Cobra: Rebellion - AD Introduction

Cobra is a political thriller based in Westminster, London; specifically 10 Downing Street and its underground warren of hallways and briefing rooms. The epicentre of these is the Cobra Room an acronym for Cabinet Office Briefing Room where a committee of ministers and advisers co-ordinate the actions of government bodies in response to national or regional crises. The room itself is brightly lit and big enough to accommodate a long conference table. One wall is filled with a bank of screens that display live feeds and up-to-the-minute information.

The main characters are as follows:

Robert Sutherland, Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party played by Robert Carlyle. A white clean-shaven man in his late fifties or early sixties, he has short dark hair which he wears swept back from his forehead and generally dresses in sober dark suits. He represents the more liberal wing of the party and has been married to Rachel for over 20 years. Robert lives with his family in the Prime Minister’s flat in 10 Downing Street.

Anna Marshall, Downing Street Chief of Staff, played by Victoria Hamilton. She is a slim white woman in her fifties with a button nose and short fair hair styled in a pixie cut. She generally dresses in stylish business-suits and tight-waisted coats that have their roots in the 1960s but also look bang-up-to-date. Married with 2 teenage children, she he is unfazed by either the big beasts of the Cabinet or the all-seeing eye of the media. A liberal by temperament, she often clashes with those on the right and is good friends with left-of-centre Francine Stock.

Rachel Sutherland, wife of Robert, is a white woman in her fifties with shoulder-length brown hair, hazel eyes, defined cheekbones and full lips. She is a practicing lawyer.

Ellie Sutherland, daughter of Robert and Rachel; just graduated from university, she is in her early twenties with long, straight, centre-parted brown hair and matching eyes.

Archie Glover-Morgan is in his sixties - white, bald, clean-shaven with shaggy dark eyebrows and a bulbous chin, he usually dresses in dark three-piece suits. A senior member of the Cabinet, he is ambitious, cantankerous and, when occasion demands, ruthless. His relationship with Anna Marshall is frosty.

Francine Bridge is in her forties, black with shoulder-length dark hair which she wears in corkscrew curls or tied back in braids. Politically liberal, she is a former Labour MP and is a close friend of Anna Marshall’s.

Fraser Walker – white, Northern Irish, in his fifties with short side-parted sandy hair and matching beard, he dresses smart-casual in open-necked shirts and blazers. He is Director of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, a department of the Cabinet Office responsible for emergency planning in the UK.

Peter Mott – Downing Street Press Secretary. White in his fifties. Cleanshaven with short side-parted dark hair. Short on principles and long on spin, he is tasked with handling the media.

Eleanor James, in her 50s – white with side-parted short blonde hair. Head of the Joint Intelligence Committee.