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Vigil finale review – an anxiety-inducing horror spectacular

A clock-ticking, claustrophobic finale had DCI Silva in a cat-and-mouse game with a shifty Russian asset. If only they’d given her a map

• Read the Vigil finale recap and join the discussion here

Vigil (BBC One) concluded in nightmarishly claustrophobic style. Not content with sticking half of the cast on a large metal tube under water, it trapped noted hater-of-small-spaces DCI Amy Silva in a tiny metal tube under water, filled the tube with water, drained it of water, only for the larger metal tube to start filling with water, and honestly, after half an hour of tension like that, I needed a lie down, in a very big, wide, airy open space.

Vigil has given us six solid weeks of credulity-testing twists and turns, but it has never relented, and buckling up for the hour has been a large part of the fun. It is television from the Bodyguard school, expertly ramping up the stress until it becomes relentless, then adding another shocker into the mix, just because it can. Yes, it is far-fetched (at least, you must hope it is): HMS Vigil is the kind of submarine where a crew member could accidentally sit on the “launch nukes” button and you wouldn’t bat an eyelid. But it has been thrilling.

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