Last night saw the first part of the new BBC drama, Survivor, and what a great opening episode it was!

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, Survivors focuses on the problems and dilemmas faced by survivors of a deadly ‘flu pandemic which has killed millions upon millions the world over.

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

These are the problems faced by the bewildered but resilient group of survivors at the centre of the drama. It’s an opportunity for new beginnings but, with no society, no police and no law and order, they now face terrible dangers, the least of which is the daily struggle for food and water; they must also face the deadly threats posed by other survivors.

The central character is that of Abby Grant; married to David and mother to Peter. In the first scenes, we met David and Abby as they returned from holiday, which coincided with the point where a virulent flu virus was beginning to sweep the world. Abby was worried about her 11-year-old son Peter who was on a school adventure holiday. He’d only recently been given the all clear after having leukemia so when David received a call to say Peter was ill, the couple prepared to go to Scotland to be with their son.

However, Abby had contracted the virus so faced with how ill she was and the enormous queues at the petrol pumps, they had to turn back home where it seemed that Abby may succumb to the illness and die.

Meanwhile, as the crisis deepened, Samantha Willis, Junior Minister for Health, tried to keep public panic under control as essential services started to break down. As more and more workers became ill, services ground to a halt and hospitals all over the country were plunged into crisis.

Elsewhere, in a modern high-security prison, Tom Price, a charismatic and dangerous inmate, was the only one of the inmates who didn’t fall ill as the prison became a charnel house where prisoners were dying alongside most of the staff. One of the prison officers eventually allowed Tom out of his cell with the intention of putting him inside the prison’s stores where the man would at least have food and water. However, Tom tried to reason that he would die in there anyway and gave the officer a chance to let him go but the officer refused. Tom stabbed him to death and made good his escape.

Simultaneously, Jenny, a young teacher in a primary school, was overwhelmed by the chaos she saw all around her but she was determined to save the life of her flatmate Patricia.

Jenny battled on with Patricia through streets strewn with the dying and the frightened to reach the hospital and their friend, Dr Anya Raczynski, who was a junior doctor in the Accident and Emergency department. However, with hundreds dying and more and more flooding into the hospital, Anna can’t save Patricia from the virus which is killing virtually everyone who contracts it.

The government scientists underestimated the virus and by the time they realised how virulent and deadly it was, Samantha’s panicked government department was forced to admit that they expected 90% of the population to die. In what was probably the last live televised broadcast – and following the death of the Prime Minister – Samantha told what remained of the UK’s viewers that they should take care of each other and once the crisis was over, the government would do everything they could to reinstate power and water to the country.

Al Sadiq, a wealthy playboy, seemed oblivious to the deepening crisis and he took home a girl he met in a club. However, the following morning, he finds the girl dead in his bed. Later, when he leaves his apartment, the full horror of the situation is brought home to him when he finds dead bodies and no signs of other life, until he meets Najid, a young Muslim boy. Al was driving his £90,000 sports car at top speed through the streets and nearly ran into Najid who was playing football alone in the middle of the road. He reluctantly took Najid with him, their original intention being to find Najid’s relatives in Blackburn.

Later, Abby awakens from a long sleep and is astonished to discover that although she’s weak, she’s alive and over the illness. Her husband David however is dead in their living room so after burning his body and establishing that nobody else in their street is alive, she sets off for Scotland in search of Peter.

Greg Preston, a former systems analyst, was more prepared than most in the wake of the devastating virus. His car was well stocked and he seemed calm in the face of the catastrophe, but when his car was involved in a collision with Abby’s, Greg’s plans for self sufficiency in the countryside are temporarily derailed.

Together, the two set out for an uncertain future in which Abby still hopes to find Peter alive and on the way, they meet up with the other survivors. At first, they are uncertain about staying together but in the end, Abby convinces them that they stand a better chance of surviving if they stay together.

Next week, they’ll meet more survivors, but not all of them are concerned with others survival.

I was expecting this series to be the same as any number of other post-apocalyptic dramas and in many ways, it was, but it managed to pull off an interesting angle in that this really could happen. Granted, most dramas of its ilk are based on things that could happen but many of them are a tad far-fetched but this one has come at a time when bird-flu and other virulent strains of the virus are something that we have panics about every now and again.

I have very few criticisms of the show except that for a while, I was thinking ‘Where are the flies? Why aren’t these bodies decomposing?’ but in fact, towards the end, this issue was addressed briefly.

The other criticism I have is that the majority of people went from being healthy to dead with seemingly no midway point but in the interests of limited time, I guess the show’s makers had to take a few liberties with timelines and details.

I imagine the rest of the series is going to follow a fairly similar pattern to 28 Days Later and Day After Tomorrow and so on, but of course, the characters in this show are what make it watchable. None of them are super-heroes, none seem terribly altruistic and none – other than possibly Greg and Anya – appear to have any special skills, so it’ll be interesting to see how they fare. And of course, will Abby find Peter?