I first saw this ITV drama when it was broadcast in 1999, since then I've watched it a couple more times and it remains gripping. Set in the near future after most of the world has been devastated by an asteroid a small group who survived because they were put into cryogenic suspension when their train crashed in Sheffield. They weren't meant to be frozen but one of them was heading for a government facility there and she had the cryogenic agent with her at the time of impact. The survivors are a varied group; the scientist, a policeman, a criminal, a failed businessman, a pregnant woman, a mother and her two children and two retired people. They have little common apart from their desire to survive. To this end they head to a place called ARC in Scotland where Harriet, the scientist, assures them they will find fellow survivors. On the way they encounter several dangers including wild dogs, acid rain and another group of people.
While there is an over all story arc following their journey north each episode contains a new situation for them to overcome; in one they must face the other group to get a boat to cross a flooded river, in another they find a village and must decide whether they should stay their with two surviving villagers or head on North. The small cast do a fine job, notably Nicola Walker as Harriet, Zoe Telford as the pregnant Roe, Christopher Fulford and Ian the police sergeant and Caroline Carver as the mysterious Hild, a girl they meet along the way.
At only six episodes the series is quite short and little time is wasted on non essential scenes; the characters are all interesting in their own way; some likable; some deliberately unlikeable and some who are doomed not to survive to the end. If this ever gets broadcast again in it certainly worth watching if you like post-apocalyptic dramas.
While there is an over all story arc following their journey north each episode contains a new situation for them to overcome; in one they must face the other group to get a boat to cross a flooded river, in another they find a village and must decide whether they should stay their with two surviving villagers or head on North. The small cast do a fine job, notably Nicola Walker as Harriet, Zoe Telford as the pregnant Roe, Christopher Fulford and Ian the police sergeant and Caroline Carver as the mysterious Hild, a girl they meet along the way.
At only six episodes the series is quite short and little time is wasted on non essential scenes; the characters are all interesting in their own way; some likable; some deliberately unlikeable and some who are doomed not to survive to the end. If this ever gets broadcast again in it certainly worth watching if you like post-apocalyptic dramas.