Get ready for a "gripping psychological thriller" as Platform 7 has arrived.
Produced by Dancing Ledge, who recently brought us hit dramas such as The Responder and The Salisbury Poisonings, the four-part series is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Louise Doughty.
BAFTA-nominated Jasmine Jobson (Top Boy) stars as the spirit of Lisa Evans, who's trapped at the railway station where she took her own life.
Asked what first attracted her to the project, Jasmine says: "It was the supernatural bit that first got my attention. There's something interesting about being around people without their knowledge and haunting them, but I've also never played anybody like Lisa before. It's a challenge to play a character who's gone through things that you haven't experienced, and Lisa's story felt very real."
She adds: "There was definitely something very weird about being a fly on the wall. It's like you don't exist! People were walking past doing their scenes and you don't really feel involved, but Lisa learns so much about the people she knew in her life be being around them when they don't realise she's there. It was also difficult getting used to not having much to say in those scenes because I love the sound of my own voice!"
Multi-award-winning screenwriter Paula Milne (Him, The Politician’s Husband, White Heat) has adapted the tale for the screen.
Here's everything you need to know...
Platform 7 release date
Platform 7 is available to watch on ITVX. It was released on Thursday, December 7.
The four-parter is an ITVX premiere and has landed many months ahead of linear transmission on ITV1's main channel.
There's no news on if the series will air in the US, but Fremantle will handle the international distribution of the drama.
Platform 7 plot
An ITV press release reads...
"The drama is a haunting thriller following central character Lisa who, after witnessing a cataclysmic event on platform 7 of a railway station, finds her own fragmented memory jogged to reveal a connection between her own life and that of the event she has just witnessed. Supernatural elements combine with contemporary realism in this chilling drama."
Platform 7 cast
Jasmine Jobson will take on the role of Lisa. The 28 year-old star exploded onto our screens as Jaq, in the Netflix crime drama Top Boy, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA. Her other screen credits include Noughts and Crosses, Dark Heart and feature film Surge.
Jasmine is joined by Toby Regbo as Matt (Chivalry, A Discovery of Witches), Yaamin Chowdhury (The Lazarus Project, The Essex Serpent) as Akash and Phil Davis as Edward (Trying, Viewpoint).
ITV Head of Drama Polly Hill on Platform 7
"I'm thrilled to be working with Dancing Ledge Productions on the haunting thriller, Platform 7, an adaptation of Louise Doughty’s brilliant novel," says Polly.
"It's edgy, fresh and engaging and is unlike anything we've commissioned before, as ITVX gives us the scope to break new ground with drama. Paula Milne's scripts perfectly capture the novel's vibrant storytelling whilst addressing some important contemporary issues."
Screenwriter Paula Milne adds... “This is no traditional ‘spooky’ ghost story. It’s the tale of a ghost on a quest to discover who she was and the events that led to her untimely death. Her story is a celebration of indignation versus passivity and truth versus lies. While writing from Louise Doughty’s astute and emotionally intelligent novel, I began to feel she’s the ghost in all of us; the unseen part of us when we find ourselves reflecting on the wisdom of our past decisions. Sometimes with regret, occasionally with rancour but more often with the complicated relish of what it means to be human.”
Who is Louise Doughty?
The British author has written fiction and non-fiction during her career and her novels Apple Tree Yard and Crossfire have both been adapted for the screen in recent years.
Her 2019 book Platform 7 has won rave reviews from critics, with Alice O'Keeffe of The Guardian calling it "a chilling tale of coercive control".
Is there a Platform 7 trailer?
Yes, and the trailer sees Lisa trying to piece together what happened to her the night she died... but as her memory starts to come back to her, it seems that perhaps she might not like what she sees...
