SO as the global economy goes into meltdown, thousands of jobs are under threat, and doom and gloom blankets the nation, what does the BBC think we want to watch on our telly screens?

Yes, that’s right, a drama series about a lethal pandemic that wipes out nearly the entire human race. Just the thing to put us in the mood for Christmas.

But that said, Survivors was a surprisingly well handled journey to the end of the world.

The idea, based on the cult 70s show of the same name, is simple – kill off most of humanity and destroy civilisation as we know it, then see how the few survivors cope.

Despite a few clunky moments and a reliance on coincidence – the main cast pretty much bumps into each other along the exact same point of a motorway near Manchester – Survivors had its convincing moments. The way the world ground to a halt felt alarmingly accurate, with a welcome vein of gallows humour running through several scenes.

Run out of petrol? Don’t bother with those complicated new fuel pump systems (you’d only blow yourself up if you tried, as one character learned). Simply find the nearest car, haul the corpses out and drive off, repeating the process until you reach your destination.

As mobile phone networks crashed, energy and water supplies failed and non-preserved food started rotting, you could tell a few cast members wished they’d paid a bit more attention to the survivalist likes of Ray Mears and Bear Grylls.

And whoever thought anyone would want to grab a shotgun to stop people getting supplies from their local Netto supermarket? Certainly not the poor soul hanging from the shop’s rafters with the word ‘looter’ stamped to his chest.

Not all the survivors are looking to rebuild society, you see. Some are just out to keep what they have away from the others.

The stickiest patch so far has been the dialogue. The drama can’t go more than 20 minutes without one character – so far matriarchal Abby, searching for her lost son – telling us the decent nature of humanity will win through. Needless to say, someone else – so far Tom, a convicted murderer who killed his way out of prison in episode one – will make the argument that everyone is horrible and will do whatever is necessary to survive.

As ever with these things, the cast is a Lost-style cross section of character types. There is a smart survivalist type who’ll sort out the practical problems, a city slicker who’s money and womanising isn’t getting him far these days, a boy looking for what’s left of his family, and a doctor pretending not to know medicine. All of them, you get the feeling, have a few secrets lurking in the background.

And there was the inevitable ‘there’s more to it than that’ moment at the end of each of the first two episodes. A shadowy group of scientists in biohazard suits and ominous blue-lit rooms seem to have caused the killer disease in the first place, and aren’t feeling too guilty about it. Every self-respecting cult TV programme needs a conspiracy to unravel, and this was it.

Survivors was certainly a bleak bit of prime time viewing, but it was thoroughly entertaining stuff, and convincing enough on the details to deliver a few chills.