Scripted

BBC’s real-time thriller Nightsleeper is returning for a second series, with Colin Morgan, Madeleine Mantock and Christian Cooke heading a new ensemble cast as production gets underway in Belfast. Written by BAFTA and RTS award-winning Nick Leather and produced by Element Pictures, a Fremantle company, the six-part series will premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC One, with Fremantle handling global sales. Morgan, known for The Boy That Never Was and Belfast, will play Stephen ‘Bo’ Bowen, while Mantock (The Long Song, Charmed) stars as Beth and Cooke (Frauds, Cemetery Junction) takes on the role of Johnny.

The returning thriller also welcomes 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. The wider cast includes Alexander Arnold, Lydia Page, Christine Bottomley, Julie Dray, Pooky Quesnel, Jonathan Harden, Mickey Mason, Kevin Harvey, Cúán Hosty-Blaney, Eileen O’Higgins, Samuel Edward-Cook, Emily Flain, Tareq Al-Jeddal and Sam Hoare. Parth Thakerar, Jonjo O’Neill and Micah Balfour will reprise their roles as Saj, Hud and Leon from the first series.

The new 6x60-minute series shifts the action from a train to a Belfast-to-Liverpool passenger ferry, which becomes the target of a potentially deadly cyberattack. As the crew attempts to conceal the scale of the threat from passengers, the ferry’s second engineer Johnny must team up with Bo, the National Cyber Security Centre’s new technical director, to fight back. But as secrets emerge and panic spreads across the vessel, the danger begins to extend far beyond the ferry itself.

“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…” said Nick Leather.
Kate Harwood, Executive Producer, added: “We’re excited to be filming this sea faring Nightsleeper adventure in Belfast, Titanic town itself. And to be casting off with such a brilliant bunch of actors led by Colin Morgan, Madeleine Mantock and Christian Cooke with superb directors James Kent and Chris Baugh helming. We look forward to taking Nightsleeper fans in the UK and abroad on another thrilling trip.”
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, said: “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.”