TV PICK OF THE WEEK
Based on Louise Doughty’s 2019 novel and adapted by Paula Milne, this intriguing supernatural thriller, much of which was filmed on location in and around Leeds, has an interesting premise. Young teacher Lisa (Jasmine Jobson) is trapped in a kind of purgatory at the station where she lost her life. She watches as commuters go about their daily business, sitting on a bench on platform 7 and wandering around the station, eavesdropping on conversations and observing the comings and goings.
At one point she tries to intervene when a troubled middle-aged man Edward (Phil Davis) throws himself under a train. He then becomes a kind of companion for her on the station until disturbing facts about his past begin to emerge. Lisa’s death has been recorded as a suicide although her family and friends disagree with this verdict.
Early on Lisa sees her parents and her A&E doctor boyfriend Matt (Toby Regbo) as they arrive to lay a bunch of flowers on the platform on the first anniversary of her death. Her father Trevor (Patrick Robinson) says that none of it makes sense “she had everything going for her.” The kind station manager is sympathetic but sadly can’t allow them to leave the flowers for health and safety reasons. The young transport police officer who is present at the meeting and is investigating Edward’s death takes the family’s comments on board and decides to also look further into Lisa’s death.
Meanwhile Lisa, who finds she is able to leave the station when she follows her loved ones out through the barriers, begins to conduct her own investigations. She has little memory of what actually happened but then various incidents trigger patchy recall.
She watches her florist best friend Izzy (Rhiannon Clements) and a teaching colleague to try and work out what her state of mind was at the time of her death, and an unsettling picture begins to emerge.
To say much more would spoil things, suffice to say that Lisa gradually discovers some very surprising things about her past. The skilful script drip-feeds the viewer with information to keep the tension high and spin out the mystery. It’s all helped by some sterling performances especially from Jobson and Davis.