Sky pulls 'Cobra' episodes after murder of MP David Amess

Robert Carlyle has paid tribute to murdered MP Sir David Amess after episodes of TV drama Cobra were delayed following his death.

The Trainspotting star, 60, plays prime minister Robert Sutherland in Sky’s political thriller, inspired by a fictional government's reaction to times of national crisis.

Conservative MP Sir David – a 69-year-old father-of-five – died after being stabbed multiple times at a constituency surgery in Essex last week.

Read more: Have I Got News for You and The Cleaner pulled after Sir David Amess's death

Carlyle told Sky News: "The first thing to say is your thoughts and your prayers go to the family of that poor man. What a terrible, terrible, dreadful thing to have happened."

All six episodes of the second series, Cobra: Cyberwar, were due to be released on Friday 15 October, but Sky decided to temporarily pull the final three shows following Sir David's death due to sensitive content.

Carlyle went on: "What I should say obviously is that Cobra, it's a fictitious entertainment [show] and... some of it will reflect real-life events but it's not meant to do that.

"First and foremost it's there to entertain people, it's there to give people a little bit of insight into the workings of the [government's real-life] Cobra room. Hopefully it does that."

The first series of Cobra, which aired in January 2020, saw Sutherland's government attempting to manage the fall-out after a solar flare wiped out power – sparking panic and rioting.

The second season is centred around a huge cyberattack.

Carlyle said of the new series: "It's about the power of fake news and the destabilising effect it has on a democracy.

"And then overall, as the title suggests, there's a massive cyberattack launched upon the country's critical infrastructure and transport – our emergency communications and even nuclear facilities are attacked. So there's a lot going on."

Read more: Robert Carlyle thought political drama Cobra was about a snake

Following news of Sir David's death the BBC made the decision to pull political panel show Have I Got News For You and crime scene comedy The Cleaner from TV schedules.

They were replaced with reruns of panel show Would I Lie to You and sitcom Miranda.

Watch: Robert Carlyle comments on the state of politics in Britain