Suranne Jones has made a candid admission about filming the BBC crime drama Vigil, revealing she does no research and flies in "knowing nothing" for each series. The 47-year-old, who stars alongside Scottish actress Rose Leslie, returns for a new series after a three-year hiatus.
No Research for Arctic Setting
The series, initially set in a submarine and then the Middle East, now moves to the Arctic. Asked if she did any research ahead of filming, which took the cast and crew to Svalbard, located between Norway and the North Pole, and Glasgow, Jones replied: "I love research, I'm quite geeky about that, so with my other roles like Gentleman Jack I had the diaries or with Doctor Foster I went to see a GP, but with Vigil I didn't have to."
She added: "James Strong, one of the directors for the first series, was quite adamant to keep the submarine crew and cast to their job and then I would just fly in knowing nothing and so we've kept to that across all of the series, which I love because then I find it out as I go along."
New Investigation in the Arctic
The series premiered in 2021 with a second following two years later. This time round DCI Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) and DI Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) are investigating a new case that takes them to a remote Arctic research station, where a member of a covert British special forces mission has been murdered.
Amy and Kirsten will need to catch the killer and defuse a potential international confrontation, as different nations compete for control of the Arctic and its resources in the changing polar climate, with both their careers and relationship on the line.
Filming in Svalbard and Glasgow
Jones admitted there was a slight issue when filming commenced in Glasgow. She said: "Svalbard was amazing. Rose and I felt like we were just on top of the world because we went to places that tourists don’t normally visit since we were filming in such remote locations."
"There were reindeer outside the breakfast room every morning, we got to drive the snow buggies, and we really had to layer up - the problem was when we got back to Glasgow we were too hot because we still had to film with all our layers on!"
New Cast and Storyline
The new cast includes Jeppe Beck Laursen (The Last Kingdom) as Henrick Becken, Naomi Yang (Under Salt Marsh) as Shen Jia, Tornike Gogrichiani (Extraction 2) as Fyodor and Steven Miller (Shetland) and Benjamin Wainwright (Maigret) as Mark Cunningham and Oli Pickford respectively.
Teasing the new storyline, Jones continued: "Amy and Kirsten are always fighting a bigger monster, and each time we’ve seen Amy go into these worlds and realise how fruitless it is in a way, and how she has to compromise."
"At the end of this series in fact there are quite big compromises, but you’ll have to wait to see what I mean by that! In this series in particular I think Amy is a bit more ruthless and reckless once her eyes are open to what’s going on, as there are lots of different countries at play and no-one can truly be trusted. I like it that she has a bit of fight back because she's just not going to play by the rules herself anymore, because no-one else is."
Jones added: "Vigil is an entertainment programme, but Tom Edge (creator) has always chosen subjects that open your eyes to things, so I think it can help to start a conversation. But ultimately I do think anyone can enjoy Vigil, it’s a really good and entertaining watch."
Two episodes of Vigil will be available weekly on BBC iPlayer from Sunday 30 August, with the series airing Sunday and Monday nights at 9pm on BBC One from this date.
