Outlander fans may recognise some of BBC Vigil season three’s key filming locations.
Hayley Anderson Screen Time TV Reporter
18:20, 30 Aug 2026
Vigil season three BBC trailer
The hit BBC thriller Vigil is back on our screens tonight and its cast and crew have returned to Glasgow.
BBC Vigil season three is here at long last after a three-year wait and while it revolves around an entirely new complex case with a new filming spot, there are some things that haven’t changed.
As with the previous two series, Vigil season three has once again be partially filmed in and around Glasgow, Scotland, with stars seen in the West End and West Princes Street.
Outlander fans might recall some of the spots used for filming Vigil as the West End streets and the University of Glasgow stood in for 1960s Boston during season three.
The West End has also been used in Trainspotting, The Buccaneers, Outlaw King and The Cry, just to name a few.
Actress Suranne Jones returns as DCI Amy Silva in BBC’s Vigil season three. (Image: BBC)
Of course, Glasgow isn’t the only location used for Vigil season three with this series’ case set primarily in Svalbard, Norway, where a British soldier is fatally shot.
DCI Amy Silva (played by Suranne Jones) and DI Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) are then given the job of finding out really what happened to the officer before things get even more out of hand.
Its largest island, Spitsbergen, is home to Longyearbyen – a settlement of around 2,600 people and the most northerly town of its size in the world.
Svalbard is an Arctic archipelago which is located between mainland Norway and the North Pole with Jones describing it as the “top of the world”.
BBC Vigil season three was filmed in Svalbard, Norway, and Glasgow, Scotland. (Image: BBC)
“We went to places that tourists don’t normally visit since we were filming in such remote locations.
“There were reindeer outside the breakfast room every morning, we got to drive the snow buggies, and we really had to layer up.”
While the first series was primarily set on the HMS Vigil, a fcitional Royal Navy submarine, season two was located in the Middle East where they investigated a drone attack.
Vigil season three debuts tonight, Sunday August 30, at 9pm on BBC One.