Serial killer

SURVIVORS star Julie Graham has her doubts that she’d cope as well as her character, Abby, in a postapocalyptic Britain, where a virus has wiped out most of humanity.

“I’d like to think that I’d rise to the occasion, but there’s another part of me that thinks I would just lock the door and eat baked beans and never venture out into the world,” she says.

“It could be a very scary place. I’d try to find a nice country cottage and hide.”

In fact, she sometimes wonders if she has the necessary skills to survive the credit crunch, let alone a deadly virus.

“I love my job and I’ve a l w a y s wanted to do it. I’m very lucky that I’m allowed to do it,”

she says.

“In this economic climate, I’m starting to think that maybe I should have another string to my bow, but there’s nothing else I’d want to do.”

Fortunately, it seems she won’t have to think about retraining just yet. Admittedly, Bonekickers wasn’t a roaring success, but her CV also includes the likes of William and Mary, Between the Sheets and At Home with the Braithwaites.

Add Survivors, which is an updated version of a cult Seventies drama, to that list and it’s clear she’s one of the most in-demand actresses on the small screen.

She modestly puts some of her success down to a willingness to act her age.

“I’m a 44-year-old actress and those are the parts that I want to play,” she says. “I don’t want to play someone who’s 34. I think some actors cling on to that. But it’s down to luck, as well.”

In the new series of Survivors, Abby finds herself in some very difficult situations.

“There are lots of things she has to face that challenge everything that she thinks and has thought. Abby changes so much – where she was understanding and frightened, she almost becomes warriorlike.”

The first episode throws us straight into the action, as she’s held captive by scientists who believe her immune system could hold the key to creating a vaccine against the killer virus, while Al (Phillip Rhys) and Anya (Zoe Tapper) try to save a critically-wounded Greg (Paterson Joseph).

“Last series was episodic stories, but this year there is more of a serial element to it,” she says.

“When we got to the end of filming episode six I thought, yes, this could go on. Some things happen at the end of that episode which I can’t tell you, but it’s definitely a storyline that could easily continue.”

Acombination of the credit crunch and the expenses scandal means last year was not a great one for Britain’s MPs, but there’s one politician still respected by large swathes of the UK’s population – Barack Obama.

He’s got plenty of admirers around the rest of the world too, but how is he faring in the US?

In Simon Schama on Obama’s America, the historian evaluates some of the problems the 44th president has had to tackle during his first year in office.

Top of the agenda is the conflict in Afghanistan, as Schama argues that politicians have failed to understand the nature of the problems and ignored the lessons of history, in particular the US involvement in the Korean War.

But with the world’s financial markets in turmoil, Afghanistan has not been the only difficult issue Obama has needed to deal with.

HAPPY birthday, Homer. The 20th anniversary of The Simpsons is celebrated in Simpsons – Mischief And Mayhem, narrated by Ricky Gervais.

A host of famous faces and fans consider the controversial storylines in The Simpsons and how the show has tackled subjects ranging from politics to sexual orientation and ethnicity.

Plus, there’s a look at the merchandise available over the years and the people who collect it.