Sarah Pinborough Adaptation 'Insomnia' to Keep Viewers Wide Awake on the Small Screen

For any insomniac who’s spent sleepless nights binging TV, Paramount+’s newly announced series Insomnia might be an apt (if on-the-nose) show to add to your watchlist — and if its title is anything to go by; hopefully, it won’t be putting anyone to sleep. Based on the Sarah Pinborough novel of the same name, this psychological thriller has been ordered as a six-episode miniseries.

For those unfamiliar with Pinborough’s seemingly infinite list of thriller, fantasy, and young adult titles, her name may ring a bell because her writing has already been adapted for television. In 2016, her young adult thriller 13 Minutes became a Netflix show. More recently, her 2017 novel Behind Her Eyes was adapted into a series of the same name, which premiered in 2021 to mixed reviews.

While Behind Her Eyes was written by Steve Lightfoot (Shantaram), this time, the studio is handing the reins over to Pinborough, who will write her own scripts for Insomnia. This won’t be her first foray into screenwriting; in 2012, she wrote for the BBC series New Tricks. She has also been involved in developing several television projects that haven’t seen the light of day. Insomnia will be produced by Left Bank Pictures, the British production company behind such gems as The Crown and Outlander. Left Bank Pictures also produced Behind Her Eyes.