The Control Room
The Control Room is a three-part British thriller television miniseries created by Nick Leather and produced by Hartswood Films.[1][2] The series premiered on BBC One on 17 July 2022, with episodes airing over three consecutive nights at 9:00 p.m. BST, and became available on BBC iPlayer shortly thereafter.[2][3] The story follows Gabe (played by Iain De Caestecker), an ordinary emergency call handler for the Scottish Ambulance Service in Glasgow, whose routine life is disrupted when he receives a frantic call from a woman, Sam (Joanna Vanderham), who confesses to a crime and claims to know him from his past.[4][5] As Gabe becomes entangled in a conspiracy involving his colleagues and family, he must navigate high-stakes dangers while adhering to protocol in the high-pressure environment of the control room.[6] The series explores themes of guilt, redemption, and the blurred lines between personal and professional crises, set against the backdrop of Glasgow's emergency services.[7][8] Filmed primarily in Scotland, The Control Room features a supporting cast including Daniel Portman, Rona Morison, and Jatinder Singh Randhawa.[1] Leather, a BAFTA and RTS Award-winning writer known for previous works in British television, drew inspiration from real-life experiences in emergency services to craft the narrative.[8][7] Upon release, the series received generally favorable reviews for its tense pacing and strong performances, though some critics noted pacing issues with its flashback structure, earning a 64% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 reviews.[6][9] It has since been distributed internationally on platforms like BritBox and Apple TV.[4][10]Background
Premise
The Control Room is a British thriller series centered on Gabe, an emergency call handler based in Glasgow, who receives a distress call from a woman confessing to killing a man.[11] As the conversation unfolds, the caller recognizes Gabe's voice, drawing him into a personal entanglement that blurs the lines between his professional obligations and unresolved elements from his past.[1] This initial setup propels the narrative, forcing Gabe to navigate the call's escalating demands while confronting how his history intersects with the crisis at hand.[6] The story primarily unfolds within the confines of a high-pressure emergency control room for the Strathclyde Ambulance Service, where operators manage life-or-death situations in real time.[11] This setting underscores the relentless pace of 24/7 operations, with multiple incoming calls creating a backdrop of constant urgency and isolation for the handlers.[1] The control room's environment amplifies the tension, as Gabe must adhere to protocols amid the personal stakes introduced by the caller's recognition.[6] At its core, the premise explores the collision of buried secrets with the immediate responsibilities of emergency response work, highlighting the psychological toll on those who serve as unseen lifelines in crises.[11] This thematic focus reveals how past actions can resurface unpredictably in a profession demanding composure and detachment, turning routine duties into a test of individual resilience.[1]Genre and format
The Control Room is classified as a British psychological thriller miniseries, incorporating elements of crime drama and personal suspense, as it centers on the high-stakes world of emergency services and individual psychological turmoil.[1][12] The series blends tense investigative elements with intimate character-driven tension, distinguishing it within the thriller genre through its focus on real-world emergency response dynamics.[9] The format consists of a three-part limited series, with each episode running approximately 57 minutes, structured to deliver a complete narrative arc across the installments without ongoing cliffhangers beyond the series finale.[13][11] This compact design allows for a self-contained story that builds progressively over three consecutive nights, emphasizing immersion in the protagonist's escalating crisis. Stylistically, the series employs heavy use of real-time call sequences to heighten urgency and authenticity, capturing the immediacy of emergency dispatches in a Glasgow ambulance control room.[1] Non-linear flashbacks are integrated into the thriller pacing to reveal backstory and motivations, providing layered context to the central mystery while maintaining narrative momentum.[9] These techniques contribute to multi-perspective tension, drawing viewers into the simultaneous unfolding of events from various viewpoints within the high-pressure environment.[14]Cast and characters
Main cast
Iain De Caestecker stars as Gabe, the central protagonist and a dedicated emergency call handler at the Scottish Ambulance Service in Glasgow. Gabe is portrayed as an introverted and reserved individual whose routine life is upended by a mysterious incoming call that triggers a deep personal crisis, forcing him to confront unresolved aspects of his past. His backstory includes the profound loss of his mother to cancer during his childhood, which has contributed to his tendency to isolate himself from close relationships.[15][1][16] Joanna Vanderham plays Sam, the enigmatic caller on the other end of Gabe's line, who confesses to a murder and desperately pleads for his help in disposing of the body. Sam harbors a hidden connection to Gabe from their shared history, complicated by her own secretive family ties, including abandonment by her mother at a young age. Described as a fiery and deeply damaged woman ensnared in circumstances far beyond her control, Sam's interactions with Gabe drive the core tension of the narrative.[17][15][18] Taj Atwal portrays Leigh, Gabe's trusted colleague and close friend within the high-pressure environment of the control room. Serving as the duty manager, Leigh offers crucial emotional support to Gabe amid his turmoil and provides practical investigative assistance as events escalate, strengthening their bond through shared workplace challenges.[19][20]Supporting cast
Rona Morison portrays Danni, a dedicated call handler in the emergency control room who helps manage high-pressure incoming calls and supports the team's operational flow.[11] Her role underscores the everyday tensions of shift work and camaraderie among operators, adding realism to the institutional environment without driving the central narrative.[21] Daniel Portman plays Anthony, the control room supervisor and second-in-command, who oversees call handlers and provides guidance during crises, injecting elements of authority and subtle workplace friction.[11] As a figure of reliability amid escalating events, Anthony heightens themes of hierarchical pressure within the emergency services.[19] Stuart Bowman appears as Ian, Gabe's estranged father, whose presence contributes to familial backstory and emotional undercurrents that influence Gabe's decisions under stress.[21] Ian's role enriches subplots around reconciliation and lingering regrets, contrasting the control room's immediacy with long-term personal conflicts.[19] Sharon Rooney portrays DI Anna Breck, the detective leading the investigation into the reported crime, whose professional scrutiny intersects with the control room's operations.[21][1] Jatinder Singh Randhawa plays Tah, Gabe's housemate involved in his own criminal activities, adding layers of external threat and neighborhood dynamics to the story.[1] Additional supporting performers, such as Conor McLeod as Ross and Taqi Nazeer as Jat, further populate the control room ensemble, embodying the collective strain of emergency response and bolstering the portrayal of institutional teamwork.[11] These characters collectively deepen the narrative's focus on how peripheral figures sustain the high-stakes atmosphere and reveal broader societal pressures on first responders.[22]Production
Development
The Control Room was created by writer Nick Leather, whose inspiration stemmed from a personal crisis when he was unable to wake his young daughter one morning, discovering she had suffered a seizure that required an emergency 999 call.[23] This harrowing experience highlighted the vital, often unseen role of emergency call handlers in crisis response, shaping the series' core themes of high-stakes decision-making and emotional toll on frontline workers.[7] Leather, an award-winning screenwriter known for dramas like Mother's Day and Murdered for Being Different, sought to craft a narrative that authentically captured the intensity of emergency services while weaving in elements of thriller suspense and personal drama.[24] Produced by Hartswood Films, the company behind acclaimed thrillers such as Sherlock and Dracula, the series benefited from their expertise in tense, character-driven storytelling.[24] Leather envisioned The Control Room as a standalone three-part miniseries, emphasizing emotional authenticity over procedural spectacle, with a focus on the intimate caller-handler dynamic amid life-or-death scenarios.[23] The BBC commissioned the project in early 2021, with the drama slate announcement on March 30 detailing its Glasgow setting and emergency services premise.[24] Pre-production advanced swiftly, with initial scripting completed ahead of filming's start in Scotland that summer.[25] Iain de Caestecker was attached early for the lead role of Gabe, the call handler at the story's center, allowing the creative team to tailor the character's emotional arc during script refinement by mid-2021.[25] This phase solidified the series' structure as three 60-minute episodes, prioritizing a tight plot that explored themes of recognition, secrecy, and consequence without extending into a larger season format.[24]Filming
The series was filmed entirely in and around Glasgow, Scotland, during September and October 2021.[26][27] Production utilized various real-world locations in the city centre, such as Rose Street, St Vincent Street, and Blythswood Square, which were closed off for shooting to capture the urban authenticity of the setting.[28] Additional scenes were shot near Stirling, including a Christmas tree farm that featured in key sequences.[29][30] The control room sequences were shot on a purpose-built set designed by production designer Andy Harris to replicate the high-pressure environment of a 999 emergency call center, incorporating multi-monitor workstations and dispatch equipment for realism.[31] Directed by Amy Neil, the filming employed a dynamic visual style to heighten tension, focusing on the confined spaces of the call-handling operations.[11][8] Production occurred amid ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, adhering to BBC guidelines that mandated regular testing, limited crew sizes, social distancing, and virtual pre-production elements like remote rehearsals to minimize on-set risks.[32] These measures ensured safe operations while maintaining the series' intense, real-time pacing.[33]Broadcast and distribution
Premiere and airing
The Control Room premiered on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 17 July 2022 at 9:00 PM BST.[34][3] The three-part limited series aired over three consecutive nights, with the second episode broadcast on 18 July 2022 and the third on 19 July 2022, both at the same time slot.[3][35] Each episode became available on-demand via BBC iPlayer immediately following its linear broadcast, allowing viewers to stream the series as it unfolded.[3][12] Positioned as BBC's summer thriller offering, the series was marketed as a compact event drama to capitalize on seasonal viewing patterns for high-stakes narratives.[6][36]Viewership
The debut episode of The Control Room garnered 3.2 million overnight viewers on BBC One, securing a 20% audience share and marking a solid start for the three-part thriller.[37] This performance outpaced the simultaneous premiere of ITV's Murder in Provence, which debuted to lower ratings in the same time slot.[37] Consolidated viewing figures, incorporating time-shifted and iPlayer streams, further boosted the series' reach, with the first episode accumulating 3.5 million iPlayer streams during July to September 2022, ranking among the quarter's top drama episodes on the platform.[38] Subsequent episodes sustained strong linear audiences, contributing to the miniseries' overall success as one of BBC One's notable 2022 drama launches.[38]International distribution
All3Media International served as the primary distributor for The Control Room outside the United Kingdom, facilitating licensing agreements across multiple territories following the series' UK premiere on BBC One.[39] Key deals included acquisition by ABC iview in Australia in 2022, with the series premiering there in September 2023; Pumpkin Film in China in 2023; Movistar+ in Spain in 2023; NPO in the Netherlands in 2023; and RTÉ in Ireland in 2022.[39][40] These agreements marked the first international distribution partnership between All3Media International and producer Hartswood Films.[37] The series has been broadcast in its original English-language format internationally, typically accompanied by subtitles rather than dubbing, with no regional remakes or adaptations reported.[39] In North America, The Control Room became available for streaming on BritBox starting in late 2022, contributing to its ongoing accessibility on the platform.[4]Home media
The DVD release of The Control Room was issued in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2022 by Dazzler Media, containing all three episodes of the series in a single box set.[41][42] The edition is formatted in PAL and runs for approximately three hours, with no additional behind-the-scenes featurettes included.[41] Digitally, the series became available for streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK immediately following its broadcast premiere in July 2022, and on BritBox in both the UK and the US shortly thereafter.[43][44] It is also accessible via BritBox channels on Amazon Prime Video in select regions, as well as for purchase and download on platforms including Amazon Video and Apple TV (formerly iTunes).[43][44] No Blu-ray edition or extended cuts of the series have been released, and the standard DVD version includes subtitles in English for the hearing impaired, with no confirmed support for multiple additional languages.[41]Episodes
Episode list
The three-episode miniseries The Control Room aired on BBC One over three consecutive nights from 17 to 19 July 2022.[11] Each episode was directed by Amy Neil and written by Nick Leather.[45][46][47] All episodes had a runtime of 59 minutes, excluding advertisements.[48]| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Runtime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | Amy Neil | Nick Leather | 17 July 2022 | 59 min |
| 2 | Episode 2 | Amy Neil | Nick Leather | 18 July 2022 | 59 min |
| 3 | Episode 3 | Amy Neil | Nick Leather | 19 July 2022 | 59 min |