Vigil: Submarine drama explores 'isolating and tense' life and death at sea

A new BBC drama starring Suranne Jones and Martin Compston takes viewers aboard HMS Vigil, a fictional Royal Navy submarine, and is tipped to be one of the most gripping TV shows of the year.

Setting a film or TV series at sea isn't always a recipe for success, as anybody still recovering from 1997's Speed 2 will tell you.

Fortunately, BBC One's latest drama, which begins on Sunday, has snubbed unstoppable luxury cruise ships in favour of a murder mystery on board a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.

Inspired by the UK's real-life Trident fleet, the fictional HMS Vigil patrols British waters from a classified location. It is out there somewhere beneath the water's surface, ready to defend the country by launching a thermonuclear warhead - should it ever be required.

In reality, the very existence of a British nuclear deterrent is controversial - but this show's purpose isn't to tackle that debate. Instead, it examines the human stories behind the British crew on board, who eat, sleep and work in close quarters for months on end.