Vigil: Suranne Jones and Martin Compston’s new underwater thriller is coming soon

Suranne Jones in Vigil

Credit: BBC

Under Her Eye


Vigil: Suranne Jones and Martin Compston’s new underwater thriller is coming soon

By Lauren Geall

4 years ago

Vigil – the upcoming BBC One series starring Line Of Duty’s Martin Compston and Doctor Foster’s Suranne Jones – just got an official release date, and it’s coming sooner than you might expect.

Updated 15 August: the BBC has finally confirmed when it’s exciting new thriller Vigil will be making its way to screens – and you don’t have long to wait.

The broadcaster has confirmed that the first two episodes will air on BBC One at 9pm on 29 and 30 August as part of a Bank Holiday double bill, with the following episodes premiering weekly on Sunday nights. The episodes will also be available on BBC iPlayer.

Keep reading to find out everything we know about the new series so far. 


As reported 3 July: Line Of Duty season six may have come to an end earlier this year, but it won’t be long until another brilliant BBC thriller makes it way to our screens.

Vigil – the new series from the makers of Line Of Duty, Bodyguard and The Pembrokeshire Murders – is coming to the channel soon and it stars none other than Line Of Duty’s Martin CompstonSuranne Jones (Doctor Foster, Gentleman Jack) and Rose Leslie (Game Of Thrones, Downton Abbey).

As previously reported by Stylist, Vigil tells the story of DCI Amy Silva (Jones) and DS Kirsten Longacre (Leslie), who are tasked with investigating a conspiracy “that goes to the very heart of Britain’s national security”.  

Martin Compston in BBC thriller Vigil

Credit: BBC

Kicking off with the mysterious disappearance of a Scottish fishing trawler and a death on-board the submarine HMS Vigil, both of which bring the police into conflict with the Navy and British security services, the series will follow Silva and Longacre as they conduct their investigation on land and at sea.

Indeed, in the first trailer for the series, which was released in May, we get a taste of the kind of lengths Jones’ character has to go to as part of the investigation, as she’s dropped on board the submarine at the heart of the mystery.  

“We have to send a detective out to look into it,” we hear one of Silva’s colleagues informing her, as shots of the detective readying herself to enter the submarine via helicopter are shown.

Elsewhere in the trailer, we get a glimpse at Compston’s role in the series. We don’t know who he’s going to play just yet, but if the creepy close-up shot in the trailer is anything to go by, it’s a far cry from his days as fan-favourite Steve Arnott in Line Of Duty.

“There are 20 different ways you could kill Vigil’s crew single-handed,” Compston says amid shots of Jones boarding the submarine.

And as if that wasn’t sinister enough, as the trailer concludes, we’re treated to a less-than-friendly tagline: “The deeper you go, the darker it gets”.

More recently, the BBC released yet another trailer for Vigil, which hints at the kind of shady circumstances going on onboard the submarine, as well as giving fans a glimpse at the likes of Paterson Joseph (Noughts & Crosses), Anjili Mohindra (Bodyguard) and Connor Swindells (Sex Education) in action in their respective roles.

If there’s one thing this trailer makes clear, it’s that things onboard the submarine aren’t exactly as they seem – and that there’s more to the strained relationship between Vigil’s crew than meets the eye.

Indeed, at one point in the trailer, when Silva starts talking about the possibility of the onboard death being a murder, one of the crewmen can be heard telling her: “If you’re asking who’s capable? Anybody.” 

Creepy, right?

For more information on the series you can check out Stylist’s guide to everything you need to know about Vigil.

Images: BBC

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