The BBC has unveiled the cast for ‘Nightsleeper‘ Series 2, with Colin Morgan (The Boy That Never Was, Belfast), Madeleine Mantock (The Long Song, Up To No Good) and Christian Cooke (Rematch, Plainclothes) leading a new ensemble as the real-time thriller swaps the railway for the open water.
Currently filming in Belfast, the new six-part series comes from returning writer Nick Leather and sees the action move aboard a Belfast-to-Liverpool passenger ferry which becomes the target of a potentially deadly hack attack. Because apparently one compromised form of public transport wasn’t stressful enough.
Christian Cooke plays Johnny, the ferry’s second engineer, who finds himself working with Stephen ‘Bo’ Bowen, the National Cyber Security Centre’s new technical director, played by Colin Morgan, as they attempt to fight back against the attack.
With the crew desperately trying to keep the full scale of the threat hidden from the passengers, things quickly begin to unravel. Secrets start surfacing, fear spreads across the decks, and those trying to deal with the crisis from dry land soon discover they’re not exactly on solid ground either.
Madeleine Mantock plays Beth, whilst the supporting cast includes Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks, Whitechapel) as Richard, Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones, Derry Girls) as Charlie and Sally Lindsay (Cold Call, The Madame Blanc Mysteries) as Lisa.
Also boarding the ferry are Alexander Arnold (Yesterday, Fuze) as Feeny, Lydia Page (The Confessions of Frannie Langton, Blue Jean) as Lola, Christine Bottomley (Sherwood, Back to Life) as Tanya, Julie Dray (Crashing, Avenue 5) as Ray, Pooky Quesnel (Tip Toe, The A Word) as Sam, Jonathan Harden (Blue Lights, Time) as Simon, Mickey Mason (Silo, No Ordinary Heist) as Damian, Kevin Harvey (This City is Ours, Time) as Tony, Cúán Hosty-Blaney (Say Nothing, House of Guinness) as Liam, Eileen O’Higgins (Brooklyn, Billy the Kid) as Jo, Samuel Edward-Cook (Peaky Blinders, The Listeners) as Connor, Emily Flain (How to Get to Heaven from Belfast) as Eabha, Tareq Al-Jeddal (Animol, Ridley) as Albie and Sam Hoare (The Capture) as Rusper.
There will also be a few familiar faces from the first series. Parth Thakerar (Brassic, Gangs of London) returns as Saj, alongside Jonjo O’Neill (Bad Sisters, Andor) as Hud and Micah Balfour (EastEnders, Midsomer Murders) as Leon.
Writer Nick Leather commented:
“It’s so much fun to be embarking on a second Nightsleeper journey on a route I know so well with the Belfast-to-Liverpool ferry as our new box-of-tricks. We’ve assembled such a wonderful cast, I’m so excited about our story and I can’t wait to welcome the audience onboard for a non-stop night to remember…”
The six-episode second series is produced by Element Pictures, the company behind Normal People and The Cage, with support from Northern Ireland Screen. James Kent (The White Queen) and Chris Baugh (Wreck) direct the new run.
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, added:
“We’re thrilled to have Colin, Madeleine and Christian lead this new series of Nightsleeper. Nick has delivered another brilliantly gripping story, and with danger lurking beneath the surface at every turn, viewers are in for a truly nail-biting journey.”
Series one trapped its characters aboard a compromised sleeper train, so moving the concept to a passenger ferry gives Leather a rather different box of potential nightmares to play with. A train having problems is bad enough. Being in the middle of the sea when the technology controlling your vessel decides not to cooperate is a whole other level of unpleasant.
Series one of ‘Nightsleeper’ is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
‘Nightsleeper‘ Season 2 does not yet have a UK premiere date, but will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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