‘Unmissable’ BBC thriller that left actors ‘throwing up on set’ will have people hooked

Excitement is mounting for a thrilling new BBC series that’s already been branded ‘unmissable’ - which is good news for the cast, given what they went through while filming the project.

Starring Peaky Blinders and Gangs of London star Joe Cole, the ‘fast-moving’ show follows cop Joe Roag as he tries to save a hijacked train as it speeds to London from Glasgow.

Joe Cole plays a cop stuck on a hijacked train (BBC)

Helping Joe is the National Cyber Security Centre’s Abby Aysgarth, played by Alexandra Roach, who communicates with him via phone.

“There’s a small team working the night shift alongside Abby and a handful of passengers left on the train with Joe but are they all as innocent as you’d think?” the BBC poses to us.

“Who can they trust? Who can we trust? Are there people on board who know more than they are letting on?”

The ‘roller coaster’ real-time thriller, titled Nightsleeper, launches this weekend but is already getting rave reviews.

Podcaster Neil Vagg tweeted: “I’ve seen three episodes of new @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer #Nightsleeper and I’m hooked! It’s an insanely tense and well-placed thriller which plays out in real time.

"Alexandra Roach and Joe Cole are an excellent duo at the centre of it all. It’s an unmissable, slick production.”

The Irish Independent also said the series is a ‘wild ride’, adding: “If the rest of Nightsleeper is as gripping as Sunday’s opening episode, we should be in for one hell of a ride. Mind the doors!”

The hype will no doubt come as good news for those involved, many of whom had a bit of a rough ride while the series was in production.

While it was filmed in stationary carriages constructed in a studio, the windows were actually screens that displayed moving footage of outside scenery – something that left cast feeling somewhat woozy.

The series also stars Alexandra Roach (BBC)

Speaking to The Sun, lead star Joe Cole explained: “We were cooped up in these small carriages for ten, 12 hours a day and they had pre-recorded the entirety of the train journey exteriors from Aberdeen to London on LED screens, which were outside the train.

“You feel like you’re on a train, people were getting motion sickness if they looked out of the window for too long.

“The lighting in the windows saves a lot of time in the edit and just looks more realistic. You couldn’t escape this chaos. But it was part of the fun.”

Nightsleeper launches on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 15 September.