Platform 7 episode 1 recap: How did Lisa Evans really die?

Platform 7 episode 1 - Lisa standing in her nightclothes on a station platform.
Platform 7 follows Lisa in a quest to work out her final moments. (Image credit: ITVX)

Platform 7 episode 1 has landed on ITVX, bringing us another psychological thriller we can get our teeth into. 

The story follows Lisa Evans, who is trying to piece together the events that led up to her suicide... which is made all the more tricky when her memory before she died appears to have been wiped. 

Having been trapped at the train station where she took her own life ever since she died, Lisa soon starts to question whether she really took her own life or if there is more to her past than meets the eye.

Here is everything that happened in Platform 7 episode 1... 

PHIL DAVIES as Edward sitting on a bench with his dog in Platform 7

Lisa meets Edward, another spirit from Platform 7.  (Image credit: ITV)

The series opens with Lisa wandering around an empty station in her pyjamas in the middle of the night, and it soon becomes clear, as security guards see through her and she walks through walls, that she is a ghost. 

As Lisa is haunting the platform, she sees a man walk into the station with his dog, before he slips a note into his dog's collar and walks towards the edge of the platform as a train comes hurtling around the corner. 

Despite attempts from Lisa (who the man obviously can't hear) and a security guard on a facing platform, the man jumps in front of the train, taking his own life. 

As the police arrive and take in the grim scene at the station, Lisa sees the man, who is now a ghost too, and it turns out his name is Edward but he won't tell her why jumped - although he can remember vividly the reasons for him taking his own life. 

Lisa is troubled by the fact Edward can remember his life before he died, while she only sees snippets and flashes. Things only get more distressing when Edward tries to leave the station, but finds he is trapped just like Lisa is, and can't get on a train or leave the station through the exit. 

Yaamin Chowdhury as Akash, Patrick Robinson as Trevor and Natasha Joseph as Evelyn in Platform 7

Lisa's parents are struggling in the wake of her death. (Image credit: ITV)

But things change for Lisa when her parents and boyfriend arrive at the station the next day with a bunch of flowers, and it turns out it is the first anniversary of her death and they want to pay their respects.

The station manager, Melissa, explains that they can't leave flowers for fear of encouraging copycat cases, and it is clear that her mum and dad are still struggling in the wake of Lisa's untimely death. But somehow the love that they have shown for her releases Lisa from being trapped at the station and she finds she can follow them home for the first time in a year.

Lisa follows Matt, her boyfriend, home and she sees him break down in tears over the anniversary of her death. There is also a newspaper open on his kitchen table with an article about Edward's suicide and linking it to her passing the previous year.

But as Lisa takes in the loving boyfriend and beautiful home, she struggles to understand why she would take her own life when it seems she had been happy. Over a series of flashbacks, we see how Lisa and Matt met, and how in love they were in the lead-up to her death.

It's only when Lisa goes to her old family home and sees her best friend, Izzy, visiting her parents that she sees a photo of someone pinned up in her old room that triggers another memory.

It turns out that man is Richard, Matt's old flatmate and colleague at the hospital he works at... and when Lisa goes to see him in his flat, it turns out he's very odd. Not only does he have everything perfectly lined up in his kitchen, but we find out in another flashback that he doesn't have any people skills at all - particularly around women.

Yaamin Chowdhury as Akash, Patrick Robinson as Trevor and Natasha Joseph as Evelyn in Platform 7

A flashback shows that Lisa met Matt when he treated her for a sprained ankle in hospital.  (Image credit: ITV)

As Lisa is piecing together her life before she died, the police officer, PC Lockhart who arrived on the scene of Edward's death is intrigued by Lisa's suicide at the station the year before, especially after Melissa reveals that unlike Edward, who entered the station through the main entrance, Lisa climbed over a security fence at the back of the station, wearing nothing but her pyjamas.

Lockhart starts doing some digging, interviewing Lisa's former colleague from the school she worked at, who confirms that while she was happy with Matt, Richard was strange and used to follow her home, stalking her while Matt wasn't around. 

However, when Lockhart goes to see Richard at his home, where Lisa happens to be haunting him at the same moment, he is treated by a door being slammed in his face. Does Richard have something to do with Lisa's death? 

In a final flashback scene, we watch as Lisa is running down a road near the station in the middle of the night, clearly just moments away from her inevitable death. But instead of looking like someone about to take their own life, she looks like she is being chased. 

As she climbs over the security fence that Melissa mentioned, we see two hands grab her ankles and stop her escape... could these be Richard's hands, or was someone else entirely chasing Lisa? And why?

All four episodes of Platform 7 are available to watch on ITVX now. 

Claire Crick
Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch

Claire is Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch and has been a journalist for over 15 years, writing about everything from soaps and TV to beauty, entertainment, and even the Royal Family. After starting her career at a soap magazine, she ended up staying for 13 years, and over that time she’s pulled pints in the Rovers Return, sung karaoke in the Emmerdale village hall, taken a stroll around Albert Square, and visited Summer Bay Surf Club in sunny Australia. 

After learning some tricks of the trade at websites Digital Spy, Entertainment Daily, and Woman & Home, Claire landed a role at What’s On TV and whattowatch.com writing about all things TV and film, with a particular love for Aussie soaps, Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off

She’s interviewed everyone from June Brown — AKA Dot Cotton — to Michelle Keegan, swapped cooking tips with baking legend Mary Berry backstage at the NTAs, and danced the night away with soap stars at countless awards bashes. There’s not a lot she doesn’t know about soaps and TV and can be very handy when a soapy question comes up in a pub quiz! 

As well as all things soap-related, Claire also loves running, spa breaks, days out with her kids, and getting lost in a good book.