''Vigil'' is a British police procedural

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

serial created by Tom Edge and produced by

World Productions World Productions is a British television production company, founded on 20 March 1990 by acclaimed producer Tony Garnett, and owned by ITV plc following a takeover in 2017. History The company's first major series was the police drama '' Betwe ...

. The six-part series aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in August 2021. It stars

Suranne Jones Sarah Anne Akers (née Jones; born 27 August 1978), known professionally as Suranne Jones, is an English actress and producer. She rose to prominence as Karen McDonald in ''Coronation Street'' between 2000 to 2004. Upon leaving, she furthered h ...

Rose Leslie Rose Eleanor Arbuthnot-Leslie (born 9 February 1987) is a Scottish actress who rose to fame as Gwen Dawson in the ITV drama series ''Downton Abbey'' and Ygritte in the HBO fantasy series ''Game of Thrones''. She starred as Maia Rindell for t ...

Shaun Evans Shaun Francis Evans (born 6 March 1980) is an English actor and director. He is best known for playing a young Endeavour Morse in the ITV drama series '' Endeavour''. Early life Shaun Francis Evans was born on 6 March 1980 into an Irish fam ...

Paterson Joseph Paterson D. Joseph (born 22 June 1964) is a British actor. He appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of ''King Lear'' and ''Love's Labour's Lost'' in 1990. On television he is best known for his roles in ''Casualty (TV series), Cas ...

, and

Martin Compston Martin Compston (born 8 May 1984) is a Scottish actor and former professional footballer. He played Anti-Corruption Unit Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in the BBC drama ''Line of Duty'', Liam in Ken Loach's '' Sweet Sixteen'', Paul Ferris in ...

. The series is set in Scotland and much of the action takes place on a fictional ballistic missile submarine of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. The series received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the writing, pace, acting, visual style, set design, tone, and atmosphere, but it was criticised for the dialogue, plot, and inaccuracies. In March 2022, the series was renewed for a second series.

Plot

Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva of the Scottish Police Service is sent to HMS ''Vigil'', a

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

''Vanguard''-class ballistic missile submarine, to investigate a death on board, which takes place shortly after the mysterious disappearance of a Scottish

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets th ...

. Her investigations, and those of her colleagues ashore, bring the police into conflict with the

and

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

, the British Security Service. The loss of the fictional trawler ''Mhairi Finnea'' in the series bears similarities to the sinking of the FV ''Antares'' by

nuclear-powered submarine HMS ''Trenchant'' in the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

in 1990. Families of the ''Antares crew expressed upset at scenes of the ''Mhairi Finnea'' foundering; however, the BBC denied that the drama was inspired by or based on a specific real-life event.

Cast

as Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva *

Detective Sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...

Kirsten Longacre *

as Warrant Officer Class One Elliot Glover, the

coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boa ...

of HMS ''Vigil'' *

Chief Petty Officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi ...

Craig Burke, a sonar mapping expert on HMS ''Vigil'' *

as Commander Neil Newsome, the Captain of HMS ''Vigil'' * Adam James as

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Mark Prentice, the Executive Officer of HMS ''Vigil'' * Gary Lewis as

Detective Superintendent Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...

Colin Robertson *

Lauren Lyle Lauren Lyle (born 12 July 1993) is a Scottish actress best known for her recurring role as Marsali MacKimmie Fraser in the Starz television drama '' Outlander'', and peace protester Jade Antoniak in the BBC drama ''Vigil''. Lyle also plays th ...

as Jade Antoniak, a peace activist * Therese Bradley as Laura Michaels, an

officer * Parth Thakerar as Jay Kohli, an MI5 officer * Lolita Chakrabarti as Lieutenant Commander Erin Branning, Shaw's aide * Dan Li as Lieutenant Commander Hennessy, the Weapons Engineer Officer on HMS ''Vigil'' * Lorne MacFadyen as Chief Petty Officer Matthew Doward, a sonar mapping expert transferred from HMS ''Virtue'' * Connor Swindells as

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Simon Hadlow, an engineering officer on HMS ''Vigil'' * Lois Chimimba as Chief Petty Officer Tara Kierly, a sonar mapping expert of HMS ''Vigil'' * Daniel Portman as Chief Petty Officer Gary Walsh, an engineer on HMS ''Vigil'' *

Anjli Mohindra Anjli Mohindra (born 20 February 1990) is a British stage, screen and voice-over actress and writer. She is best known for playing aspiring journalist Rani Chandra in the ''Doctor Who'' spin-off series ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' (2008–2011) ...

as Surgeon Lieutenant Tiffany Docherty, the medical officer on HMS ''Vigil'' * Anita Vettesse as

Petty Officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be super ...

Jackie Hamilton, chef on HMS ''Vigil'' *

Stephen Dillane Stephen John Dillane (; born 27 March 1957) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Leonard Woolf in the 2002 film '' The Hours'', Stannis Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'', and Thomas Jefferson in the 2008 HBO miniseries ''John Ad ...

as Rear Admiral Shaw, Head of the

Royal Navy Submarine Service The Royal Navy Submarine Service is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. It is sometimes known as the Silent Service, as submarines are generally required to operate undetected. The service operates six fleet submarines ( SSNs) ...

* Orla Russell as Poppy, the daughter of Silva's boyfriend * Reuben Joseph as DS Porter * Cal MacAninch as Ben Oakley, peace activist

Production

In a 2021 interview, writer Edge was approached by development producer George Aza-Selinger to develop a submarine project for television. It was inspired by the UK's Continuous At-Sea Deterrent (CASD) and the life of its submarine crews. The show was filmed and primarily set in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Production designer Tom Sayer created elaborate studio sets to represent the interior of the submarine.

Music

The programme's theme music is the song "Fuel to Fire" from the 2013 album '' Aventine'' by Danish singer, songwriter and musician

Agnes Obel Agnes Caroline Thaarup Obel (born 28 October 1980) is a Danish singer, songwriter, and musician based in Berlin. Her debut album, '' Philharmonics'' (2010), was released by PIAS Recordings, and was certified gold in June 2011 by the Belgian E ...

. Other music included in the series is composed by Afterhere (Berenice Scott and

Glenn Gregory Glenn Peter Gregory (born 16 May 1958) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of the new wave and synthpop b ...

). Episode 4 includes the song "Anchor" by Welsh singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Novo Amor, released as a single in 2015 and included on his 2017 EP ''Bathing Beach''.

Episodes

Reception

Ratings

Episode 1 attracted an audience of 10.2 million viewers across its first seven days, making ''Vigil'' the BBC's most watched new drama of the year.

Critical

The ''

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

'' ''

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

'' gave the series a 85% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.6/10, based on 20 reviews. The critical consensus reads, "Vigil is ludicrous just as often as it is suspenseful, but a committed cast and pulpy pace make it worth diving in”. On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100 based on 5 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim”.

Lucy Mangan Lucy Katherine Mangan''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian''. A major part of her writing is related t ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' found the first episode intriguing, awarding it five stars and describing it as "solid, old-fashioned entertainment". ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' gave the first episode four out of five stars, praising the cast and Tom Edge's writing. In a four-starred review for London's ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', Katie Rosseinsky said: "Even scenes set in the depths of the sub are visually striking, lit up in reds and blues. Add in some jump scares, a handful of near-catastrophes and a couple of cliffhangers and you have all the makings of a taut mystery with intriguingly murky depths. Sunday nights are stressful again – I wouldn’t have it any other way." In a five-starred review, ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' magazine described ''Vigil'' as " relentless conspiracy drama bursting with performers who know how to keep their cards close to their chests. British TV doesn’t get more thrilling than this."

Hugo Rifkind Hugo James Rifkind (born 30 March 1977) is a British journalist. A columnist for ''The Times'' since 2005, he began presenting a Saturday morning programme on Times Radio in July 2020. He has been a regular guest on ''The News Quiz'', on BBC Ra ...

in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' described " tting a whodunnit on a submarine" as "a masterstroke". Giving the programme four stars, Suzy Feay of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'' said that "The submarine setting has the welcome effect of pressure-cooking some fairly standard ingredients into a tasty concoction". Other reviewers were less complimentary, citing the unrealistic sets and other technical inaccuracies, the implausibility of numerous elements of the plot, and the political bias of the production.

James Delingpole James Mark Court Delingpole (born 6 August 1965) is an English writer, journalist, and columnist who has written for a number of publications, including the '' Daily Mail'', the '' Daily Express'', ''The Times'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', and ' ...

in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' described it as "amateurish and implausible", noting that among other issues, "the uniforms are wrong; the ceilings are too high and the sub generally far too spacious" and criticised "the hackneyed dialogue, the implausible plotting and the box-ticking". Anita Singh in ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' described the series as "so bad it could be Russian propaganda", and her colleague Ed Power noted that "the story was nonsense" and that "the premise was wasted". ''The Telegraph'' also reported that the naval advisor working on the series was an SNP councillor and anti-nuclear campaigner, leading to accusations of bias. Carol Midgley in ''

'' said that "this subpar ocean drama made my heart sink", and described it as "stultifying". Swedish newspaper '' Aftonbladet'' said the series was "effective" in the beginning but more and more became like an "unnecessary under-water version of '' Line of Duty''".

Accolades

, - ! scope="row" , 2022 , GLAAD Media Awards , Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series , ''Vigil'' , , , - ! scope="row" , 2022 , British Academy Television Awards , Drama Series , ''Vigil'' , , , - ! scope="row" , 2022 , International Emmy Awards , Best Drama Series , ''Vigil'' , , , -

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vigil (Tv Series) 2021 British television series debuts 2020s British crime drama television series 2020s British LGBT-related drama television series 2020s British police procedural television series 2020s British mystery television series BBC crime drama television shows British thriller television series English-language television shows Television shows about murder Submarines in fiction Television shows filmed in Scotland Television shows set in Glasgow Television shows set in Scotland Television series by World Productions Television series by ITV Studios Television series about nuclear war and weapons