BBC Commissions Thriller from Euston Films

BBC has commissioned the real-time thriller Nightsleeper from Fremantle’s Euston Films for BBC One and iPlayer.

Written by Nick Leather (The Control Room, Mother’s Day), the six-part series takes place on a sleeper train traveling from Glasgow to London. Rapidly escalating events take place onboard while a government agency tries to intervene before the train reaches what might literally be its final destination.

Euston Films’ managing directors, Kate Harwood and Noemi Spanos, will executive produce alongside Leather and BBC’s Gaynor Holmes. The series will be directed by Jamie Magnus Stone (Doctor Who, Ten Pound Poms) and produced by Jonathan Curling (The Sister, Baghdad Central). Fremantle is handling global distribution.

“I couldn’t be more excited to work with Euston Films and the BBC to drive the engine of this real-time thriller and take our audience along for a ride full of personal intrigue, political maneuvering and danger,” Leather said. “By the time dawn breaks at the end of this journey, no-one involved will ever be the same again.”

“The classic on-screen genre of a runaway train is given a thrilling modern twist by screenwriter Nick Leather, and we find ourselves with a small group of people in a race against time,” Harwood and Spanos said. “We can’t wait to film this in Scotland next year.”

Holmes, commissioning editor for BBC Drama, added, “Nick Leather’s ingenious scripts combine a fantastic premise with a nail-biting plot and characters you will root for. We can’t wait to bring Nightsleeper hurtling on to the BBC. Viewers will definitely want to catch it.”