major shock to the writing process." READ MORE: JEREMY VINE CALLER SAVAGES JOHN BARNES OVER

COVID-19 VACCINES "It was a shock to many writers and people working in this situation," he continued, explaining it was "difficult to write" about the virus. "It

felt like the nation was in crisis and it made it much worse when we were writing something that was so close to what's unfolding around us. "We had the idea pre-Covid but it

clearly affected us and we had to stop and think and take stock as to how we went about it. "The major question was how can you write anything that compares with what has happened with

people," Ben added. "I think that it's very clear that her father's died of Covid-19 and so we wanted to sort of not to it," he continued. "But we also

didn't want to feel as if we were exploiting it and it was a really difficult part of the show. "Certainly in the first few months, we had to do a lot of thinking of how to deal

with it," the writer explained. The cast and crew managed to film the next set of episodes in the midst of the third nationwide lockdown at the beginning of the year. They adhered to

strict health and safety guidelines to stop the spread of coronavirus and they were all part of a bubble, meaning viewers won't see any social distancing. The first episode of the

second season will see the Prime Minister try to pick up the pieces of the damage the solar storm cause whilst also trying to win the General Election. However, in the first few moments, an

assassination will lead to a chain of events with possibly dangerous and deadly consequences. It will explore how fake news can bring democracy to its knees so viewers will have to keep

tuning in to see if the Prime Minister can win the fifth against an inviable enemy. _COBRA SEASON TWO BEGINS FRIDAY OCTOBER 15 AT 9PM ON SKY MAX. ALL EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON NOW

TV._