When The Time Comes
Cast: Edmund Chen, Aileen Tan, Edmund Tay, Phyllis Quek, Carole Lin, Dasmond Koh
An accidental hero, a self-centred yuppie, an unfortunate lady caught in the worst-case scenario and a tenacious TV news reporter eager for her biggest break come together in this 4-part series on terrorism and the rise of the human spirit.
Filmed with the assistance of Mindef, this Channel 8 series enacts the terrifying scenario of a terrorist attack, should one occur in Singapore.
The story goes that a group of terrorists arrive in Singapore looking for a chance to strike.
Edmund Tay plays Ma Zhi Xian, an unemployed man approaching 40, who has given up hope in life. While drowning his sorrows in a hawker centre, the down-and-out Zhi Xian was spotted by his brother-in-law and dragged home to his heavily pregnant wife, Li Zhen, played by Carole Lin). Li Zhen is also at a loss when she sees her husband in this state.
A terrorist attack in a departmental store was thwarted by one of the terrorists' own timidity when he abandons the horrifying plan.
But the worst is yet to come... Another terrorist by the name of Barry has his sights set on a office building which coincidentally is where Zhi Xian has gone for a job interview. During this critical time, Zhi Xian demonstrates the life-saving skills he had learnt during National Service, and ironically, saves his interviewer Wen Xuan (played by Aileen Tan) who incidentally, had turned him down earlier for the job.
At the time of the bombing, Wen Xuan is with her working partner, Jie Ren (played by Edmund Chen). Self-centred and selfish, Jie Ren would rather save himself than risk his life saving others. Naturally, he escapes to safety without even looking out for Wen Xuan.
Phyllis Quek plays Jie Ren’s fiancee Wei Wei, a dogged TV news journalist hot on the heels of scoops on the terrorists. Little does she know that her loved one could be part of her news.
More attacks follow when a terrorist by the name of Larry masquerades as a patient in order to infiltrate his bomb target – the hospital. It happens to be the very hospital where Li Zhen is about to deliver her baby. When the authorities got wind of Larry’s motives, they rush to seal off the hospital. Enter Zhang Shi Wei (played by Dasmond Koh), a member of the bomb defusing squad.
When Jie Ren throws a fit after being denied entry to the hospital, Larry senses that something is amiss and that his plot has been uncovered, prompting him to take some drastic measures...