

Episode 2
Season 2 Episode 2 | 44m 24sVideo has Audio Description, Closed Captions
A fresh wave of disaster further paralyzes the clean-up operation.
A fresh wave of disaster further paralyzes the clean-up operation. Sutherland is left red faced and demanding answers.
See all videos with Audio DescriptionADProblems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback

Episode 2
Season 2 Episode 2 | 44m 24sVideo has Audio Description, Closed Captions
A fresh wave of disaster further paralyzes the clean-up operation. Sutherland is left red faced and demanding answers.
See all videos with Audio DescriptionADProblems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch COBRA
COBRA is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Buy Now

Discover Mysteries, Romances, & More
Explore our hand-picked collections of PBS dramas to find your new favorite show. Browse our catalog of sweeping historical epics, breathtaking romantic dramas, gripping crime thrillers, cozy family shows, and so much more.Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship[wind howling] [gasps] [gasps] Audrey!
-Audrey!
Hold on!
-Help.
I can't see.
[waves crashing] Audrey!
-Help me.
Help!
-Audrey!
Audrey, hold on, I'm coming!
-Audrey!
-Help!
-Come on.
Hold on.
-[Audrey panicking] It's okay.
Come on.
Come on.
[music intensifies] It's gonna be fine.
[opening theme music playing] Do we have an update from Fraser?
Yes.
He's alright and is overseeing the Strategic Command Center.
One of his team is missing, presumed dead.
As is the local MP, Clive Turner, who was assisting with the evacuation.
Yes, I heard about Clive.
Must call his wife.
-So, [clears throat] current casualties stand at?
-[Joseph] Um... Over 300.
And it will go up.
Many still missing in flood areas or in buildings that have collapsed.
Things are absolutely chaotic.
The hack on our communication systems have made things impossible.
Operations to deal with inland flooding are messed up by the loss of ECON, and triage is also made far more difficult, especially for the burns victims.
They've resorted to mobiles in most cases, but that's putting a huge strain on the system.
Additional lives are certainly being lost because of it.
Okay, so the correlation between the cyber-attack-- -Is it correlation?
-The time of the attack coinciding with our arrest of the Kostenko suspects suggests a concerted hostile nation rather than some script-kiddies in a basement.
So, you think the choice of the emergency services was deliberate?
They found a zero-day weakness in ECON which is a relatively new system.
Establishing authorship is complicated because there are a lot of new obfuscators in the coding.
I know you lot like everything bilingual, but-- She means they exploited an unknown weakness in the new emergency network communication system, and there's also a lot of deliberate rubbish written into the code to act as chaff, -so we can't tell who did it.
-Thank you, Home Secretary.
That is an admirable summary.
We are working flat out for a patch for the Ruin Britannia hack.
Well, let's hope that's the end of it.
If the cyber-attack is linked to our detention of the Kostenko suspects, and it's costing lives-- So we could just release them and get it over with?
No.
Okay.
Summon the Russian Ambassador immediately.
-We don't know for certain-- -That journalist, Hari Misra.
He claimed on the Breakfast Show this morning that two arrests had been made.
Get him to divulge his source, or he will be given a painful lesson in the true meaning of cancel culture in the basement under Thames House.
Get our communications fixed and bring me proof that the Russians are behind this, so we can decide on a proportionate response.
In short, Eleanor, do your job.
[sirens wailing] Anna.
-He's not in a particularly good mood.
-Sorry?
Oh, don't worry, I'll be kicking someone down the ladder a lot harder.
[Anna chuckles] There's also the Singer Report into the J23 shootings making him jumpy.
-We're supposed to get an advance view of it tomorrow.
-I hear it won't destroy him.
-I hear that too, but until we see it-- -Anna... that's not what I want to talk to you about.
It's about Edin Tosumbegovic.
Edin was waiting for his killers.
He knew it might not be quick, what they had in mind... so he put a bullet through his own head.
[Edin] I will go to my house... and I will sit under the fig trees among the butterflies, and I will wait for you to come.
I love you.
I have always loved you.
-Do you think I was a bit harsh in there?
-I've spoken to her.
You okay?
I'm fine.
Singer Report will be with us tomorrow.
It's confirmed now.
-Are you sure you're oka-- -Jesus Christ!
Yes, I'm fine!
Just back the fuck off!
[whimpers] [sighs] [blades whirring] [exhales] [indistinct conversations] Home Secretary.
-How are you?
-All right.
I thought I was going to drown in that car.
-Look, Fraser, you don't have to be here.
-I'm staying here.
One of my team was out on the naval boat.
I heard that, I'm truly sorry.
She didn't want to go out, you know?
-There was no point in her going.
-There will have been a point, or you wouldn't have sent her.
I really must try and contact Audrey's family.
Okay, are they fixing the comms?
We're fighting this battle with our hands tied behind our back.
If they don't fix this hack, we're going to lose hundreds of lives.
They're doing what they can, but there's no fix in sight.
[both panting] [Audrey] Are we sinking?
The explosion damaged the raft.
We're taking on water and losing air, we haven't got long.
[grunts, strains] How are we still alive?
Sheer good luck.
The blast pushed us away and towards the wind farm.
-What are we going to do?
-The wind is pushing us towards the turbines, so you need to get some rest before we head back out into the sea again.
-What?
-About the third turbine along is a maintenance vessel.
The raft has taken on too much water, we'll need to swim.
I can't.
If you don't, you'll die here.
No helicopters can fly in these conditions, and they won't be able to see us anyway.
I'll help you get there.
I'm not going back in the fucking sea, okay?
I would rather die here.
Fair enough.
[sniffles] I'll head out in about 20 minutes then.
I'll come back for your body if I can find any help.
Were you born to a woman or did they just carve you out of granite?
The swim will be fine as long as you stay close.
Don't rub your eyes.
And don't make any sarky comments either, I'm trying to help you.
Focus on staying alive.
Oh, I never sweat the small stuff.
[Audrey] Sorry.
[wind continues howling] [woman] So, it appears in the midst of a terrible disaster, a serious cyber-attack has been launched on the United Kingdom's emergency services.
I turn to you, Archie Glover-Morgan, I would imagine that as a former Home Secretary, -who is behind this?
-That's for the security services to ascertain.
If they're up to it.
There's a report out today, a journalist claiming this is linked to the Kostenko assassination.
It also says that two arrests have already been made.
I can't speculate on that, but the idea that whoever is behind this could paralyze our most critical communications does suggest that somebody has got things very wrong here.
I imagine a senior figure will have to pay a price for this appalling lapse.
-[scoffs] -[presenter] We're going to hear from your successor.
Let's go to Kent and join Mr Obasi.
Good morning.
- Things look very bad there.
-Good morning, Karen.
Yes, and I would like to pay tribute to the incredible effort and heroism -of the emergency services.
-[presenter] Of course.
You are, it appears, attempting a rescue mission...
I think you should see this.
...in what seems like an almost complete communications blackout.
-Is that anyone's fault?
-Believe me, we will be carrying out an urgent review.
[Spook] This is the Ruin Britannia code that is crippling the communications network.
The call-back code is definitely pointing towards a Russian source, but that could just be a framing device.
-What's it going to do next?
-We're not sure.
It doesn't appear to have a kill switch built in.
This sequence here -is what's worrying us.
-Why?
We think it could be lining up to attack another part of the communications system.
[Eleanor] The mobile networks are all they have left in Kent.
We can't lose them too.
[knocking on door] I'm sorry.
You don't have to apologize.
Do you know now?
Yes.
Have you made your mind up about the prisoners?
I've been carrying out consultations.
-With whom?
-The Archangel and the Prole.
Wait.
Moral philosophy?
Sometimes, you can go with an intuitive hunch on maximizing utility.
Let a pair of criminals go to save lives...
Sometimes, you have to apply a higher form of reasoning.
Well, the Russians have issued strong denials to the press-rumors that their agents had anything to do with the cyber-attack.
I can't let them go, Anna.
And for what it's worth, I think that's the right decision.
It would show fatal weakness.
You always were an Archangel.
Even back in college when we were just a pair of Tory geeks.
Shut up, geek.
I was a high-fashion queen.
-I had all the invites.
-Yeah.
[knocking on door, opens] -[woman] Your eleven o'clock.
-Yeah.
[Mark] You ready?
No.
We need to go now.
Come on.
I'll help you.
We're as close as we're gonna get.
[straining] [panting] Come on.
Right this way.
Come on.
I want you back in the shadow-cabinet.
-Yeah?
-Yeah.
Just one small problem with that.
Well, actually, there are quite a lot of large problems [chuckles] with that.
But not being an MP is probably the biggest one, right?
Oh, there'll be a bi-election soon enough.
Particularly if what I'm hearing from Kent about... -Too soon, maybe?
-Maybe.
Well, let's just talk in general terms until the funeral has taken place.
-What if the local party refu-- -The NEC can impose a candidate, or... -have a limited short-list.
-They haven't all gone away, you know.
I don't want 'em all to go away.
I'm not the most popular person in this party.
-You do remember the way I was treated?
-Yeah, they can piss right off.
Some of what went on was an absolute disgrace.
Although, in fairness, some on the right of the party didn't help much either.
-I'm not on the right.
That's the whole bloody-- -Yeah, I get it.
The thing is...
I don't really care much about labels anymore.
What I care about is having smart, competent people who can deal with Joseph Obasi across the dispatch box.
-Wait-- -No, it's not because of that.
It's because Obasi is bloody sharp, and will make mincemeat of anybody who isn't.
You're smart and you're competent.
I like that.
Okay.
Get them to sort my membership card out first though because knowing this lot, it won't arrive before the next General Election.
-I'll personally put it in the post, you wait.
-[phone ringing] -Sorry.
-Okay.
Yeah.
[panting] [gasping, breathing heavily] -[blades whooshing] -You okay?
-Yeah.
-[groans] [alarm buzzing faintly] [thuds, opens] It's no use, it's dead.
I tried to call out, but all we got was some weird error message about Britannia.
Is there anyone else on board?
Couple of lads were outside, and got blown away.
Have you done any damage assessment?
Port side took the full force of the explosion.
And we're taking on water.
With this swell, unless they get someone here soon, we are going down.
The emergency services search and rescue operations in Kent have been heavily...
The Ruin Britannia virus is now attacking the mobile networks.
The flooding is not relenting, and people are still being found in collapsed buildings.
We won't be able to cope with no emergency communications or mobiles.
At the moment, our prime suspect is Sednit.
The Russian cyber-attack division?
Yes, although, we need to be very careful.
There is a chance that it's being made to look like a Russian attack to throw us off the scent.
We should have just let them slip away in the first place.
Well, that's not helping our current predicament, though, is it?
Have to admit, Robert, I am unsure what the Archangel would say about this one.
-Russian Ambassador here?
-Yeah, he's waiting in the terracotta room.
Is it worth hundreds of other lives?
Yes, I'm aware of the calculus, thank you.
This is an absolute catastrophe.
Nobody can talk to anybody now.
We have people waiting for transfers to burns units, the entire triage system is going to fall apart.
We're going to need some little ships.
Couriers.
They're going to have to be able to carry communications by hand between the emergency services and the hospitals.
It's the only option now that the phone masts have gone.
Miserable bastards.
Sutherland should let the Russians go.
It's tough.
I would never have arrested them in the first place.
-Luckily, those aren't my choices.
-[man] Sir.
He's authorized.
Show him in.
What's up?
Audrey Hemmings' next-of-kin.
Her brother.
I have to speak to him.
Go on.
-Ambassador Voronin.
-Prime Minister.
So, you are, of course, aware that we have two of your citizens detained.
Only one of them is actually a Russian citizen.
And are you aware of speculation in the British press linking them to the assassination of Mikhailo Kostenko?
I am aware of yet another attempt to blame my country for every mishap you bring on yourselves.
Shall we just cut to the chase?
If you are referring to your current communications issues-- In the middle of a major rescue operation which is costing extra lives.
You will be accusing us of blowing up the ship next.
Of staging an earthquake.
[chuckles] I wonder what could've made us so ridiculously paranoid.
Your game of "blame the Russians for all your problems" will not work.
I would especially counsel against it if you do not want to look very foolish.
So, all of this is totally unrelated to the fact that Klara Lechkova is implicated in the crime, and is related to a senior member of your security services?
I can assure you that the person you have detained is not Klara Lechkova.
She is currently at her dacha outside Moscow to the best of my knowledge.
Our intelligence services tell me that the woman you have detained is actually Larissa Petrova.
A low-level criminal and fraudster who is also involved in the commission of teams of foreign criminals to break into luxury houses.
Rodrigo Araya is simply a madman who believes he is the reincarnation of Che Guevara.
By all means, prosecute them for shoplifting and lock them up.
I can assure you that my government will be delighted.
-[Anna] All our information-- -They've tricked us.
So that we look stupid.
[scoffs] How can you say that, Anna?
-I don't feel stupid at all.
-But the fact that it might not be Lechkova, -doesn't mean they weren't involved in the assassination.
-Exactly.
-If it was an attempt-- -Can I just be really clear about something.
A significant part of the Kent coastline is no longer there.
We are going to have to resort to smoke-signals soon to organize hospital transfers.
-I think we should-- -So wasting precious time having the Russians make us look like fucking idiots -was really not part of my to-do list this morning.
-It wasn't top of any of our-- Go and find out who these clowns are that we've detained, and find out where the real culprits are.
So... putting aside whoever killed Mikhailo Kostenko...
Exactly.
What if it's not connected to this cyber-attack?
What if it's something else completely?
There's loads of weird shit going on.
The killing, then the boat, -then this cyber-attack... -Who says they're connected?
What do you think caused the earth tremors that made the ship go up?
I don't know, what normally causes them?
Stuff moving underground.
Big North Sea drilling contract given to the Chinese Jiayoõu Corporation.
The Yanks were pissed off about that as well.
Watch and see if they try and pin the blame on them for it.
Okay, I gotta tell you, I'm not one for conspiracy theories.
I don't think mobile phone masts can cause pandemics or George Soros can conjure up an earthquake.
Okay, but something's going on, -because I've got MI5 all over me.
-Good.
Someone's leaking you explosive stuff that affects national security.
That's their job.
You'd better be very careful.
[siren wailing in the background] [coughing] What was she doing on the boat?
-Observing the naval operation.
-Why aren't you out there looking for her?
You've seen what it's like out there.
Visibility is terrible, we almost lost a chopper today.
I told our mum she's missing, but they'll probably find her.
Now I get here, and... my mum won't be able to cope with this.
Audrey's the baby.
The one with the brains, me and Fred always looked out for her.
I just feel there's something I should be doing, some way of finding her.
I'm sorry.
If conditions improve, we'll send rescue helicopters in the morning.
I'll tell my brother.
-There's no phone coverage.
-How come?
The virus has spread from the emergency services to the mobile networks.
Bloody hell.
That must make it impossible.
Yeah, it's pretty hard.
I've got to try and assemble a team of couriers who can scuttle between all the emergency sites with hard data.
I might be able to help with that as it goes.
[thunder rumbling] [spoon clinking] -Here you go.
-Thank you.
So, why haven't they come for us?
Helicopters can't fly out with all the debris in the air.
Things must be bad onshore.
Really bad.
[water gushing] -She's taking on a lot of water now.
-We can't stay here.
Where do you suggest we go?
[grunts] We have to climb up to the platform!
You go first.
-Just focus on getting to the top.
-Oh, great, yeah!
I'll be right behind you!
Okay?
-Go!
-[grunts] [screams] [Mark] Don't look down!
Do not look down.
Come on!
Come on.
Come on.
[door squeaks open] -You okay?
-Yeah, yeah, good.
[banging on door] [Eleanor] Put it on the screen.
The Ambassador was correct.
This is not Klara Lechkova.
This is an impersonator who used her documentation, and Araya is... just a piece of work.
Okay.
So, Kostenko gets hit.
The Russians frame themselves for it...
Which implies they knew about it, at the very least.
But then, in punishment for arresting the people they actually wanted us to arrest... -So we would look stupid... -They launch a cyber-attack.
Look into retaliatory cyber operations for this disgrace.
Division 45 are already on it.
I will bring you a target list later.
-Are we sure-- -I'm not letting this go.
It's one thing to whack oligarchs on our shores, it's quite another to rub our noses in it during a disaster.
Okay, on that.
GCHQ are also picking up some other noise.
What noise?
That the drilling operation in the North Sea might have contributed to the explosion.
[suspenseful music playing] -Is there any hard evidence for that?
-No, not yet.
But it is a rumor that will grow legs and be running pretty soon.
[Anna] We've been under a lot of pressure not to move forward with the Jiayóu Contract.
[Eleanor] Well, you might want to announce a pause on that.
Just to evaluate things.
This will really piss a lot of people off.
-[Stewart] Audrey Hepburn?
-Yeah.
And my brothers are Fred for Astaire and Cary for Grant.
-His real name was Archibald Leach.
-I know, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
I like those old black and white films as well.
-Where you from, love?
-Originally from Bermondsey, but then we moved out to Rochester.
Bet your old man's proper ‘Wall, right?
He died.
But yeah, he was.
More Millwall in Rochester than Bermondsey now.
[chuckles] Game's gone though, hasn't it?
Money men killed it.
No, get yourself down to a lower league game, they're still a good laugh.
Sometimes, me and my brother go to Fisher FC.
It's lovely at night if you look out-- Will you stop talking?
It wouldn't hurt to be polite now and again.
Look, I'm trying to think and you are distracting me.
I'm going to swim to shore.
You'll never make it.
Not in the dark and in these conditions.
We have no food or water, but more importantly, shelter.
Exposure will set in with the wind chill and the temperature could drop even further.
You'll probably die first... because you're older and out of shape.
Thimble of laughs, this one.
Yeah, he's a one-man comedy channel.
-I'm gonna go for it.
-[Stewart] You're mad.
[Audrey] You can't leave us.
[Stewart] He's gonna die out there.
[panting] [water splashing] [suspenseful music playing] -[door opens] -[woman] Mr. Glover-Morgan, Prime Minister.
[door closes] [scribbles] [pen thuds] Return the whip to my little band of brothers, and you increase your majority by eight.
You will see me talking to you as a sign of weakness.
-Not at all.
-And it is.
But I want you to understand something very important.
My parliamentary situation is weak, but I am not.
That's not a mistake I've ever made about you, Robert.
If you were weak, you wouldn't be talking to me now.
-The Singer Report will exonerate you.
-We'll see.
In a way that's convenient for both of us.
-You never resigned on principle.
-I certainly did.
It just depends which principle you are talking about.
There's a mark, Archie.
Don't overstep it, or things will get very nasty very quickly.
Well, as we are being candid, please take this in a similar spirit.
I care about my country, and when it's in peril, I wish to be in the frontline -defending it.
-I believe that, too.
I don't think you are the best man to lead either the party or the country, but I will work with you to keep both in one piece.
-I'd like to give you one piece of advice.
-Go on.
Sack Eleanor James.
She should never have allowed us to get into this mess.
She's not the person to get us out of it.
Always wanting me to sack someone.
Oh, Anna.
No, imagining you telling her you're returning the whip to us will be karma enough.
I should, perhaps, tell you I have asked Peter Mott -to be my adviser.
-[laughs] You absolute child, Archie.
I want to be back in the COBRA room during this crisis.
As?
-You could always make me Foreign Secretary.
-[laughs] You're not joking, are you?
I have a certain manner, Robert, you know that.
It has served me well over time, kept me amused, but at the moment, you simply don't have the quality to fill the big offices of state.
You need somebody with fighting spirit, who can handle a tough interview, and has blood rather than sawdust in their veins.
[whooshing] Stewart.
Stewart!
Stay awake.
You alright?
Come on.
-[stutters] I'm not going to make it.
-‘Course you are.
‘Course you are, mate, come on.
Tell... Tell Jeanie... -Tell... -Who's Jeanie?
Is she your wife?
[stuttering] I'm so cold.
[shivering] Come on, mate.
Come on, Stewart.
Come on.
[panting] [engines running] We're at your disposal.
Just send us where you want us to go.
Who are these people, Fraser?
Mods.
That's Audrey Hemmings' brother.
I think the press might be interested in this one.
[sighs] [dialing] [ringing] [phone vibrating] -Yeah.
-[Anna] We're in the clear.
Leak it.
Right now.
[male reporter] In one of the more unexpected moments in this tragedy, the communications gap is being plugged with an army of volunteers.
In this case, it's not so much little ships as little scooters.
A group organized by the brother of one of the victims of the blast have offered their services in the struggle to keep data moving between the different... News from London.
Cyber Unit have got a patch for the emergency network.
-Still no phones?
-No.
They're playing whack-a-mole with it right now.
God knows where it's heading next.
Thanks, Fraser.
I'm truly sorry about Audrey.
Thank you, Home Secretary.
At least, now with some communication, the rescue teams are getting back in the air.
[Audrey] He was such a good man.
At Christmas, he wore this hat that lit up... just to entertain the kids.
Everybody loved him.
He would've done a favor for anyone.
[sobs] He...
He was kind.
He was a kind man.
He...
He...
He was... [sniffles] He couldn't fix my roller skate, though.
[exhales sharply] [blades whirring overhead] Stewart?
It's here.
Stewart, it's here.
He's done it, he's made it.
Stewart... We're safe, okay?
We're going home.
We... You're not gonna die.
Hey!
Hey, we're here!
We're here!
Hey!
Over here!
Over here!
[laughing] [Sutherland] Okay, first, welcome back, Fraser.
And thank you for all your efforts.
[all applauding] We were delighted to hear that Audrey Hemmings has been found alive.
Thank you, Prime Minister.
So, the, um, emergency services are working normally again in Kent?
They are.
It's a basic clean-up operation now, although, there is still a hell of a lot still to clean up.
We estimate we've lost a third of the town's buildings, and the casualty rate will continue to climb especially because of the triage delays.
So, the cyber-attack has abated.
The patch to ECON has worked, and we are able to access the system again.
[Sutherland] Good to hear.
Retaliatory measures against selected targets have been initiated.
I have spoken to both the DTI and Director of Communications.
We are putting the Jiayou contract on hold until we have had a full investigation into the explosion.
We need to dampen press speculation and not link the two elements publicly.
-Yes.
-Right now, they are more interested in the Singer Report, which unfortunately, has been leaked.
That is unfortunate.
Who could possibly have a reason for doing that?
This has not been a tribute to our preparation.
-Cyber-attacks are constantly... -I'm not talking just about cyber-attacks.
-...evolving-- -We have been made to look completely ridiculous.
Hopefully, these counter-measures will put an end to this nonsense, and we can go back to the painful job of cleaning up.
I cannot promise to deliver something outside my control.
I can only work to that objective.
-Don't sack Eleanor.
-It's nothing personal.
Don't sack her.
I know people want a head, don't give it to them.
-We've stabilized the situation.
-For now.
Look, now that this Singer Report is out of the way, there's something I really need to discuss with you.
-Why am I getting the feeling I'm really not going to like it?
-Because you're not.
-Hari Misra?
What do you make of him?
-Ah, he's a cocky fuck.
And he always seems to be one step ahead of the press.
We can't ever be seen to be weak on national security again.
Yeah, that's what I said.
Useful to know, though, so, y'know, keep him in earshot.
[phone buzzing] [man] Another scoop coming your way.
Destroy the drive when you're done.
-[line beeping] -This arrived.
Still trying to see if Paul Mason's available for next week.
Okay.
Jessica, shut the door please.
[Hari] There's loads of weird shit going on.
The killing, then the boat... -then the cyber-attack.
- [Francine] Who says they're connected?
Now, what's their little game?
[Hari] What do you think caused the earth tremors that made the ship go up?
[closing theme music playing]
Support for PBS provided by: