Sky calls in Carlyle for Cobra

Sky in the UK has started production on a six-part drama about UK politics, with Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting) and Victoria Hamilton (The Crown) set to star.

Cameron Roach

Cobra is being written by Ben Richards (Strike: The Cuckoo’s Calling) with New Pictures producing, while Sky Vision is co-funding and distributing the show internationally.

The story is set in the heart of government during a major crisis and follows the work of the Cobra (Cabinet Office Briefing Room A) committee, a team comprising the UK’s leading experts, crisis contingency planners and most senior politicians who attempt to protect the country.

Richard Dormer (Game of Thrones), David Haig (Killing Eve), Marsha Thomason (Better Things) and Lucy Cohu (Broadchurch) also star in the drama, which is set to debut later this year on Sky1 and via the satcaster’s OTT service NowTV.

Carlyle said the show, whose production has coincided with turmoil in the UK as it prepares for Brexit, “feels almost too true to be fiction. Cobra is a palpably thrilling and witty take on a political drama but with a humanity at the heart of the series.”

Cameron Roach, recently appointed full-time director of Sky Drama after Anne Mensah joined Netflix, added: “Cobra gives a fascinating look into the world of politics and power under pressure, brought to life so brilliantly by Ben Richards’ scripts.”

Forthcoming dramas for Sky in 2019 include Catherine The Great, Chernobyl, Temple and the second run of Riviera.