Coming from the makers of Line of Duty and The Bodyguard, there was no way Vigil wasn’t going to be a huge hit, but having pulled in a staggering ten million viewers, it’s now become BBC’s most watched new drama of 2021.
A lot of the credit goes to its star Suranne Jones. She plays a grieving detective tasked with investigating the mysterious disappearance of a fishing trawler and the death of a navy officer on a nuclear submarine. Watching her try to get to the bottom of a dark naval conspiracy is completely gripping, and it’s got us obsessing over where else we’ve seen Suranne.
From detective thrillers to period dramas, the soap star turned actor-of-the-moment has become a TV staple in recent years. While we collectively wait for the next episode of Vigil, here’s our guide to everywhere you’ve seen her before…
I am Victoria
If you missed Suranne’s performance in Channel 4’s acclaimed ‘I am..’ series, then make catching up a priority. Starring Letitia Wright, Vicky McClure, Gemma Chan and more, each standalone episode centers on the story of a different woman. Suranne plays Victoria, a successful businesswoman with a great job and a loving family (Ashley Walters plays her husband); she has a seemingly ‘perfect’ life, but over the course of the 45 minute episode, Suranne expertly peels back the layers of her character’s mental state, revealing that Victoria is teetering on the brink of breakdown.
It’s a completely spellbinding performance, much of which was improvised. Having spoken out in interviews about her own experiences of depression and anxiety, I am Victoria is a sensitive, beautiful and heartbreaking portrayal of how mental health issues impact us all.
Gentleman Jack
Suranne plays the leads in Sally Wanwright’s lesbian period drama, Gentleman Jack and will return to our screens for the new season of the boundary-pushing show this autumn. It’s based on the real life of Anne Lister, an 1800s businesswoman considered to be, ‘the first modern lesbian’. She wrote about her affairs and relationships in great detail, in code, in a series of secret diaries.
Coronation Street
If you think Suranne’s stint on a submarine is dramatic, take a look back through her seven years on Coronation street as Karen MacDonald (1997 - 2004). Her time as a Weatherfield resident included more than a fair share of flings (namely taxi driver Vikram Desai and resident bad boy Peter Barlow) and feuds (the worst being when her best friend Tracy Barlow had a one night stand with her fiance, Steve). She eventually left the soap after her husband (the aforementioned Steve (played by Simon Gregson) ended their marriage and asked her to leave.
Basically any show that has ever required a detective
Vigil is not the first time Suranne has donned a police uniform, and we hope it’s not the last. Her ability to play complicated characters with tough exteriors has been exciting asting directors since she played PC Laurie Franklin in 2010’s Five Days. In 2012, she upgraded to detective constable position as Anne Oldman in A Touch of Cloth, before playing a detective inspector Rachel Bailey in Scott and Bailey (2011-2016).
Doctor Who
In a 2011 episode (we’re talking the Matt Smith season), she played the actual TARDIS in human form!