Nikki Amuka-Bird – Samantha Willis
Imagine being the last government minister left standing in a plague-ravaged world where society has collapsed and concepts such as law and order are meaningless.
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That's the imaginative leap that Nikki Amuka-Bird had to make for Survivors, in which she plays Samantha Willis.
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"It's fair to say the series begins on the hardest day of her life," says the Nigerian-born actress. "She's a junior health minister who's put in charge of handling the media when the virus begins to take hold.
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"At first, she thinks it's fairly routine stuff and is seeking to reassure the public that everything is under control, but she doesn't know how serious the epidemic is."
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As that realisation dawns, Samantha is thrust into the spotlight, taking more responsibility and bigger decisions as other members of the government go down.
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"She's as shocked and horrified by what's happening as anyone, but she has to push thoughts of her own family aside, which was one of the hardest things to contemplate when I was reading the scripts," says Nikki.
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"But she really has no choice because she can't turn her back on everything that's going on and run away. She has to try and move forward as that last point of contact that people have with the government."
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Nikki, whose recent credits include The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Torchwood and The Whistleblowers, researched her role with a visit to the Houses of Parliament.
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"A friend who's a Labour adviser arranged it, and while we were there we bumped into an ex-Irish health minister who was quite helpful," she recalls.
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"He talked me through the day-to-day routine of what my character might be asked to do, but he kind of drew a blank when I asked 'And what would happen if 99% of the population were wiped out by an epidemic?'."
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For Samantha, the reality of that grim scenario spurs her on to make plans – however fragile and tentative – for rebuilding society.
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"It becomes her reason for living," says Nikki. "She's lost her family, she's lost everything, and she initially wonders 'Why me, why am I still alive?'.
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"Her purpose becomes to be of some use, to help others, and to take the responsibility for making whatever decisions she can to build for the future."
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"Survivors goes right into the human drama of this new world and the new relationships that are formed. It's about people reconnecting with each other.
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"Of course, there's danger and dilemmas – you never quite know who you can trust. You'd expect people to pull together but that's not always how it works out.
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"Ultimately, though, it's a hopeful story about the human spirit prevailing, one which tries to strike a balance between what's been lost and finding things to live for."
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Nikki will be seen in the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One drama Small Island which is due to broadcast in Autumn 2009.
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