Anyone else been watching this new series on BBC1?
Only watched the first episode so far but I’m finding it utterly gripping. Those last ten minutes are so tense, especially when some of the passengers end up trapped on the train whilst it’s being controlled remotely by a hacker, and the driver is no longer onboard.
Even though it’s not a horror series, it feels like it could be one. It could put some people off trains for life!
Haven’t seen it but your post has intrigued me enough not to click on your spoiler tag. Now I’ve finished Wreck, I need a new tense/horror/thriller drama to watch when the wife isn’t around.
Just seen it on iplayer and it looks 100% up my street - I’m excited to watch it soon!
Watched the first episode of Nightsleeper on the recommendation of @WhoPotterVian. Absolutely right up my street. Disparate characters trapped on a speeding train. Can’t wait to watch the rest of the episodes. A great cast too (although are we getting to the point where Ruth Madeley is considered the only actor who uses a wheelchair?)
Oh I am so looking forward to getting stuck into this one!
This sounds really good! I might check it out, if I can find it somewhere.
For the Nightsleeper fans.
Yep, it’s quite gripping. Although I still don’t understand why the people onboard the train were taking it so calmly.
If you mean in the first episode, I’m not sure they were fully aware the train was driverless - maybe the two employees but beyond that.
I’ve just started Nightsleeper and already half way through. About to start Ep 4.
It’s done really well for a BBC TV budget and the whole thing is exciting and the story is gripping, but what elevates it above what I expected from a thriller like this is Alexandra Roach’s character.
Time is marching on to the point now that a millennial is in “that” position of authority we’ve all become accustomed to in a stories like this and, rather than just accept it as a sign of time moving on, it actually seems to have something to say about it and I’m hooked. On that as much as, maybe more than, the runaway train!
A generation which has been infantilised its whole life while simultaneously been criticised for not growing up as it hurtles towards middle age and the script and Roach’s performance is conveying it incredibly well without compromising on the action and the spectacle. She’s capable, vulnerable, aware of her age and the perception people have of her because of it and it’s really adding tension and drama in the scenes off the train.
It’s also not what I’ve seen people discussing so it’s very much in the background but like I said, it’s elevated this above a run-of-the-mill (though executed adeptly) action thriller.
Dealing with an international incident barking orders at people 20 years her senior while in torn jeans. Yes please.
Hoping the latter half of the series keeps me engaged as much as the first half has!
Just finished Episode 2 and utterly gripped. Honestly thought the goods train would move completely out of the way in the nick of time so the crash was absolutely thrilling. Both sides of the story are great and loving the characters even if they are fitting various tropes. I don’t care because its telling a story I want to see the outcome of. People talk about guilty pleasures but I don’t feel guilty about enjoying this.
And you’re right about Roach - loved the bit in the foyer of the Cybersecurity building where she told off both her old colleague and her superior.
This is exactly it, they are tropes but Roach’s character sort of isn’t. And it really works. The space she fills in the script very much is one but you don’t usually see a character like her filling that space.
And yes, nothing guilty about enjoying it at all. Even without that really interesting slant on it I’d still think the whole thing was pulled off really well.
Nightsleeper part 3 - brilliant again! Loving this series.
Nah, the second one. I’d have thought they’d have been in hysterics.
Finished the series last night. Will be interested to know what you make of it when it’s done!
Watched episode three of Nightsleeper. Continues to be gripping, but
that oil rigger was an idiot, wasn’t he? Why did he think it would be a good idea to climb into the roof of a train? And how the heck did he think he was going to know how to even control the train if he got to the driver’s carriage?
That scene where he gets run over by the train has to be one of the darkest things I have seen on BBC1. BBC dramas don’t usually get that grim.
And now the hackers have control over the entire rail network? I’m hooked to see how they get out of that one. That train could go literally anywhere!
Can;t spoiler multiple lines at once, you’ve got to do them individually
Thanks. I thought you could.
Watched episode four of Nightsleeper. God this show is gripping. I can’t believe someone else is on the train. And who did Joe shoot? And who has been using Abby’s code, and how did they get it? So many questions.
3 episodes in on Nightsleeper. Great fun.