The BBC is preparing to raise the anchor on a second series of ‘Nightsleeper’, with the real-time suspense thriller returning for a brand-new six-part story on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
The first series followed the fictional Heart of Britain sleeper train travelling from Glasgow to London, where two strangers were forced to work together to save the lives of everyone on board. Launching in September 2024, the thriller became the BBC’s biggest new drama launch of the year, with episode one reaching 8.5 million viewers. It also found a major international audience, selling into 176 territories worldwide.
For series two, however, ‘Nightsleeper’ is leaving the tracks behind and heading out onto the Irish Sea, as the action unfolds aboard a ship travelling from Belfast to Liverpool. Behind every cabin door is apparently another story, another secret, and another surprise, which already sounds like exactly the sort of setting where nobody should be allowed to have a relaxing mini-break…
Interestingly, the announcement does not mention any returning cast, and specifically describes the new run as being packed with “new characters”. That does rather suggest this could be heading towards more of an anthology-style format, with the same real-time, trapped-transport premise, but a fresh cast and location each time. That is not confirmed, but moving from train to ferry certainly gives it the classic sequel problem of “same nightmare, different vehicle”, somewhere in the fine tradition of Die Hard 2, Speed 2, and every disaster thriller that has ever decided the safest thing to do after chaos on land is to immediately try water.
“It’s so exciting to set sail on season two! The passengers and crew on tonight’s Belfast to Liverpool passenger ferry are about to experience six hours of non-stop thrills and spills, secrets and lies, triumphs and tragedies,” said creator Nick Leather. “None of them are quite as they seem. Nothing in their lives will ever be the same again. Not all of them will make it to the other side. The new Nightsleeper is going to be more nightsleepery than ever…”
“Audiences embraced Nightsleeper in such a huge way, and we’re incredibly excited to return with a bold new story,” adds Kate Harwood, Executive Producer. “Nick has once again created a brilliantly tense thriller packed with new characters, twists, emotion and edge-of-your-seat drama. We can’t wait to bring this new drama from the high seas.”
“Series one of Nightsleeper was a breakout hit, thundering across the U.K. to reach millions of viewers,” said Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama. “Series two brilliantly builds on everything that made the first so irresistible, and we could not be happier to be working with Nick, Kate and the team to bring it to BBC iPlayer and BBC One.”
The new 6×60 series is written by Nick Leather and produced by Element Pictures (Normal People, The Cage), a Fremantle label, with support from Northern Ireland Screen. The series will be directed by James Kent (The White Queen) and Chris Baugh (Wreck). Executive producers are Kate Harwood, Rachel Dargavel, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe and Chris Aird for Element Pictures, alongside Nick Leather and James Kent, with Gaynor Holmes executive producing for the BBC. Jonathan Curling serves as series producer, with Maria Mulhall as producer. Fremantle is handling global sales.
Filming on ‘Nightsleeper’ series two will take place in Belfast later this year. No casting or premiere date has been announced yet. If I want to keep track of this or any other shows, I can add them via our Never Miss system, and I’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date. Visit Never Miss.
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