S Poddar
Joe Cole, star of the new BBC thriller Nightsleeper, says he can understand how tense the six-part series might make people think twice before getting on a train again. The high-stakes hijacking of a sleeper train traveling from Glasgow to London-all on its 1-night journey in real time-tells the story adapted from the original concept of the BAFTA-winning writer Nick Leather.
Cole plays the role of Joe Roag, an off-duty policeman who gets stuck in the middle of this life-and-death crisis. He allies with Abby Aysgarth, played by Alexandra Roach, a director at the National Cyber Security Centre, who helpfully guides him from afar. Armed with just a satellite telephone, Abby helps Joe through an escalating series of events on a train where the lives of all its passengers hang in the balance.
Speaking at the special screening of Nightsleeper on BFI Southbank in London, Cole quipped about the tension the show builds. “I don’t think many people will want to get on a train after this. We’re stuck on a train for six hours, and it’s real time, and you get all those effects,” the actor said to The Evening Standard, laughing. “So, yeah, hopefully people enjoy it.”
It was not on the screen alone. The producers constructed a bespoke train set, complete with LED screens making it look like the British Rail network, that passed out of the windows. Cole mentioned how the immersive environment was so convincing that some of his fellow cast members became queasy from simulated motion. “A few people were taking sickness pills,” Cole shared. The LED screens were moving. It seemed the train was really moving. That was good for us actors. It really seemed as if we were on a train.
Although the tight setting did pose a challenge, Cole admitted that it somehow added to realism in the performances. “We were all confined to this small space, so it felt method at times—you couldn’t really escape between takes,” he said. The feeling of claustrophobia was a mirroring of the extremely tight-knit scenario being played out on the screen, adding to the shoot’s intensity.
Off course, not only was Joe Cole sharing the cast with Alexandra Roach but James Cosmo, Scott Reid, Leah MacRae, and Daniel Cahill as well. He was grinning from ear to ear at BFI Southbank as he posed with his castmates. In Nightsleeper friendly camaraderie ran all through.
In Nightsleeper action speaks louder than the dialogue, but the movie has one main characteristic – it’s so realistic that relatability strikes home. “We’ve all been on a train,” Cole said, “so it’s fun to picture how you’d react in this kind of situation.” That shared experience is what he hopes will draw the audience into the story. Above and beyond the action and suspense, Cole thinks that the series offers moments which invite viewers to step into the shoes of the characters and think, “What do I do in such a bad situation?”.
Filming a show like Nightsleeper, almost entirely filmed inside a moving train, presented logistical challenges, but it provided with an incredible opportunity to develop an incredibly immersive story. Closed space added an extra layer of authenticity to performances and the tension built while the story unfolds.
The great plot premise for an hijacked train has all the tension of other classic action-thrillers about moving vehicles, but Nightsleeper brings its fresh modern twist to the story. As the events unfold in real time, the tension builds minute by minute into a heart-pounding viewing experience.
For his most avid fans, Joe Cole remains best known for his critically acclaimed role in the BBC’s hit series Peaky Blinders as John Shelby. But as an ordinary man caught between two extraordinary circumstances, Nightsleeper has been a different performer for the screen – shining with rawness and groundedness in a set of vulnerability and resilience needed to survive the night.
At the same time, the series reflects contemporary anxieties about technology and cyber threats, a role at the National Cyber Security Centre adding an element of modernity to the traditional hijacking thriller. As the characters battle against the odds, viewers are prompted to consider vulnerabilities in our own daily lives and how we’d respond to sudden chaos.
Nightsleeper should be a real rollercoaster ride for viewers; more jokes the program has made about possibly putting some people off their next rail journey. However, he hopes it’s going to be something that makes it so that, when people watch it, they’re going to remember long after the credits are over at the end.
It will be screened on BBC One and will be available on the BBC iPlayer from September 15, but if you want to join the crew, you’re invited along for the ride.
