Imagine being the only survivor of a disease that kills every member of your family, that kills lovers, strangers, friends, nearly everyone you’ve ever met. You are among the lonely few to live and now you must start over in a strange new world where everything that was once safe and familiar is now strange and dangerous.

Set in the present day, the drama series focuses on the world in the aftermath of a devastating virus which wipes out most of the world’s population.

What would we do? How would any of us cope in a brave new world where all traditional 21st-century comforts – electricity, clean running water, advanced technology – have disappeared?

These are the questions faced by the bewildered but resilient group of survivors at the centre of the drama. It is an opportunity for new beginnings but, with no society, no police and no law and order, they now face terrible dangers – not just the daily struggle for food and water but also the deadly threat from other survivors.

“What would you do if you were faced with the unimaginable?” says Kate Harwood, BBC Head of Drama Series & Serials.

“Survivors is an exciting new drama series which asks the most fundamental of questions. How would the human spirit endure when faced with the most exciting and terrifying adventures?

“We have managed to assemble a magnificent cast in a series set to take audiences on an emotional roller coaster ride.”

“Survivors is about what it means to be human,” adds writer and executive producer Adrian Hodges.

“It asks questions about our nature and confronts us with our deepest fears. When everything else is stripped away, would we band together and find the best in ourselves, or would we fall apart and retreat into barbarism and savagery?

“Survivors is about adventure, fear, love, loyalty and friendship. But above all, it’s about new hope.”

Survivors will star Julie Graham, Max Beesley, Paterson Joseph, Zoë Tapper, Phillip Rhys, Nikki Amuka–Bird and Freema Agyeman.