Nightsleeper Season 2 Sets New Cast for BBC Ferry Thriller
The BBC thriller Nightsleeper will come back with a new cast, a new vehicle and a new attack.
Colin Morgan, Madeleine Mantock and Christian Cooke will lead season two, a six-part series for BBC One and BBC iPlayer, Deadline reported on 14 September. Filming is now under way in Belfast.
The setting has moved off the rails. Season one followed a hacked sleeper train, the Heart of Britain, running from Glasgow to Euston. Season two shifts to a Belfast-to-Liverpool passenger ferry hit by a hack-attack.
Morgan plays Stephen ‘Bo’ Bowen. He is the new technical director of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, the government body that responds to major cyber incidents. Cooke plays Johnny, the ferry’s second engineer. Mantock plays Beth, with further character details still under wraps.
Season one starred Joe Cole and Ruth Madeley. In season one, Alexandra Roach played Abby Aysgarth, the Centre’s Acting Technical Director.
The new ensemble adds Rupert Penry-Jones as Richard, Ian McElhinney as Charlie and Sally Lindsay as Lisa. Three familiar faces return from season one. Parth Thakerar is back as Saj, Jonjo O’Neill as Hud and Micah Balfour as Leon.
Behind the camera, Nick Leather is writing the second season. James Kent and Chris Baugh are directing. Jonathan Curling is series producer and Maria Mulhall is producer.
Element Pictures is producing the series for the BBC, taking over from season one producer Euston Films. Production has support from Northern Ireland Screen, the region’s screen agency. Fremantle, a distributor that sells programmes to broadcasters outside the UK, is handling global sales.
For viewers, this means a full reset on board, with only the control-room team carrying over. The first series travelled widely. It sold to 176 territories, including to BritBox in the U.S.
