KEYBOARD WARRIORS

HANNAH KHALIQUE-BROWN

PLAYS SAARA PARVIN

Writer and director Peter Kosminsky created another universe in the show called Codeworld, which Saara inhabits as a visual representation of what’s going on in her brain when she’s typing on her computer.

Hannah, 23, explains, “It’s like a surreal landscape she goes into while working. It’s the problemsolving she’s doing brought to life.”

In one scene she wears a toolbelt which is part of Codeworld – and she has tools such as a crowbar and wire-cutters to represent things she can do with the code to crack it.

ADRIAN LESTER PLAYS PRIME MINISTER ANDREW MAKINDE Andrew is the son of a Nigerian diplomat and a lifelong Conservative.

“In our story, he’s ousted Boris Johnson and become the surprise leader of the Conservative Party,” says Adrian, 53.

“The main thrust of the plot is that each episode tracks an escalating cyberwar between Britain and Russia, and you see the personal as well as the political cost of this. It was a cold war, but it’s a very hot one now – and it’s being fought in cyberspace – one of the new frontiers of war.”

SIMON PEGG PLAYS

DANNY PATRICK, CHIEF OF OPERATIONS AT GCHQ

Simon was compelled to take the role on reading the drama’s chilling script because the situations the characters found themselves in were so “incredibly feasible”.

Simon, 52, explains, “It’s not far from reality. In fact to me it feels like reality, because although it’s set in 2024, this is something that could – and maybe will – happen.”

He says of his character, “Danny is an expert in his field. He feels the weight of responsibility heavily on his shoulders, all the time.”