Vigil spoilers follow.
Even before it torpedoed its way onto our screens, there was little doubt Vigil would make a huge splash on our screens.
But it surpassed everyone's expectations and became a fully fledged juggernaut, the BBC's most-watched new drama launch since 2018's Bodyguard. Attracting an audience of over 13 million viewers across 30 days for episode one, the series overall had an average of 12.6m viewers.
Helmed by World Productions, whose vast CV includes both Line of Duty and Bodyguard, as well as a spate of other dramas held in high esteem (Save Me and The Pembrokeshire Murders to name just a couple), you can tell these guys know how to keep us glued to the sofa.
So naturally, it was only a matter of time before it was confirmed that Vigil season two was on the way.
But what exactly is going to happen after everything that unfolded in that corrupt submarine? Will Suranne Jones be back in action, and how will someone convince her to get back in those murky depths seeing as she was nearly drowned in action last time?
Here's everything you need to know about Vigil season two.
Vigil season 2 potential release date: When will it air?
Thankfully, Vigil was given the green light for a season two in March 2022. Now it's just a case of figuring out when it will be back on our screens, as information about what's happening is scarce.
Seeing as filming hasn't even started yet, we will hazard a guess that it's unlikely we'll see it until at least 2023.
We'll let you know as soon as we know more.
Vigil season 2 cast: Who could be in it?
We're putting it nicely when we say season one of Vigil was... unkind to members of the crew, with several not even making it out alive at the end of it.
After all, if you kill off Martin Compston (who played Craig Burke) within the opening 15 minutes of the series, you know that no-one's safe.
By the end of the finale, Mark Prentice (Adam James), Jade Antoniak (Lauren Lyle) and Jackie Hamilton (Anita Vettesse) all lost their lives, so that rules them out of coming back.
However, it seems like an almost dead cert that Suranne Jones will be back as DCI Amy Silva, and Rose Leslie will return as her lover, DS Kirsten Longacre.
Treacherous petty officer Matthew Doward was alive and kicking at the end of the first chapter, but he's now in the hands of MI5, so we wouldn't expect actor Lorne MacFadyen to return.
As for those who were still breathing at the end of season one, we have:
• Vigil crew: Commander Neil Newsome (Paterson Joseph), coxswain Elliot Glover (Shaun Evans), medic Tiffany Docherty (Anjli Mohindra), Lieutenant Simon Hadlow (Connor Swindells), CPO Gary Walsh (Daniel Portman) and CPO Tara Kierly (Lois Chimimba), among others.
• Navy personnel: Rear Admiral Shaw (Stephen Dillane) and Lieutenant Commander Erin Branning (Lolita Chakrabarti)
• Police: DS Colin Robertson (Gary Lewis) and DS Porter (Reuben Joseph)
Plus, there's always the opportunity for some new faces, too.
But whether we'll see any of those faces again depends on season two's narrative, which leads us nicely to...
Vigil season 2 plot: What will happen?
Throughout the first gripping season, viewers saw Amy and her colleagues on land spending weeks tracking down those responsible for the death onboard the nuclear submarine, looking into everything from Russian spies and drug-fuelled accidents, to secret transfers.
The incredibly tense season one finale kicked off from where episode five had finished, with noted claustrophobic Amy trapped inside a torpedo tube which was rapidly filling with water after she had discovered that Matthew Doward was the traitor onboard.
Thankfully, we saw her manage to escape said situation, by using her torch to bang a Morse code message on the tube's walls and alert Adam James's Lieutenant Commander Mark Prentice as to her whereabouts.
Of course, things don't exactly go to plan, since she also accidentally alerted Doward to the fact that he hadn't managed to silence her just yet. After hauling her out of the tube, Prentice urged Amy to run while he fought off the Russian spy. He died in the process, rendering his redemption arc complete.
Amy then went on to expose Doward as the secret saboteur who tried to bring the HMS warship down, with some help from petty officer Tara Kierly, and he was arrested for his role in the conspiracy.
Later, Elliot Glover was seen regaining consciousness after being exposed to a deadly nerve agent in the previous episode, and Amy rekindled her romance with former partner – and righthand woman throughout the investigation – DS Kirsten Longacre.
So, what's up next for DCI Amy Silva?
Currently, there is no known plot for season two, but we know that the crew will be returning to Scotland to film the series.
Vigil is the name the submarine was based on, with Jones' DCI Silva heading down after a suspicious death on board. But according to writer Tom Edge, it seems they will be moving from the submarine to somewhere a little drier.
"We have probably told as many of the stories as we would wish to tell on a submarine," he told RadioTimes.com last year.
"Some of the characters that we have developed as we've made it, they feel like characters that we'd love to burrow into. So if there's a will to do it from everyone else, then certainly I would be up for it."
So maybe the team will be switching gears and moving away from the season one plot after all, instead focusing on someone who was involved in the show but wasn't central to it.
Keep checking in here and we'll let you know any updates.
Vigil season 2 trailer: When can I watch it?
Unfortunately, because filming hasn't even started yet, there is currently no news about when we could be getting a trailer. Although, they are usually released in the month leading up to the release date, whenever that may be.
But keep an eye out on this space as we promise to update you as soon as we know anything.
Until then, you can watch season one all over again.
Vigil is available now on BBC iPlayer.
