Vigil viewers outraged at Martin Compston’s fate just minutes into BBC thriller’s premiere

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for episode one of Vigil.

Vigil fans were up in arms as new BBC drama Vigil kicked off tonight, starring Suranne Jones and Line of Duty’s Martin Compston.

The thrilling new show brought action and intrigue aplenty as a trawler boat was dragged underwater in the premiere’s opening minutes, after being snagged on a submarine.

As disaster struck, Compston’s character Craig Burke was seen raging against his superiors, insisting they rushed to the aid of the fisherman after picking up a distress signal.

After being shut down by his boss, Burke was dismissed from duty and sent to his bunk to cool off.

However, things took a sinister turn after he was subsequently found dead in his bed from a reported heroin overdose.

Naturally, viewers were shocked that such a prominent star had been killed off just minutes into the first episode.

One raged: “Cannae believe I’ve waited this long to see the brilliant @martin_compston on the tv again and he goes and gets bumped off in the first 10 minutes!! FFS #Vigil”

Another wrote in disbelief: “Cannot believe they killed Martin Compston off in the first 10 minutes. #Vigil”

While a third exclaimed: “All excited to get my fix of Martin Compston on #Vigil and he is bloody dead after 2 mins. Please tell me he is in flashbacks.”

By the end of the episode it was clear that there was more to Burke’s death than initially met the eye.

Suranne Jones’ DCI Amy Silva – a detective with the Scottish Police, was dropped onto the submarine via helicopter to investigate the death – and she quickly became convinced that Burke had been murdered.

She noticed that the heroin found on Burke’s nose was only around the rim of his nostrils, rather than further up his septum, as one would be expect if the Class A drug had been snorted.

She also found blood in one of the corridors and suspicious bruising to his head and throat.

So what really happened to Burke? Something tells us Silva will get to the bottom of things in the coming weeks, despite her investigation facing plenty of resistance from The Navy.

Vigil continues Monday on BBC One at 9pm.