BBC1 Drama Nightsleeper

[DonkeyKonk]

I watched the first episode of NightSleeper, thought it was almost totally rubbish, (apart from one reveal) watched the last 30.minutes of the last episode on iPlayer to see if it went where I thought it might, and, yes seems it was pretty rubbish, won't bother watching the rest.

Shame, I thought it might be good, the basic premise was good a real time train thriller, but the acting and script and direction was really awful, the "leading man" particularly was very poor.

The best Train Thriller movie for me is The Commuter with Liam Neeson, good fun.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Isn't it obligatory to overlay all railway scenes which have been filmed in a studio with a clickety-clack soundtrack?

Also I thought I kept noticing trains whizzing past the sleeper from interior shots. But all other trains were stopped ?.

James Cosmo's 'Fraser Warren' character is indeed a retired train driver who had previously worked for the "Heart of Britain" sleeper train company. Presume this will have some plot relevance in the episodes still to air.

Did not realise from the film that the character Fraser Warren drove the "Heart of Britain" sleeper in the past but he did seem to know an awful lot of routes - more than a train driver would/could ?.

 

[davews]

I caught five minutes of this last night and that was enough. I never watch TV soaps anyway so trying to make sense of it without seeing the rest was impossible. I think the Guardian piece mentioned earlier is spot on.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Impressed that they actually used a GatEx 387 in an exterior shot as one of the characters heads back to London from Gatwick Airport. The interior shots appear to use an unrefurbished 455 instead, but the red moquette is close enough substitute for not being able to film on a 387.

EDIT: Looks like I was wrong and it was a former GA 321.
View attachment 165558

That was at Victoria. But it was a 387 when it left Gatwick

 

[norbitonflyer]

Katie Leung does a decent job as an insufferable reporter and Sharon Rooney as the buffet host, but the rest of the cast are really quite forgettable and hard to warm up to; especially the Cyber Security Centre folk.

Credit to Sharon Small as well - you can't warm to her self-obsessed character, but you're not supposed to.

 

[norbitonflyer]

The James Cosmo character didn't have a lot to say but, judging by his musings about the Quintinshill disaster, I guessed that he was supposed to be a retired railway man and possibly driver? Perhaps someone who saw the first episode will be able to enlighten me?

We've had a few hints - he is seen in one scene fidgetting with an old-style pocket watch with "BR ScR" and a date embossed on it - a retirement present perhaps?

 

[duncombec]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say as a "barely railway" person, I've actually quite enjoyed it so far, taking it for what it is - a drama series with filming constraints and a slightly fantastical plot line (but again, that's the whole idea) - and so there are going to be things that "railway people" will pick up on. How many spare 387s are sitting around for a BBC film crew to set up and use so they have the right train set available? How many spare Caledonian Sleeper carriages are there? "We are sorry to announce your train has been cancelled owing to the BBC using it for filming"...

Lots of comments seen on the 321, but none whatsoever on the fact there isn't a train operating company called "Heart of Britain", which seems a curiously pedantic approach. I wonder how many complaints the BBC would get for unrealistic filming and overuse of CGI if the train didn't go "clickety-clack"! (It's a bit like wondering why no TV murder mystery ever seems to be able to cope with just one body since about 2005...)

Not entirely sure the Guardian reviewer watched more than the first episode, because her "banging on the door" comment is fairly obviously visible and explained in Ep.2.

I agree there are certain characters you aren't meant to warm to - nasty politician lady being high up on the list (will we find out what her scandal was?), and I suspect there is something behind the rather stereotypical portrayal of the oil rig worker, too (just ever so slightly overdoing the "I'm an oil rig worker" look?). I last saw Joe Cole playing Jan Gies in "A Small Light", a very different sort of role set in a very different era (1940s Holland), and James Cosmo usually plays quite strong characters in things I've seen him in, so interesting to see him look slightly 'weaker'.

Ultimately, it's - of course - all down to personal preference. I pretty much hated McMafia and The Honourable Woman, both of which fell into that same 9pm Sunday evening drama slot, and both of which received pretty rave reviews from elsewhere. As for Nightsleeper, I'm tossing up whether to wait until Sunday for part 3 or head to iPlayer...

 

[Peter Sarf]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say as a "barely railway" person, I've actually quite enjoyed it so far, taking it for what it is - a drama series with filming constraints and a slightly fantastical plot line (but again, that's the whole idea) - and so there are going to be things that "railway people" will pick up on. How many spare 387s are sitting around for a BBC film crew to set up and use so they have the right train set available? How many spare Caledonian Sleeper carriages are there? "We are sorry to announce your train has been cancelled owing to the BBC using it for filming"...

Lots of comments seen on the 321, but none whatsoever on the fact there isn't a train operating company called "Heart of Britain", which seems a curiously pedantic approach. I wonder how many complaints the BBC would get for unrealistic filming and overuse of CGI if the train didn't go "clickety-clack"! (It's a bit like wondering why no TV murder mystery ever seems to be able to cope with just one body since about 2005...)

Not entirely sure the Guardian reviewer watched more than the first episode, because her "banging on the door" comment is fairly obviously visible and explained in Ep.2.

I agree there are certain characters you aren't meant to warm to - nasty politician lady being high up on the list (will we find out what her scandal was?), and I suspect there is something behind the rather stereotypical portrayal of the oil rig worker, too (just ever so slightly overdoing the "I'm an oil rig worker" look?). I last saw Joe Cole playing Jan Gies in "A Small Light", a very different sort of role set in a very different era (1940s Holland), and James Cosmo usually plays quite strong characters in things I've seen him in, so interesting to see him look slightly 'weaker'.

Ultimately, it's - of course - all down to personal preference. I pretty much hated McMafia and The Honourable Woman, both of which fell into that same 9pm Sunday evening drama slot, and both of which received pretty rave reviews from elsewhere. As for Nightsleeper, I'm tossing up whether to wait until Sunday for part 3 or head to iPlayer...

I am with you on this. It is always going to have holes picked in it by railway "experts" like me. For me not too much action and enough of a story line sold it. My step son liked it and said if it had been American it would have been more action (gratuitous violence) and less of a complex plot.

Having never travelled on the Mk5 sleepers I have no idea if the set resembled the real sleeper !. The layout was similar ?. I doubt Caledonian sleeper would have wanted to encourage a film depicting what can (very vaguely) go wrong with their product !.

The Gatwick Express being a Mk3 EMU did grate but that is because I am very familiar with Electrostar EMUs.

The speed of entry in to Victoria at the end was, shall I say - unbelievable.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've only watched the first one but enjoyed it. As with any drama you just have to allow some artistic licence.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Watched the first 15 mins of E1, skipped through the rest. Skipped through E6 just now. The CGI seemed to start off quite good but got worse.

What can I say, these Class 94s are some locos

Spoiler

but the pantograph didn't really need to be up arriving at Victoria

 

[Peter Sarf]

Watched the first 15 mins of E1, skipped through the rest. Skipped through E6 just now. The CGI seemed to start off quite good but got worse.

What can I say, these Class 94s are some locos

Spoiler

but the pantograph didn't really need to be up arriving at Victoria

Mk16 coaches as well !.

Spoiler

"I vaguely recall it was still under the knitting minutes away from Victoria. AND phenomenal brakes given its entry speed to Victoria and stopping short of the buffers !."

 

[nlogax]

Fair to say folks on this forum are likely not the target audience I've been looking forward to this for ages and hopefully later this week I'll finally find some time to get stuck in. Based on what I do know about the real railway I'll have to suspend my disbelief for the entire run-time, but this is half the fun of fiction. I'll be treating this like I treated Hijack on Apple TV which was complete nonsense but huge fun.

 

[Ediswan]

We've had a few hints - he is seen in one scene fidgetting with an old-style pocket watch with "BR ScR" and a date embossed on it - a retirement present perhaps?

I thought it was stated outright in the first episode, but I don't intend to watch again just to check.

 

[D6130]

I've only watched the first one but enjoyed it. As with any drama you just have to allow some artistic licence.

I thought it was stated outright in the first episode, but I don't intend to watch again just to check.

As stated above, I missed the first episode so I wasn't sure of the situation with Fraser Warren.

 

[ScotTrains]

As a drama, is anyone else finding it hard to warm to, or positively engage with, any of the characters, with the possible exception of the female lead role? (= 'Abby Aysgarth' the Acting Technical Director at the "National Cyber Security Centre" as portrayed by Alexandra Roach).

I've only seen the first episode but I don't even warm to the lead role, Abby. She appears to be completely out of her depth as Technical director, not knowing what to do and struggling to stay calm. What I find annoying is when she's on the train struggling to hear/think due to the loud partying girls, why she doesn't just move to the next coach that appears to be completely empty!

 

[Peter Sarf]

I've only seen the first episode but I don't even warm to the lead role, Abby. She appears to be completely out of her depth as Technical director, not knowing what to do and struggling to stay calm. What I find annoying is when she's on the train struggling to hear/think due to the loud partying girls, why she doesn't just move to the next coach that appears to be completely empty!

Yes I spotted that at the same time as noticing the interior did not match the exterior !.
Of course that would ruin the plot I suppose. It has to be her being serious in the middle of frivolity. Was a bit surprised a confrontation was not thrown in for added interest !.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I've only seen the first episode but I don't even warm to the lead role, Abby. She appears to be completely out of her depth as Technical director, not knowing what to do and struggling to stay calm.

Not so good a drama then if you don't warm to, or really care about what happens to, any of the characters!

 

[ScotTrains]

Not so good a drama then if you don't warm to, or really care about what happens to, any of the characters!

Haha, but it's railway related so I'll still watch it!

 

[Gonzoiku]

Haha, but it's railway related so I'll still watch it!

Don't waste your time - the railway-related bit will have you squirming in your seat.

Sorry, but it was garbage.

GZ

 

[lordbusiness]

I thought it was a documentary.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Credit to Sharon Small as well - you can't warm to her self-obsessed character, but you're not supposed to.

I thought for a minute they had hired Liz Truss to play that part...
Quite the resemblance, and attitude.

Episode 2 airing on the same day as exploding pagers in Lebanon feels a bit unsettling.
Telling fact from fiction is getting harder.

 

[Deafdoggie]

I thought it was really good. It is, after all, not a documentary so it isn't going to be realistic. Spoiler alert: I've seen Paddington & bears don't really talk. I've heard Dr Who isn't a real GP either. Slightly incorrect carriages, a non-existent TOC and a retired driver who knows too many routes really aren't big things.

 

[johnny_t]

Impressed that they actually used a GatEx 387 in an exterior shot as one of the characters heads back to London from Gatwick Airport. The interior shots appear to use an unrefurbished 455 instead, but the red moquette is close enough substitute for not being able to film on a 387.

EDIT: Looks like I was wrong and it was a former GA 321.
View attachment 165558

It was a 387 when they got on and it left, but had turned into a 321 by the time it (nearly) arrived.

EDIT: That will teach me to post first, read the thread later

 

[aaronspence]

I just finished watching it, Its alright. Some obvious flaws, like the train stopping from high speed far too quickly, the front of the train being a 397 and connected to the passenger carriages in all the helicopter footage, but seemingly having no access to the 'loco' from within. Then the magical 'Mark 16' carriages, it must be set very far in the future.

 

[65477]

like the train stopping from high speed far too quickly,

Is this a spoiler - you mean the end was not like the Cassandra crossing or it destroyed half of a London terminus?

Actually I know the answer as I have seen the entire series.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Actually I know the answer as I have seen the entire series.

No spoilers please for those of us not watching online.

 

[GordonT]

Watching it. Can't say I was too bothered about transport authenticity, (though they did floor me when the runaway train opened a free bar). Quite gripping though which is what 'real-time drama' is supposed to provide.

 

[Ghostbus]

My God it's bad. I'm most definitely watching the last episode tonight, to see just how bad.

Plot, poor. Script, poor. Acting, poor.

It's so bad, the only possible reason I can think of why this thing got commissioned at all, given the utterly ridiculous amount and severity of the political messaging, was to exploit the fact that while BBC factual content has to be neutral, there is no such requirement for dramas. I dare say the original intention was to have this aired under a Tory government.

Propaganda. Pure and simple.

 

[LickeyIncliner]

Did not realise from the film that the character Fraser Warren drove the "Heart of Britain" sleeper in the past but he did seem to know an awful lot of routes - more than a train driver would/could ?.

Must have been a Saltley man...

 

[whoosh]

I enjoyed it, and blasted through 4 episodes in one night, and the last two the next. There was another series recently called 'Red Eye' set on an airliner which I also found very enjoyable, despite a lot of inaccuracies relating to planes. It contained a similar level of unrealistic things.

But they are just stories at the end of the day.

No-one has mentioned possibly the worst gaff in 'Nightsleeper' - a shot of the train careering out of control on a line with catenary, somewhere where there definitely isn't catenary, in the last episode. And then (quite correctly) in the next shot from above, no catenary.
I did end up laughing at my mild irritation of exterior red 'tail lights' being on between the coaches as well!

But even that didn't put me off.

I was reminded of a classic film at one point, when the signalling system was magically able to detect a train uncoupling - the original and superior 1973 version of 'The Taking of Pelham 123'.
Even that pretty well researched film, and the book it's based on, made stuff up that operationally just didn't exist or would actually happen, to heighten the drama at times.