*Contains spoilers for Vigil episode one*
Deep sea thriller Vigil made its anticipated debut on BBC One last night, and fans are completely hooked already.
The six-parter opened with a trawler and its crew being inexplicably dragged down into the depths of the ocean, with Line of Duty star Martin Compston’s sailor Craig Burke alerting the crew and captain of Trident nuclear submarine HMS Vigil of the incident. The dramatic twist arrived some 10 minutes later with Compston’s Craig suddenly going into cardiac arrest and dying in his bunk after a suspected drug overdose.
Suranne Jones’ DCI Amy Silva, who is privately battling grief and PTSD which has intensified her claustrophobia, is sent on board Vigil to investigate Craig’s death. After examining his body, Silva discovers that the heroin overdose was staged and that Craig was murdered – information that naval captain of the nuclear submarine Paterson Joseph’s Newsome doesn’t want to know about. Newsome is on high alert, suspecting HMS Vigil is being silently stalked by an enemy which was responsible for pulling the fishing trawler into the sea and drowning its crew.
Meanwhile on dry land, Silva’s partner Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie’s Kirsten Longacre is conducting an investigation that leads her to meet Lauren Lyle’s character, Jade, an anti-nuclear activist who claims to be Craig’s girlfriend.
What did you think of #Vigil? Reply with your reactions to the first episode. pic.twitter.com/vG8TcfXatn
— Radio Times (@RadioTimes) August 29, 2021
Viewers enjoyed the thriller’s unexpected twist, and seem to be fully invested in the drama after episode one.
“Classy, great cast intriguing story line, what more could a viewer ask for!” one fan told RadioTimes.com on Twitter.
“Brilliant! Tight confined spaces, a killer onboard a submarine, a tense opening episode and ending … roll on the next episode!” another tweeted.
“Loved it, anything with Suranne Jones in is going to be great and it had Shaun Evans in it too. Martin Compston getting bumped off in the first 10 minutes genius. Totally gripping, looking forward to tomorrow’s episode,” another viewer added.
The impressive Vigil cast also includes Doctor Foster’s Adam James as Lt Commander Mark Prentice, Bodyguard’s Anjli Mohindra as medic Tiffany Docherty, Sex Education’s Connor Swindells as Hadlow, and Game of Thrones actor Stephen Dillane as Shaw.
Read more: Vigil episode one recap
Vigil continues tonight, Monday, August 30th on BBC One at 9pm. For more to watch, check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.