Nightsleeper has BBC viewers 'instantly hooked' as new thriller likened to 90s blockbuster

It took just minutes of the first episode kicking off on Sunday night, for viewers to declare they were 'hooked' on new thriller Nightsleeper, as the six part drew comparisons to legendary Hollywood blockbuster Speed.

Going into the vacant 9pm primetime slot left by Sherwood ending,. Nightsleeper, written by BAFTA award winner Nick Leather, is about the hacking of a sleeper train from Glasgow to London and the repercussions for all of those people on board. Before it had even started, the drama was talked up as being 'the new Bodyguard' with fans having fond memories of the Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes drama and how much every one of its episodes left everyone on the edges of their seats.

And, much like the opening minutes of Bodyguard, which launched on the BBC in 2018, the first few scenes of Nightsleeper proved to be frantic viewing, as a woman had her bag stolen while she waited with her baby on a station platform, which led to a chase through the carriage as copper Joe Roag, played by Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole, attempted to catch the culprits to no avail.

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Things then took a turn when a member of the train crew failed to get in touch with the driver, with it then being revealed to millions watching at home that there was a device beneath the wheel. And that is when the comparisons to Speed, the Keanu Reeves film about a bomb on a bus, started to come in on X (Twitter).

One viewer reacted: "This is like a mash up of runaway train and Speed films" and another writing: "This is Speed but on a train right? And no Keanu." Based on the teasers they'd seen alone, a third wrote: "There is a brand new thriller miniseries on BBC that sounds like the intense love child of Bodyguard & Speed with shades of Red Eye & Source Code? And all episodes are on @BBCiPlayer as of today ?!? Well, there goes my disco nap before the Emmys, huh."

A teaser for Monday night's second episode read: "The cyber attack on the rail network prevents Abby from seeing the obstacles in the sleeper's path, leaving her in a race against time to avert disaster. But with the Minister of Transport proving a less-than-ideal ally, and the so-called Driver always seeming to be one step ahead, it becomes clear that she's going to have to think outside the box to bring the train to a halt"