Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie returned for the third Vigil adventure that brings about death and drama from a remote Arctic research station
Suranne Jones will be seen in a new series of Vigil(Image: BBC)
The third series of all action BBC drama Vigil has arrived and co-leads Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie are understandably proud of what they have achieved.
The adventures and investigations of DCI Amy Silva (Suranne) and DI Kirsten Longacre (Rose) which began on a submarine in 2021 attracted over 13 million viewers and despite TV audiences splitting across streaming platforms and huge choice, more than nine million viewers saw series two in December 2023 on BBC1.
Now they are back again for 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.
“This is kick-ass,” Suranne said of the project. “I’m always saying this is why I wanted to take this job on. This is a big, ballsy, prime time BBC show that’s like fronted by not just one, two women. And not just one, two women in a same-sex relationship. I mean, it’s great. It’s big. It’s brilliant. And then the drama that comes with it. I am proud that people still love it.
“We’re proudly representing two women that are now together, they’re married, they have two children. Rose and I have always taken the personal scenes and made sure that there is some weight to them so that we can really play, even if it’s one or two scenes, we try and make those count because it’s about our connection and always has been.
“I think fans can relate to Amy and Kirsten because they hope for the best in every situation and they try to see the good in everything. They keep fighting, which is hard these days, but they feel quite hopeful as a duo to change the world. It is the systems around them that let them down.”
Turning to her character and filming in Svalbard, she added: “We’ve seen Amy underwater, we’ve seen her fighting drones, and now series three is set in the Arctic.
“We had the opportunity to go to Svalbard, which was such an experience. It was so beautiful and we filmed those scenes at the beginning of the shoot, which allowed us to get a real feel of the world that we were inhabiting.
“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!”
The two actors clearly enjoy working together and on screen their characters now have two children, something Rose has replicated in real life.
A mother herself, 48-year-old Suranne is now a TV veteran with hits including Doctor Foster, Gentleman Jack and Scott & Bailey since moving on from Coronation Street in 2004.
On her co-star Suranne said: “Rose has been through two pregnancies in the seasons, so you know that we bonded over because they’re big life experiences. I shared the hormones! I’m on the other end of the perimenopause. But yeah, I think it’s great.
“It’s been so lovely to develop and you’ll see when we actually get screen time together. It’s an interesting relationship.”
For 39-year-old Rose, a former star of Game Of Thrones, the job of working on dramas has changed and is now combined with bringing up a young family. She married her Game Of Thrones co-star Kit Harrington in 2018 and they have a son born in 2021 and a daughter born in 2023.
Rose continued: “I feel incredibly grateful that I had jobs to go back to post giving birth. That was incredible, and that was a kind of mental safety net to be like, oh my gosh, okay, there can still be money coming in despite the fact that I’m now growing a family. That was amazing.
“I think what it shows about working mums is that we’re f***ing lionesses. You’re juggling it all. Like you’re grappling with who you were prior to that. You’re also wanting to raise a little human who feels that they are worthy and loved, without you always going off to work. But you’re coming home. You’re trying to instil a sense of peace and calm within them, But yeah spinning many plates.”
Despite it being very cold in between takes, the two leads enjoyed the time chatting and catching up after several years between the series. Suranne said: “Rose is always my standout of filming Vigil because it’s always gorgeous to see her and work with her. We didn’t stop talking the whole time. We got to spend a lot more time together in this series in comparison to the previous ones, because Amy joins Kirsten in Svalbard midway through and they work on the case together.
“What’s also lovely is having a new cast for every series of Vigil because we’re in a different world every series, so the entire cast changes except for a few of us. The new characters for this series are brilliant and such fun. Eric Godon (plays Mayor Korotayev) used to bring his own coffee onto set and he’s from Belgium, so he’d sometimes bring Belgian chocolates in.
“We’re just like a band of brothers and we’re all in it together so we’re a real team – that involves the crew too. I loved going into make-up first thing in the morning, it’s my favourite place as they’re so great and they really get you going at the start of the day.”
Grinning Rose added: “I think it comes down for me certainly to the fact that Suranne is utterly divine. Being opposite her and also working alongside of her, and the kind of the energy that she brings and the joy that she brings.
“It’s interesting, particularly with series three the fact that we get to share more screen time has been awesome, so I feel really for series three that our relationship has developed more than in one and two.”
The pair don’t want to give too much of the plot away, but it is fair to say the series continues where the previous two left off with explosions, death and devious characters involved.
Amy and Kristen – fresh back from maternity leave – 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. It is a challenging and dangerous situation with both their careers and relationship seemingly on the line.
Suranne concluded: “Each series also brings new challenges with Amy not knowing her surroundings – she’s constantly put into these new worlds, with new rules and new characters and so she’s always trying to figure out where her authority is in that. I also think Amy and Kirsten are kept in the dark with what they’re being told and it’s their job to find the gaps and piece it together.
“I think fans can relate to Amy and Kirsten because they hope for the best in every situation and they try to see the good in everything. They keep fighting, which is hard these days, but they feel quite hopeful as a duo to change the world.”
Vigil Series 3 returned on August 30 on BBC1 with episodes one and two on BBC iPlayer.
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