Nightsleeper: Alexandra Roach says imposter syndrome helped character

During her research for the role, Roach said she learned a few things about the risks of cyber attacks.

“Before this, I didn’t know anything about this world, and now I have some knowledge from playing Abby on what could happen.

“The writer, Nick Leather, wanted to know if this was even plausible. So he got three experts and asked them ‘is it possible to hack into a train and drive it remotely?’

“He left them chatting for an hour, and they concluded that not only is it possible to hack into a train, drive it remotely but that the three of them [the experts] could do it.

“So it is unnerving but that’s what makes it an exciting watch,” she said.

Through her research, Roach said learning new cyber security related terms was like a “whole new language” to get her head around.

“These words didn’t mean anything to me as Alex, but I had to really commit to it because I believe that Abby really loves her job and she knows exactly what she’s doing,” she said.

Roach was recently nominated for best actress in the Bafta Cymru awards for her role in the BBC drama, Men Up.

“I’m so proud of that show [Men Up] and what we all created. It was such a joy to work on, and to play that character.

“It was the first time where I’ve been in a read through, and I felt ‘oh this feels really special,” she added.

All six episodes of Nightsleeper are available to watch on BBC iPlayer. The first episode will air on BBC One later on Sunday.