Nightsleeper star "wasn't surprised" by character's episode 5 reveal

The penultimate chapter picks up after suspicion falls on acting director Abby Aysgarth (Alexandra Roach), who is identified as the creator of the code that hacked the train.

Adding fuel to the narrative that she is the mastermind behind the attack, a NCSC device containing classified information is found in her home – leaving her in very hot water indeed.

RadioTimes.com spoke to Gabriel Howell, who plays Abby's colleague and lodger Tobi McKnight, about the latest twist in the cyber thriller as it nears its dramatic conclusion.

Nightsleeper episode 5 reveals that the NCSC laptop found at Abby's home, which briefly appeared to be damning evidence of her own culpability in the hackjack, was actually smuggled out of the office by Tobi.

Howell was left as in the dark as viewers at home during production on the series, initially receiving scripts for only the first three episodes, but he "wasn't surprised" to learn that his character had been up to no good.

He said: "There was a period of time when I was like, 'Is it him? Did he do it?' And it was lovely for me to get the last three and, almost like the audience, to really blitz through them and have that excitement.

"I think that it really made Tobi make sense to me," continued Howell. "He's not trusted with the classified stuff, which is the only stuff that would challenge his brain. And I think that he's bored, and I think the devil makes work for idle hands."

The actor went on to say that Tobi's misdeeds are also a manifestation of how he idolises former hacker Abby and her eccentric ally Paul Peveril (David Threlfall), wanting to embody the renegade tendencies that have characterised their careers.

"I think he just needs this. He wants to be Abby, and Abby breaks rules," said Howell. "There's stories of Abby doing this... and I think he wants to be that, and the only way he can do that is by getting his hands on some stuff that he shouldn't have.

"It made me respect Tobi a lot. It made me understand him. I back him a lot. I really like him, and it made perfect sense to me, because I don't think he's malicious... He's not some evil villain. He's not calculated in that way."

Howell added: "He just loves it, he loves the game of it, so i don’t think at any point he’s trying to hide. It's just when it comes out, he's like, 'Oh, no, I did do that, didn't I?' It's almost like a bit of a double bluff, which is nice."

Nightsleeper is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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