‘I created hit Suranne Jones thriller – I’m shocked at the reaction it’s had’ 

Since it first burst onto the scene in 2021, BBC political thriller Vigil, starring Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie, has captivated millions with its twisty plots.

The series is helmed with a steady hand by our lead couple, DCI Amy Silva (Suranne) and DI Kirsten Longacre (Rose), whose careers and relationship are pushed to the limits each season when they’re plunged into high-stakes, global murder investigations.

After navigating the perils of the ocean on a compromised submarine and finding themselves at the heart of the conflict in the Middle East, this time around the partners-in-crime are dropped into the snowy depths of Svalbard – a remote Arctic archipelago that is the unexpected centre of the global tussle for energy.

Now mothers to two children, and more devoted to one another than ever, the murder of a covert British official at the isolated research station pushes their world to breaking point as they race to find answers.

Although creator Tom Edge isn’t on social media, as he tells Metro, he has seen just what an impact having a sapphic couple at the heart of the show has made.

‘There was a tweet from someone in season one where she talked about having had her sexuality as something that had gone unmentioned in her house for years, and her uncertainty about whether her dad in particular quietly disapproved.

‘Then [they were] watching the finale of season one together, and her dad was just growling at Suranne on screen to “just bloody kiss her”, and how meaningful that was to her in that moment to have that relationship endorsed.

‘There have been a few things like that where I’ve been very touched at what the show has meant to people,’ he recalls, adding that ‘it’s also been a lot of fun to do as well’.

Rooted in true stories of people he’s known who have navigated similar questions around their identity as Amy in season one, Tom has kept one ethos at the heart of this on-screen representation.

‘It felt important to me that these two characters are very good at their jobs, and who they are together is one part of their identity, but their identities are complex rather than just being avatars for a set of social dynamics,’ he explains.

Although he admits that the show could have been a limited series, the real challenge was expanding it beyond the submarine.

‘[It’s meant] trying to find the DNA of the show and sustain that while, by necessity, finding a theme to explore each time.’

When it comes to Amy and Kirsten, we’ll see the latter re-entering the workforce after maternity leave and her time away to recover from her injuries.

‘There is that question in returning of: Am I returning to the status quo? Is this about continuity, or is this a new chapter where I have things to prove and a sense of what I want to see change,’ he teases.

In fact, the wider, philosophical questions the pair face this season mean they are ‘forced to ask what they believe themselves, and across three seasons, we have had a big throughline around the idea of loyalty and justice and how those two things intersect.’

And for those tuning in to see what Vigil has to say about the constantly shifting machinations of increasingly volatile global politics – needless to say, you won’t be disappointed.

Svalbard acts as the epicentre for tensions between major nations like China, Russia and Britain, who all have conflicting interests.

‘This part of the world was absolutely off the radar of most nations for a long time.

‘[Now], it is increasingly a place of tension with China’s ambitions for the Arctic playing out there. Russian desire for territorial integrity and control of that domain is at work, but also European and NATO countries are invested in it for military and economic reasons.

‘It ended up feeling like a great spot to unpack the complexity of these big geopolitical changes, and doing so in our preferred manner – a mystery to solve.’

And capturing such a desolate and deserted location was its own kettle of fish, one Tom calls an ‘enormous privilege’.

‘We were really lucky that the people backing us to make the show, particularly the BBC, were so supportive of the ambition to go there and capture the actuality of it.

‘I was just delighted that the boats are going through real ice rather than crew members shovelling bags of ice cubes in front of a toy trawler,’ he says.

As for whether we can expect any edge-of-your-seat action sequences like in seasons gone by, he’s keeping his cards close to his chest.

‘I can promise that the show takes care never to put its feet up in a hammock,’ he concludes.

Vigil returns to BBC One on Sunday, August 30 at 9pm. Seasons one and two are available to stream on iPlayer now.