No. /13 NEXT IN THE SERIES
You fell in love with that incredible new TV show. And then it ended! Don’t despair — Boyd Hilton recommends the sibling shows to watch next
IF YOU LOVED... VIGIL DAS BOOT (SKY ON DEMAND/NOW)
If you thought the atmosphere on board HMS Vigil was claustrophobic, try these two series and 16 episodes of intense drama, mostly set on a German U-612 sub during World War II. It is of course a spin-off from — and sequel to — the classic 1981 submarine-based film of the same name, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, itself an adaptation of the 1973 novel by German author Lothar-günther Buchheim. But the series is a deeply impressive piece of work in its own right. Set nine months after the events of the film in 1942, it details the daily grind of life for the German crew, intercut with a second narrative strand exploring the development of the French Resistance on dry land. Phantom Thread’s Vicky Krieps is a highlight among the ensemble cast.
LOVESICK (NETFLIX)
Vigil’s creator Tom Edge is a versatile talent, having adapted the Cormoran Strike novels by J.K. Rowling (under the pen-name Robert Galbraith) for the BBC, as well as writing the Judy Garland biopic Judy. Before all that he created the comedy series Lovesick, which started out as a Channel 4 show in 2014 lumbered with the terrible title Scrotal Recall, before Netflix commissioned two subsequent seasons and wisely changed its name. Johnny Flynn (Beast) plays the lead role of Dylan, who gets chlamydia and tries to track down all the people he’s had sex with. Which sounds crass — but in fact the show is surprisingly smart and well-observed.
HUNTED (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)
James Strong directed the first three relentlessly exciting episodes of Vigil, having shown his expertise in the tense-thriller genre with huge ITV hits Broadchurch and Liar. It’s also well worth checking out the one-season wonder Hunted, which Strong worked on in 2012. Created by Frank Spotnitz, of X-files renown, the Bbc/cinemax co-production starred Melissa George (The Mosquito Coast) as a spy working for a private intelligence operation who goes undercover when she suspects her colleagues are trying to kill her. Mining a similar vein of paranoia to Vigil, Hunted should have lasted longer than its eight episodes.
FIVE DAYS (DVD)
Vigil is far from being Suranne Jones’ first role as a TV detective. She shone in five series of ITV’S Scott & Bailey alongside Lesley Sharp, and dared to take the piss out of her own uptight-cop persona in Sky’s joyously silly crime-genre spoof A Touch Of Cloth. There’s also the richly detailed BBC drama series Five Days, written by Gwyneth Hughes (Honour), the riveting second series of which features Jones as DC Laurie Franklin, determined to piece together why a young man jumped from a bridge and hit the train on which off-duty Franklin happened to be travelling. VIGIL IS ON BBC IPLAYER NOW