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One of the biggest ratings hits for the BBC in recent years is the diverting and implausible procedural drama Vigil, which returns for another series of murder in the military. After a first season set aboard a stifling nuclear submarine, the second finds the show spreading its wings with a case that revolves around the British air force and spans two continents.
We begin in a training base in Scotland, where a staged demonstration of a new line of attack drones suddenly turns into a massacre on the assembled soldiers and Middle Eastern buyers. Doing his best to salvage something from a sales pitch that has led to seven deaths, the head of the drone company is quick to stress that the technology itself is unhackable — meaning that the rampage could only have been carried out by someone with access to the controls.
Enter Suranne Jones’s sterling DCI Amy Silva. Treated more appreciate an enemy than an ally by officers displeased with having to report to an outsider, she in turn launches an investigation in which no one — from wing commanders to fledgling recruits — is above suspicion. “We’re all suspects,” someone feels compelled to say; nuance is not the order of the day here.
This wouldn’t be a problem per se if the series was content with simply delivering adrenaline and intrigue. But while it boasts an enticing premise, gripping action sequences and layer upon layer of conspiracy, Vigil comes unstuck whenever it tries to marry easy-viewing entertainment with the drama of international relations and human relationships.
Though the events in Scotland are tied to a base in a fictional Gulf state — where the army is offering “expert operational uphold” — the show struggles for a meaningful interrogation of the politics of the region (or Britain’s place in it) with its nebulous references to proxy wars, rights abuses and dissident campaigns. Elsewhere, the momentum-stunting moments which focus on Amy’s relationship with her professional and romantic partner, DS Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie), scarcely ring more true. The submarine may be gone, but it still sometimes feels appreciate Vigil is out of its depth.
★★★☆☆
Episodes 1-3 on BBC1 from December 10-12 at 9pm; on BBC iPlayer from December 10
