BBC’s unmissable new thriller left cast ‘sick and in need of medication’

Joe Cole has revealed that several stars of upcoming BBC thriller Nightsleeper ‘fell ill and required medication’ while filming the series.

This real-time thriller follows the story of a hacked sleeper train travelling from Glasgow to London, as a government agency desperately attempts to intervene in the rapidly escalating events on board.

Joe plays the role of Joe Roag, an off-duty police officer who is on board. He must consult with Abby Aysgarth (Alexandra Roach), the acting technical director of the UK’s National Cyber ​​​​Security Centre, over the phone. Together, they attempt to stop the train before it reaches its final destination.

Of course, the series was not filmed on an actual train journey between the two cities, but the realistic setting caused some actors to suffer from motion sickness.

“The train consisted of three sets of three carriages in a studio in Glasgow,” he said Metro.co.uk.

‘Every morning from 8am we were thrown into a dark studio and never left. They had these amazing LED screens where they filmed the journey from London to Glasgow and the real world flashed past us.

‘Some actors even suffered from it, dizziness and nausea.’

Although Joe, 35, said he was among the lucky ones who didn’t get sick, he still felt anxious from the long hours he worked in the confined space.

‘It was also hot and stuffy, because you have a whole crew there. It was… cozy. It felt really intense sometimes, which I think added something.

‘We would often be on this train for quite a long time because it was sometimes a hassle to get off and they had to build stairs and help us down. We would often be on this train for a large part of the day, all together in this confined environment. And there are some big personalities and some very funny people in the cast. I think it definitely added to the claustrophobia of the whole thing.’

When Joe first read the script for the six episodes, he wondered, “how could this get any worse” for all the characters.

“I thought the writers might run out of ideas, but it just kept getting crazier. Which is actually perfect and exactly what you want. As a viewer, I would definitely play into that,” he said, adding that he became increasingly aware of the “scary” threat of hacking while filming the series.

“Yeah, I mean, it was interesting. I was talking to someone the other day about, ‘Do you think this could happen?’ Just about could this happen in real life? Even though I don’t think it would happen in this capacity, it’s a little scary, isn’t it,” he said.

After filming ended, Joe admitted he was worried about getting on a different train the next time.

“I honestly didn’t feel like getting back on the train after that, especially since I spent so many hours in train cars for about three months,” he laughs.

Joe began his acting career in the West End, playing roles in The Bill and Holby City before playing the role of John Shelby in Peaky Blinders.

Joe left the show in 2017 after three seasons, previously saying he felt he had “exhausted” his character after (spoiler alert!) being shot dead by Italian hitmen.

But with the Peaky Blinders movie coming, is there any chance viewers will see the beloved character again in some way?

“I’m dead, honey!” he laughed.

“Unless they put a big sheet over my head and put two slits in it and I come back as Casper the Friendly Ghost, I’m not back. I mean, Steven Knight has done dream sequences and flashbacks… (so maybe there’s a chance),” he joked.

After leaving Peaky, Joe was cast in Gangs of London, playing the lead role of Sean Wallace, who fights for leadership of his family’s criminal empire after the death of his father.

The first season premiered in 2020 and was followed by a second in 2022, with Joe giving fans a sneak peek at when they could expect the next episodes.

“It should be out late this year or early next year. Sometime in the winter,” he revealed.

“But yeah, we just finished filming season 3.”

Until then, he promises viewers that they will be in for a wild ride when they watch Nightsleeper.

“You’re definitely going to be in for a few surprises,” he said.

This article was first published on September 3.

Nightsleeper starts on Sunday 15th September at 9pm on BBC One. All episodes will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer that day.

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