WAKING NIGHTMARES

JESSICA RAINE AND PETER CAPALDI PLAY CHARACTERS LINKED BY FATE IN THE DEVIL'S HOUR- OR IS IT SOMETHING OTHERWORLDLY...?

- DARREN SCOTT

DON’T LOOK AT THE clock if you wake up with a start in the middle of the 7 night. Chances are it’s the Devil’s Hour, between 3.00am and 4.00am - specifically at 3.33am, a time where things can cross between realms and:the unexplainable happens. Just turn over and tell yourself it’s only a dream... 

Child protection officer Lucy (Jessica Raine) has been plagued by nightmares her entire life, waking at 3.33am with a jolt and a feeling of déjà vu. Her eight-year-old son Isaac, meanwhile, is an emotionless husk – unable to enjoy music or food, or even to laugh or cry. Unknown to Lucy, a murderer – Gideon (Peter Capadi) – is watching from afar and his victims are linked to the mother who’s living her life on a precipice.

The series’ concept, its stars will at least try to explain, is a difficult one to nail down – particularly without giving away spoilers. Written by Tom Moran and produced by Hartswood Films (yes, it’s a Sue Vertue and Steven Moffat production), it’s a thriller, and it’s a murder mystery, but there’s something else to it.

DARK TIMES 

“It’s quite odd because it’s very grounded in reality,” Raine tells SFX. “There’s not a lot of supernatural shenanigans going on, it’s just