ITVX premiere Platform 7 is described as a haunting new thriller, based on the bestselling novel of the same title by Louise Doughty.
The new series is made by the same team who made The Responder, and the brilliant The Salisbury Poisonings drama. Here’s everything you need to know about the new series.
Platform 7 streams exclusively on ITVX from Thursday, December 7, 2023.
What is the plot of ITV’s Platform 7?
New drama Platform 7 is a haunting thriller following the central character Lisa, who witnesses a traumatising event on platform 7 of a railway station.
Lisa then finds her own fragmented memory jogged to reveal a connection between her own life and that of the event she has just witnessed.
The thriller will feature creepy supernatural elements combined with contemporary reality, shaping up to be an exciting and chilling drama. To say more, would be to give away a major element of the plot.
Is it based on a novel?
Platform 7 is based on a bestselling novel of the same name by British author Louise Doughty. Louise also wrote Crossfire, which was recently made into a BBC drama starring Keeley Hawes.
The plot of the show appears to be largely following the same as the novel, which blends a ghostly world with the present reality. A fellow of the Royal Society for Literature, Doughty has published nine novels, including the popular novel Apple Tree Yard.
One reviewer described the book: “Utterly mesmerizing, with the pace of a thriller and a sense of profound mystery in the most ordinary of settings. I was hooked from its start to its nerve-racking, surprising finish.”
Who is making Platform 7?
International production company Dancing Ledge Productions made Platform 7. Dancing Ledge Productions have previously made popular shows like BBC One’s recent show The Responder, starring Martin Freeman.
The company also made The Salisbury Poisonings drama, also for BBC One. The series is four hour-long episodes, written by multi-award-screenwriter Paula Milne.
Milne wrote the BAFTA-winning 1995 mini-series The Politician’s Wife starring Juliet Stevenson and Minnie Driver. Her other successful series include ITV’s Him and the 2006 series The Virgin Queen.
Paula Milne says of the series: “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 it 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.”
Chris Carey, from Dancing Ledge Productions, said: “We’re thrilled to be adapting Louise Doughty’s celebrated novel Platform 7 for television. The story weaves together themes of love and control in a truly original way.
“Part revenge story, part love story, part murder mystery this nail-biting drama forces us to consider whether we can truly know the people closest to us. With Paula Milne adapting and Sarah Walker directing, this is going to offer something truly unique.”
Where can I watch Platform 7?
Platform 7 will be exclusively released on ITVX, ITV’s streaming platform.
It will stream exclusively on ITVX from Thursday, December 7, 2023. We expect it to air on ITV in 2024.
Who is in the cast?
The cast of Platform 7 is led by Top Boy star Jasmine Jobson. Actress Jasmine takes on the lead role of Lisa in the chilling tale on ITVX.
Actor Phil Davis – aka Jud in Poldark – stars as Edward, while Chivalry star Toby Regbo portrays Matt. Actress Sacha Parkinson portrays Melissa in the cast of Platform 7, but soap fans will know her from her role in Coronation Street.
Actor Patrick Robinson portrays Trevor in the cast of Platform 7. Casualty fans will know him best for playing the character of nurse – and later consultant – Martin ‘Ash’ Ashford in the long-running medical drama series on BBC One.
Actor Reece Ritchie, 37, stars as Richard in the cast of Platform 7 on ITVX. TV fans will probably know him best for playing Zed in The Outpost, a role he played from 2019 to 2021.
Actress Rhiannon Clements, 29, plays Izzy in Platform 7. Soap fans will know her best for playing Summer Ranger in Hollyoaks from 2020 to 2021.
Where did cast and crew film Platform 7?
Cast and crew mainly filmed Platform 7 in the Leeds suburb of Chapel Allerton. Lisa witnesses a significant event on a platform at Peterborough Station which is the crux for triggering her memory.
Writer Louise explains why the book was set in and around Leeds. She says: “The novel version of Platform 7 was set on Peterborough railway station and it’s a station that I’ve had a long relationship with. I grew up in the East Midlands, went to university in Leeds, which involved changing trains at Peterborough. Then I did a postgrad in Norwich, which meant I had to change chains at Peterborough. I then moved to London for the next 30 years of my life and whenever I went home I had to change trains at Peterborough.
“There was many cold winter night where I stood on that platform having just missed a connection. I used to have a standing joke that if I had been bad and died and went to purgatory, I would find myself trapped on Peterborough railway station on a freezing November night.
“That’s where the idea came from: a railway station as a metaphor for purgatory, and a young woman who has died there in mysterious circumstances and is trapped there until the mystery of her death is solved.”
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Platform 7 streams exclusively on ITVX from Thursday, December 7, 2023.
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