Thought 24 was intense? Inside the BBC’s explosive and claustrophobic new real-time train heist drama Nightsleeper that left cast ‘sick and needing medication on set’

The BBC‘s latest thriller, Nightsleeper, is so intense it left its cast ‘sick and needing medication on set’.

Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole revealed filming the scenes for his latest thriller series made him feel unwell, ahead of Sunday night’s premiere.

The six-part real-time series sees a sleeper train hijacked and driven from Glasgow to London over the course of a single night.

And Joe, 35, who plays leading role Joe Roag, has revealed that he was left feeling motion sick after spending up to 12 hours a day tightly packed into the carriages.  

‘We were cooped up in these small carriages for 10, 12 hours a day and they’d pre-recorded the entirety of the train journey exteriors from Aberdeen to London on LED screens, which were outside the train,’ Joe revealed at a Q&A hosted by BFI.

Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole  (pictured) revealed filming the scenes for his latest thriller series made him feel unwell

‘Although it was dark so you couldn’t really see much. They used it for the lighting in the windows on our faces a little bit here and there, which saves a lot of time in the edit and just looks better and more realistic.’

Despite being stationary, Joe – who is best known for his role as John Shelby – said the cast and crew battled with motion sickness.

‘Because you feel like you’re on a train, people were getting motion sickness if they looked out of the window for too long,’ he added.

Created by BAFTA-winning writer Nick Leather Nightsleeper is an action adventure that is also a whodunnit with a series of twists and turns along the way.

Joe stars alongside Alexandra Roach (Utopia, No Offence) who plays Abby Aysgarth, the acting technical director at the National Cyber Security Centre.

Meanwhile, Joe portrays an off-duty cop who is unlucky enough to be on the wrong train at the wrong time.

Together, they must piece together the puzzle of who they are up against and how they can defeat the self-styled ‘Driver’, who always seems one step ahead.

There’s a small team working alongside Abby and a handful of passengers left on the train with Joe, but they might not all be as innocent as they seem.

The six-part live Stan series, set to debut on Sunday, is a nail-biting real-time thriller that sees a train hijacked and driven from Glasgow to London on a single night

And Joe, 35, who plays leading role Joe Roag, has revealed that he was left feeling motion sick after spending up to 12 hours a day tightly packed into the carriages

Despite being stationary, Joe – who is best known for his role as John Shelby – said the cast and crew battled with motion sickness

The show has more than a little in common with legendary BBC drama 24. 

The plot of 24 revolves around federal agent Jack Bauer, who works for the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) in the U.S., as he attempts to thwart various national security threats over the course of 24-hour periods.

Both 24 and Nightsleeper focus on real-time storytelling. 24 is famous for its ‘real-time’ format, where each hour-long episode represents one hour in the story’s timeline.

Nightsleeper follows a similar concept, with the narrative unfolding in real time, heightening tension and urgency.

Both shows also center around high-stakes scenarios as 24 follows counter-terrorism agent Jack as he deals with crises like terrorist attacks. 

The show mirrored similarities of BBC’s drama 24. It is famous for its ‘real-time’ format, where each hour-long episode represents one hour in the story’s timeline – similar to Nightsleeper

Nightsleeper also features a suspenseful setting aboard an overnight train, where a crisis of national importance must be averted, creating a sense of ongoing danger.

While not real-time, Snowpiercer takes place against a similar backdrop, with a dystopian twist.

The Netflix series – rebooted from the 2013 movie – features a frozen, future version of Earth, where survivors live on a perpetually moving train to keep warm.

The train’s limited space and strict class system create a pressure-cooker atmosphere, similar to the urgency in Nightsleeper and 24.

All episodes of Nightsleeper are available to stream on BBC iPlayer on Sunday 15th September.