Suranne Jones, 42, admitted her brand new role in the crime drama has sparked some concerns from her partner. The star, who plays Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva, has been keen on performing her own stunts despite the potential risks.
However, she confessed the coronavirus lockdown took a toll on her physical abilities.
Suranne told the BBC: “When I first read the script I was like, ‘Oh my god, this sounds amazing – I get to do all these stunts!’.
“But I forgot how old I was. I thought I was 23 when I was reading it, and that’s not true anymore!
“So I had to do a lot of working out just to build up my strength in order to do those scenes.
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“And then we had a gap partway through filming because of lockdown, and anyone who had a bit of lockdown belly will know it’s quite hard to get your strengths up after that.
“Most of the stunts were when we were coming back after the break, so that was quite hard to build myself back up.”
Suranne’s husband, former BBC producer Laurence Akers, was also aware of the risks.
She added: “I got whiplash, I put my back out a couple of times… I was covered in bruises.
Silva is joined in her efforts by Matthew Doward (Lorne MacFadyen), Lt Comm Erin Branning (Lolita Chakrabarti), Lt Commander Mark Prentice (Adam James), and DS Porter (Reuben Joseph).
The first episode premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9pm on Sunday August 29 and episode two at 9pm on Monday August 30.
The following four episodes will air weekly each Sunday night, all at 9pm on BBC One, and viewers will also be able to watch Vigil online on BBC iPlayer.
Speaking about Vigil creator Tom Edge, Suranne said: “Tom Edge has created a thrill of a story, set in a world I knew nothing about.
