As the third episode of Nightsleeper begins, Abby Aysgarth (Alexandra Roach) tries to get in touch with Joe Roag (Joe Cole). Paul ‘Pev’ Peveril (David Threlfall) says RTV is showing trains still moving. Tobi McKnight (Gabriel Howell) doesn’t believe the person who installed the device is in the waiting room at Motherwell. He asks what’s going on since everyone is distraught. Joe finally picks up the phone and responds. Tobi says the comms plane is showing two phone jammers down there. The SBC is receiving external messages via satellite. The driver is driving in real-time. Tobi shows them why he believes the person responsible isn’t at Motherwell. Joe checks on the other passengers and explains they had to move a goods train. Sophie Warren (Leah MacRae) worries they’re never getting off the train.

Daniel Geoghan (Daniel Cahill) says he’s going to get off. Joe promises they’ll get off, but they have to stick together. He asks if anyone has an objection with him taking the lead. Liz Draycott (Sharon Small) raises her hand. Then, Abby tells Joe that they have a plane over five miles above them. It’s picked up a second satellite phone on there attempting to make a phone call in the last 15 minutes. They used an encrypted line and the team couldn’t break it because the call was so short. Abby explains that one of the passengers may be working with the hackers. Joe doesn’t tell the other passengers. In private, Joe tells Abby that he found a firearm and he removed the important bit. Abby says whoever is responsible has hacked into the station information boards.

They’ve requested a ransom while calling themselves “The Driver”. The United States has pointed the finger at a group based out of Tehran. Joe wonders why anyone would stay on board. Saj Sidhu (Parth Thakerar) suggests looking for connections to the Tehran group. Zed Hylton (Jasmine Naziha Jones) tells Abby that the BBC is on the line asking about a comment regarding a train derailment and explosion. France has declared war and they’re pinning it on them. Abby begins zoning out. Mark ‘Hud’ Hudson (Jonjo O’Neill) explains they need to prove France wrong. Nicola Miller (Pamela Nomvete) has to give COBRA an update in 12 minutes. Meanwhile, Fraser Warren (James Cosmo) talks to the other passengers about his watch. Chrissy Doolan (Ruth Madeley) and Yas Brown (Sharon Rooney) talk. Chrissy reminds her that she helped her when everyone else ran.

Fraser asks Sophie why she didn’t turn around and help him. She tells him to shut up before screaming and leaving. Aaron Moy (Alex Ferns) asks Liz if she’s handed in her resignation yet. Danny approaches Joe to say he needs to make a call now. Rachel Li (Katie Leung) wants to use the phone when it’s free. Joe reminds them it’s not a payphone. Danny shuts the door on Billy McCloud (Scott Reid) and tells Joe that his wife is in labor at the UCH in London. Danny’s wife has preeclampsia and a liver condition. It’s been very difficult for them. Joe tells him there isn’t a message, but he offers to talk to the center about it. They might be able to find out what’s going on. Joe says he has a boy. He was there when his son was born. Paul tells Abby that how she feels is not a weakness. He remembers the feeling.

Paul has never forgotten what her dad said to him. He told Paul to never doubt his daughter. Abby wonders why anyone involved would stay on the train. They talk about the possibility that the BBG is involved. Paul isn’t sure they can get into their heads. They can get into their code and stop them. Abby suggests they don’t stop the train at all. Joe calls her to see if they can contact the hospital for Danny. Then, Abby learns that the freight only lines are dotted. She asks for the direct line back to the signaling control desk at Manchester. Abby asks Nicola to speak to the UK Rail’s Gold Command. She wants assurance that they’ll do whatever she says. Joe keeps an eye on Sophie. Abby speaks to Gold Command and asks them to take the Heart of Britain off the West Coast Mainline at Carlisle. She wants it moved to the line to Settle.

She’s told it’s not possible, but Abby tells them to do it now. Abby urges Nicola to give them the authority to do it. Erin Connolly (Lois Chimimba) approaches Sophie who says she can’t breathe in there. Joe watches as Erin throws a bag from the train when she’s alone. Once the train is switched, Abby loses connection to it. Nicola asks what she’s done. Joe checks on everyone. The power comes back on. The connection is restored. Abby tells Joe they’re on the line to Settle. The diesel backups kicked in because this one isn’t electric. They’ll put them on a loop until the diesel runs out. Abby explains they’re literally going nowhere now. Gold Command is asked to remove any passenger and goods trains on any route. Leon Parhill (Micah Balfour) tells Abby they uncovered a chain between the Train Operating Company, FOC, and ROSCOs. There is a basic error on the firmware on the PLC.

They can’t patch the software because the scheme was physically burnt onto a dedicated crypto authentication chip. Paul explains every company knew, but they did nothing because it was cheaper to live with the risk. Tobi interrupts to say something about the oil rigger. Joe calls Abby to tell her about Erin throwing a bag out of the window. He’s going to confront her. Abby says the situation for Danny’s child and wife is critical. Joe tells Danny about the train, but he doesn’t say anything about his wife. Liz goes to the bathroom where she destroys documents. Saj and the others try to find out more about their passengers. They think that Yas and Sophie may have financial motives. They’ve already discounted 11-year-old Max ‘Mouse’ Ellis (Adam Mitchell). Aaron works as an accountant and he’s been accused of sanction-busting in the Middle East.

Chrissy is a solicitor who focuses on human rights. She sues the government about once a month. Erin is a student at South Central University in London. She’s been working at the Station Hotel in Glasgow over the holidays. Abby asks if the hotel is the same one the one with the baby was last seen heading to. She instructs Tobi to get the CCTV footage for the hotel. Joe asks Erin about the bag. She walks away without responding. Tobi finds CCTV video of Erin and the woman with the baby. They’re also with someone else. Tobi is asked to get footage from another camera so they can see who she’s with. Abby calls Joe to tell him what they just discovered. Joe and the others are busy detaining Erin. Abby says it’s not the student. Joe doesn’t hear her because the phone has been knocked to the floor. Joe tells Danny that someone onboard is part of this.

Rachel takes the phone and runs into the bathroom. Abby sees Rachel in the CCTV footage. Rachel ends the call. Erin claims she threw out stuff she didn’t want the police to see. She admits she threw away drugs. Joe can’t kick in the bathroom door. An airplane keeps track of the train which is accelerating. Joe is asked why they’re traveling so fast. Paul tells Abby they need to worry about the maximum speed of the lines. It’s not much over a hundred depending on the curviness of the line. Joe gets an ax so he can break down the door. Liz doesn’t think they should rely on Joe. The plane gets closer so Abby and the others can see inside. She sees Joe with the ax. Joe begins hitting the door. When the train stops, he’s thrown to the ground. Fraser says delays are inevitable in the north. Mouse says the lady in the wheelchair is hurt.

Erin tries to get the door open even though they’re stuck on a viaduct. The man with the airplane says they’re going to lose visual. Rachel comes out of the bathroom. A team should be on board in seven to eight minutes. Rachel says she had to get this out. Danny asks if there are any messages for him. Rachel questions whether he’d really trust the government to tell the truth. She has tweeted out as much information as she can. Joe asks why she met the pregnant woman in Glasgow. She denies it. Joe gets in touch with Abby who says the police will be there in five to six minutes. Erin remembers serving Erin. Sophie stops her and asks if she knows what is going on. Erin says yes because she met someone. She insists she’s not involved. The woman who had her bag stolen must be involved. Erin was contacted anonymously by someone who said there would be an incident on the Heart of Britain.

They wanted her there to report it. Rachel has been working on a piece for months about the hacking community. She claims these gods are holding governments and companies to account from their bedrooms. Rachel went to Europe’s largest hacking convention to interview as many people as she could. She suspects one of those people must be behind it. Rachel asks Liz if she knew there had been a ransom demand. She says the woman in the hotel gave her a USB stick. Yas yells for everyone to get off, but they can’t before the train begins moving again. Abby finds out that it’s going backwards. Danny wants to get to the hospital. Joe tries to stop him because there’s nothing he can do. Joe tells him that his wife is in surgery. Danny climbs out the window and on top of the train.

Abby says the brakes and dead man’s switch won’t work. The train stops again causing Danny to get thrown off the front. Joe and Billy search for the key which has fallen somewhere. Saj tells Nicola that the points are all changing. North of England Signaling wants to speak to Abby. They say they’ve lost control of everything. They’ve taken over the points, signals, and all track side comms. Abby learns that it’s happening everywhere. Meg (Remy Beasley) calls Abby to show her the messages saying the Heart of Britain is no longer arriving at London Euston. The train slowly moves towards. Danny. Joe sees him get hit. Saj says the train has come off the loop and it could be going anywhere.

 

Nightsleeper Review

The third episode of the Nightsleeper was okay although the story is definitely taking a few too many turns. Six episodes may be too many because the story is being stretched thin and the believability is quickly diminishing. There really is no sense of urgency with the train randomly stopping and starting out of the blue.

There is a possibility that the train could crash and cause a mass casualty event, but the series doesn’t do a good job of maximizing that. Each episode has introduced a new implausible twist. In this one, we learned that Rachel actually met those involved and was warned of the incident.

Danny was killed in a fairly corny way as well. That’s not to mention that Rachel met the woman at the hotel where Erin worked and was actually served by Erin. It’s understandable why a murder was thrown in here because the intensity level is lacking. Despite the circumstances, the series is actually quite dull.

Nevertheless, it’s watchable with the right expectations. I just wouldn’t expect anything too gripping or memorable when all is said and done. The episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Nightsleeper can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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