Nightsleeper

Last updated

Nightsleeper
Nightsleeper BBC.jpg
Genre Crime thriller
Created by Nick Leather
Written by
  • Laura Grace
  • Nick Leather
Directed by
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
  • Kate Harewood
  • Gaynor Holmes
  • Nick Leather
  • Noemi Spanis
  • Jamie Magnus Stone
ProducerJonathan Curling
CinematographyArthur Mulhern
Production company
Original release
Network BBC One
Release15 September (2024-09-15) –
30 September 2024 (2024-09-30)

Nightsleeper is a six-part British television series made for BBC One, starring Joe Cole and Alexandra Roach and written by Nick Leather for Euston Films. It was released in September 2024.

Contents

Synopsis

A real time drama, the series is set on the fictional Heart of Britain sleeper train travelling to London from Glasgow. Two people who have not met before must work together to try to save the lives of the passengers. [1] [2]

Cast

Passengers & Train Crew

British Government

Others

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.K. viewers
(millions)
1"Episode 1" [3] Jamie Magnus Stone Nick Leather 15 September 2024 (2024-09-15)5.88
2"Episode 2"Jamie Magnus StoneNick Leather16 September 2024 (2024-09-16)4.66
3"Episode 3"Jamie Magnus StoneNick Leather22 September 2024 (2024-09-22)5.21
4"Episode 4"John HayesLaura Grace23 September 2024 (2024-09-23)4.84
5"Episode 5"John HayesLaura Grace29 September 2024 (2024-09-29)5.32
6"Episode 6"John HayesNick Leather30 September 2024 (2024-09-30)5.30

Production

It was revealed in December 2022 that the BBC had commissioned the series written by Nick Leather who is also executive producer alongside Gaynor Holmes for Euston Films. [4] Executive producers also include Kate Harewood and Neomi Spanos. Jonathan Curling is producing. [5] The series is directed by Jamie Magnus Stone and John Hayes. [6]

Casting

In April 2023 it was revealed that Joe Cole and Alexandra Roach would lead the cast. [7] That same month other cast members were revealed including David Threlfall, Ruth Madeley, Alex Ferns, Sharon Small, James Cosmo, Lois Chimimba, Gabriel Howell, Katie Leung, Leah MacRae, Adam Mitchell, Sharon Rooney, Pamela Nomvete, Scott Reid, Daniel Cahill, and Parth Thakerar. [8]

Filming

Filming took place in Glasgow in April 2023. [9] [10] The opening scene was filmed in Glasgow's Central Station. Filming was also done in and outside Victoria Station, London. The interior scenes of the National Cyber Security Centre were filmed at the City of Glasgow College's Riverside Campus [11]

Broadcast

The series premiered on BBC One on 15 September 2024 and had its BBC iPlayer streaming release on the same day. [12]

Reception

The Guardian's Lucy Mangan gave the "fantastically dreadful" series two stars out of five, saying that the plot became "increasingly ridiculous and even within the elastic definition we apply to these capers, absurd" and the dialogue "increasingly abysmal", and calling Joe Cole's performance "expressionless to the point of distraction". [13]

Writing in The Daily Telegraph , Keith Watson gave the series three stars out of five, saying that "[f]or all its adrenalin-rush moments [...] the basic premise makes about as much sense as the rail ticket pricing system", that the cliffhanger moments were "the TV equivalent of rubber-necking: you know you should look away but you really can't", and that the series was best enjoyed by suspending disbelief. In Watson's estimation, Joe Cole "does a kind of low-rent Speed-era Keanu Reeves turn" but nevertheless made "a fine action hero", while the passengers aboard the hacked train were "little more than clichés with issues, their backstories inserted to fill in the bits between chases/near misses/staring at the rail-route map." [14]

In Radio Times , David Craig gave the series two stars out of five, saying it was "laden with cliché in terms of dialogue and plot structure [...] taking several staples out of the bland conspiracy thriller playbook" and "compromised by the sheer volume of jokes, which go beyond comic relief to almost rendering this show an outright comedy-drama." Craig devoted several paragraphs of his review to criticising what he saw as the use of the passengers to "shoe-horn" a social unity narrative "in a clunky, cringe-inducing manner". Craig would finish his review by saying the series felt "like a show that couldn't decide what it wanted to be", with "shades of a self-aware train-set action-comedy, dashes of a nervy cyber thriller, and attempts at hard-hitting social commentary on political polarisation and marginalisation. Blended together, it makes a strange concoction". [15]

Reviewing the series for the Herald, Alison Rowat gave the series two stars out of five, saying that it was "six hours of bum-numbing nonsense that makes the Father Ted remake of Speed [...] look like The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" and "[e]very now and then a too silly by-half twist comes along, or a slab of terrible dialogue, and the action screeches to a halt." [16]

Writing in The Times , Carol Midgley gave the series three stars out of five but found it "very schlocky" and said that "[t]he implausibilities started from the opening frame." [17]

In a more positive review, Gerard Gilbert of the i gave the series four stars out of five (albeit appearing to have reviewed the first episode only), calling it "a high-speed blast from start to finish" and saying that the train-borne setting was original and "fruitfully explored" and that the action onscreen "moved at a suitably unrelenting pace but was laced with dry humour." [18]

Digital Spy's Janet Leigh, whilst not carrying out a proper review as such, said that the plot twist in the final episode was representative of the series' issues with plot twists as a whole, "each one losing more and more intrigue as the story progressed. The show overplayed the whodunnit aspect so much that [...] the identity of the real culprit landed without excitement." Likewise, the impending train crash was deprived of narrative weight due to the "many, MANY hair-raising moments that came before" and due to it being "extremely obvious" that the characters were not "about to meet their end in grisly fashion." Leigh concluded that the series "did manage to maintain a sense of urgency and pace in spite of the flaws but perhaps was a little too eager to prove itself as a gripping mystery thriller." [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euston railway station</span> Central London railway terminus

Euston railway station is a major central London railway terminus managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railway. Euston is the tenth-busiest station in Britain and the country's busiest inter-city passenger terminal, being the gateway from London to the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Leung</span> Scottish actress (born 1987)

Katie Leung is a Scottish actress. She first gained fame for playing Cho Chang, Harry Potter's first love interest in the Harry Potter film series, and subsequently for her roles as Caitlyn Kiramman in the Netflix animated series Arcane and Ash in the Amazon Prime Video sci-fi series The Peripheral. Among British television audiences, Leung is known for her lead roles in the miniseries dramas One Child and Strangers and her supporting role in the police dramedy Annika.

Alexander Ferns is a Scottish actor and television personality. His role in EastEnders as Trevor Morgan from 2000 to 2002 was described as "Britain's most-hated soap villain". He also played the role of Rick Harper in the BBC Scotland soap opera River City between 2017 and 2018. For his performance as coal miner Andrei Glukhov in the 2019 miniseries Chernobyl he received a BAFTA Scotland Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Compston</span> Scottish actor

Martin Compston is a Scottish actor and former professional footballer. He played Anti-Corruption Unit Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in the BBC drama Line of Duty, Liam in Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen, Paul Ferris in The Wee Man, Ewan Brodie in Monarch of the Glen, and Dan Docherty in The Nest.

There are several types of mass media in Scotland: television, cinema, radio, newspapers, magazines, game design and websites. The majority of Scotland's media is located in Glasgow, the countries largest city, which serves as the HQ for much of the countries major media employers such as broadcasters BBC Scotland and STV, radio services including BBC Radio Scotland, Clyde 1 and Pure Radio Scotland. Game design and production company, Rockstar North, has its international offices in the countries capital city, Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Craig</span> English actor (born 1968)

Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. He gained international fame by playing the fictional secret agent James Bond for five installments in the film series: Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021).

Black Camel Pictures is a production company based in Glasgow and founded by Arabella Page Croft and Kieran Parker.

Tana French is an American-Irish writer and theatrical actress. She is a longtime resident of Dublin, Ireland. Her debut novel In the Woods (2007), a psychological mystery, won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for best first novel. The Independent has referred to her as "the First Lady of Irish Crime".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Henwick</span> British actress (born 1992)

Jessica Yu-Li Henwick is a British actress, writer and director. She began her career in 2010 and is best known for her roles in Game of Thrones, Iron Fist, Love and Monsters, The Defenders, Silk, The Matrix Resurrections, The Gray Man, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and The Royal Hotel. Her directorial debut Bus Girl was nominated for a BAFTA.

Alexandra Elizabeth Roach is a Welsh actress best known for her roles as Becky in Utopia and DS Joy Freers in No Offence. She has also made appearances in series including Being Human, Inside No. 9, Black Mirror and Killing Eve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Cole (actor)</span> English actor

Joseph Michael Cole is an English actor. Some of his most notable roles include Luke in Skins, John Shelby in Peaky Blinders, Marzin and Beckwith in Secret in Their Eyes, Billy Moore in A Prayer Before Dawn, Frank in the Black Mirror episode "Hang the DJ", Sean Wallace in Gangs of London, and Iver Iversen in Against the Ice.

Ukweli Roach is an English actor, dancer, and choreographer, best known for playing the role of Jay in StreetDance 3D (2010), FBI psychiatrist Robert Borden, on the American television series Blindspot (2015–2020), and Tyrone Clark on the crime drama series Annika (2021–2022).

Finlay Lewis J. Cole is an English actor. He is known for his role as Michael Gray in the BBC series Peaky Blinders (2014–2022). He also starred as Joshua "J" Cody in TNT's Animal Kingdom (2016–2022) and played young Jakob Toretto in the film F9 (2021).

<i>The Cry</i> (2018 TV series) 2018 drama series

The Cry is a 2018 mystery psychological drama television series written by Jacquelin Perske and adapted from the 2013 novel of the same name by Helen FitzGerald, which was broadcast on the ABC in Australia and BBC One in the UK. The series stars Jenna Coleman as Joanna Lyndsay, a schoolteacher whose four-month-old baby Noah disappears while she and her fiancé, Alistair, are visiting family in Australia. The series was directed by Glendyn Ivin and produced by Synchronicity Films.

Gangs of London is a British action thriller crime television series created by Gareth Evans and Matt Flannery. Based on London Studio's 2006 video game for the PlayStation Portable, it serves as the fourth installment in Sony Interactive Entertainment's The Getaway franchise created by Brendan McNamara and Katie Ellwood. Gangs of London follows the struggles between rival gangs and other criminal organisations in present-day London.

<i>The Ipcress File</i> (TV series) 2022 British spy thriller television series

The Ipcress File is a British cold war spy thriller television series loosely based on the 1962 novel The IPCRESS File by Len Deighton. Written by John Hodge and directed by James Watkins, it stars Joe Cole, Lucy Boynton and Tom Hollander. It was first broadcast at 9pm from Sunday 6 March to 10 April 2022 on ITV. The entire series was available for streaming, with commercials, on ITV Hub after episode 1 was broadcast. Within a week the full series was also available, commercial-free, on BritBox in the UK.

<i>Vigil</i> (TV series) British police procedural television serial

Vigil is a British police procedural drama television series created by Tom Edge and produced by World Productions. The series premiered on BBC One on 29 August 2021. The first series stars Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Shaun Evans, Paterson Joseph, Gary Lewis and Martin Compston, and is set in Scotland, primarily onboard HMS Vigil, a ballistic missile submarine of the Royal Navy.

Nick Leather is a British playwright and screenwriter.

The Light in the Hall is a bilingual Welsh and English-language drama television series. It premiered on S4C on 15 May 2022.

The Jetty is a British crime drama television series, created and written by Cat Jones, directed by Marialy Rivas, and produced by Firebird Pictures. It stars Jenna Coleman. The series was released for streaming on 15 July 2024 on BBC iPlayer and started broadcasting the same day on BBC One.

References

  1. ↑ Whittock, Jesse (23 April 2023). "'Peaky Blinders' Joe Cole To Lead Real-Time BBC Drama 'Nightsleeper'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  2. ↑ "First pictures released of Alexandra Roach and Joe Cole in BBC real-time thriller Nightsleeper". BBC.
  3. ↑ "The BBC commissions new suspense thriller Nightsleeper from Fremantle's Euston Films". BBC Media Centre. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Goldbart, Max (8 December 2022). "'PhoneShop' Creator Phil Bowker Strikes Deal With Tiger Aspect; Latest Paramount+ Launches; BBC 'Nightsleeper' Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Yossman, K.J. (8 December 2022). "Euston Films Sets Nick Leather-Penned Suspense Thriller 'Nightsleeper' at BBC (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  6. ↑ Williams, Craig (9 December 2022). "BBC commissions new suspense thriller set on Glasgow to London sleeper". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  7. ↑ Considine, Pippa (24 April 2023). "Roach, Cole board Nightsleeper, shoot starts in Glasgow". Televisual.com. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  8. ↑ Christian-Sims, Ella (24 April 2023). "Joe Cole and Alexandra Roach to lead new BBC thriller Nightsleeper". rts.org. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  9. ↑ Newland, Rebecca (24 April 2023). "Still Game and Two Doors Down stars in BBC thriller set in Glasgow". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Nightsleeper: Glasgow filming begins on new BBC One drama". Herald Scotland. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  11. ↑ "Nightsleeper Filming Locations: Find That Location". findthatlocation.com. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  12. ↑ Jeffrey, Morgan (22 November 2023). "Joe Cole, Alexandra Roach in first look at BBC thriller Nightsleeper". Radio Times. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  13. ↑ Mangan, Lucy (15 September 2024). "Nightsleeper review – fantastically dreadful". The Guardian . Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  14. ↑ Watson, Keith (15 September 2024). "Nightsleeper, BBC One review: derail your critical faculties to enjoy this daft thrill ride". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  15. ↑ Craig, David (15 September 2024). "Nightsleeper review: Ham-fisted thriller is like Red Eye, but dafter". Radio Times . Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  16. ↑ Rowat, Alison (16 September 2024). "Nightsleeper review: Worse than the nightbus to London" . The Herald . Archived from the original on 16 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  17. ↑ Midgley, Carol (15 September 2024). "Nightsleeper review — this train thriller is barely staying on the rails" . The Times . Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  18. ↑ Gilbert, Gerard (15 September 2024). "Nightsleeper review: A high-speed blast from start to finish". The i . Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  19. ↑ Leigh, Janet A (17 September 2024). "Nightsleeper's ending twist points to where the show went wrong". Digital Spy . Retrieved 17 September 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.