Nightsleeper
A real-time thriller set on a hacked sleeper train.
This BBC One crime thriller, created by Nick Leather, stars Joe Cole and Alexandra Roach. Produced by Euston Films, the series first aired on 15 September 2024. A second series was confirmed in June 2026.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Crime thriller
- Creator
- Nick Leather
- Writer
- Laura Grace; Nick Leather
- Director
- John Hayes; Jamie Magnus Stone
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Series
- 1
- Episodes
- 6
Facts from the source article.
Production
The BBC commissioned the series in December 2022, written by Nick Leather, who also serves as executive producer alongside Gaynor Holmes for Euston Films. Kate Harewood and Neomi Spanos are additional executive producers, with Jonathan Curling producing. Jamie Magnus Stone and John Hayes directed the series. In April 2023, Joe Cole and Alexandra Roach were announced as leads, joined by 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. Filming began in Glasgow in April 2023, with the opening scene shot at Glasgow's Central Station. Additional filming took place in and outside Victoria Station, London. Interior scenes of the National Cyber Security Centre were filmed at the City of Glasgow College's Riverside Campus, while train interiors were shot at Pioneer Studios near Glasgow on a full-scale set with LED video walls to simulate movement. In June 2026, the BBC renewed the show for a second series, with Element Pictures joining as a producing studio.
Reception
Critical response to Nightsleeper was mixed to negative. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian awarded two stars out of five, calling the series 'fantastically dreadful' and criticising the plot as 'increasingly ridiculous' and the dialogue 'increasingly abysmal', while describing Joe Cole's performance as 'expressionless to the point of distraction'. Keith Watson of The Daily Telegraph gave three stars out of five, noting that despite 'adrenalin-rush moments', the premise 'makes about as much sense as the rail ticket pricing system' and that cliffhanger moments were 'the TV equivalent of rubber-necking'. Watson found Cole's performance a 'low-rent Speed-era Keanu Reeves turn' but still a 'fine action hero', while the passengers were 'little more than clichés with issues'. David Craig of Radio Times also gave two stars out of five, stating the series was 'laden with cliché' and 'compromised by the sheer volume of jokes', and criticised the social unity narrative as 'shoe-horned' in a 'clunky, cringe-inducing manner'. Craig concluded the series felt 'like a show that couldn't decide what it wanted to be'. Alison Rowat of the Herald gave two stars out of five, calling it 'six hours of bum-numbing nonsense' that makes the Father Ted remake of Speed 'look like The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'. Carol Midgley of The Times gave three stars out of five but found it 'very schlocky', noting that 'implausibilities started from the opening frame'.
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