The BBC’s Nightsleeper is returning for a second series and will start filming in Belfast later this year.
Written by the BAFTA and RTS award-winning Nick Leather, the first series aired in September 2024 and followed the fictional Heart of Britain sleeper train travelling from Glasgow to London, where two strangers were forced to work together to save the lives of its passengers.
It became the BBC’s biggest new drama launch of the year, with episode one reaching 8.5 million viewers, and the show has since been sold to 176 territories worldwide.
Series two moves the action from the rails to the open water, as a new high-stakes thriller unfolds aboard a ship travelling across the Irish Sea.
Leather said: “It’s so exciting to set sail on season two! The passengers and crew on tonight’s Belfast to Liverpool passenger ferry are about to experience six hours of non-stop thrills and spills, secrets and lies, triumphs and tragedies.
“None of them are quite as they seem. Nothing in their lives will ever be the same again. Not all of them will make it to the other side. The new Nightsleeper is going to be more nightsleepery than ever…”
Executive Producer Kate Harwood added: “Audiences embraced Nightsleeper in such a huge way, and we’re incredibly excited to return with a bold new story.
“Nick has once again created a brilliantly tense thriller packed with new characters, twists, emotion and edge-of-your-seat drama. We can’t wait to bring this new drama from the high seas.”
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, commented: “Series one of Nightsleeper was a breakout hit, thundering across the UK to reach millions of viewers.
“Series two brilliantly builds on everything that made the first so irresistible, and we could not be happier to be working with Nick, Kate and the team to bring it to BBC iPlayer and BBC One.”