VIGIL – SEASON 3 (2026, UK, 6 x 60m) ***½
Crime, Thriller
dist. BBC (UK); pr co. World Productions
d. Gareth Bryn; w. Tom Edge, Polly Buckle, Tom Mair, Eve Hedderwick Turner; pr. Marcus Wilson; exec pr. Jake Lushington, Tom Edge; ph. Emily Almond Barr; m. Berenice Scott, Glenn Gregory; theme song. “Fuel to Fire” by Agnes Obel; ed. Emily Lawrence; pd. Mark Leese; ad. Ayden Millar.
cast: Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Jeppe Beck Laursen, Gary Lewis, Dominic Mafham, Danusia Samal, Tornike Gogrichiani, Naomi Yang, Steven Miller, Amy Manson, Jason Tobin, Benjamin Wainwright, Artur Zai Barrera, Eric Godon, Kaisa Hammarlund.
When a member of a covert British special forces mission is found dead at an Arctic research station, international tensions begin to build between the British and Russians. Britain sends DI Kirsten Longacre (Leslie) to the international crime scene alone, while DCI Amy Silva (Jones) initially remains in Scotland, but later joins her colleague when tensions escalate. The formula of the first two seasons is repeated here, with the detectives peeling away at the layers of conspiracy. The plot has more twists than a Chubby Checker record, but none really carry any element of surprise, with the cast of characters held tight. There are references to bacterial warfare and comments on the evils of fossil fuel, but these are not carried forward with any conviction. Instead, head writer Edge concentrates on building story tension and focusing on his two lead protagonists. The result is good, solid entertainment that is sometimes absorbing, without ever being surprising or innovative.
