SLEEPWALKERS
1997
9 Episodes
Created by: Stephen Kronish
The idea behind Sleepwalkers was great: scientist Dr Nathan Bradford (Bruce Greenwood) builds a special device to enable him to walk in other peoples’ dreams, observing the ker-razy shenanigans going on inside their heads so that he can come back to the real world and analyse them. Using his new-found inside knowledge, he and his team can help unravel awkward problems, solve murders or even try to bring catatonic patients back from comas.
Each episode was part mystery-thriller and part psychological investigation, with surreal dream sequences and Bradford’s own issues with his comatose wife adding to the mix. Co-dreamwalker Kate was played by Naomi Watts, long before the actress broke through with her star turn in Mulholland Drive, and she’s excellent value for money alongside Greenwood’s troubled doctor (Greenwood, incidentally, was fresh from the cancellation of 1996’s Nowhere Man, in which he played a photographer whose life was erased by a shady society – seems he has a knack for picking doomed shows).
Some of the plotting was a little up-and-down and Sleepwalkers has dated by today’s standards, but it was without a doubt a promising series that deserved more airtime than NBC allowed it.
Go to the next one-season wonder: BRIMSTONE
