Where Was Vigil Season 3 Filmed? All Shooting Locations

Vigil Season 3 Release Date

Vigil Season 3 premieres on Sunday, August 30, 2026, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The first episode airs on BBC One at 9 p.m., while episodes are also being made available through BBC iPlayer. The season consists of six episodes.

Suranne Jones returns as DCI Amy Silva, with Rose Leslie reprising her role as DI Kirsten Longacre. The new story takes the detectives far from their familiar Scottish surroundings and into an isolated Arctic environment.

Filming began in September 2025 in Scotland and Svalbard and was completed by early 2026. Reports confirmed that production wrapped in Scotland toward the end of January 2026.

Svalbard, Norway

The most important new filming location for Vigil Season 3 is Svalbard, a remote Norwegian archipelago located deep in the Arctic. It lies roughly halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole and is famous for its glaciers, mountains, snow-covered landscapes and extremely long periods of darkness and daylight.

This was the perfect real-world location for a season built around an isolated Arctic research station. Unlike productions that recreate polar landscapes entirely with computer effects or studio sets, Vigil travelled to Svalbard to capture the environment directly. The production used the region’s natural landscapes to give the third season a much greater sense of scale and authenticity.

Svalbard’s landscape is particularly striking because it can look almost otherworldly. Rocky mountains, snowfields, glaciers and vast empty spaces give the series the isolated atmosphere required for the story. The cast also experienced the difficult conditions firsthand. Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie have spoken about filming in heavy Arctic clothing and travelling through remote areas. Jones described the experience as extraordinary, while Leslie compared the landscape to something almost lunar.

Longyearbyen and the surrounding Arctic landscape

Svalbard’s largest settlement is Longyearbyen, located on the western side of Spitsbergen, the archipelago’s largest island. Although publicly available production information does not provide a complete scene-by-scene list of locations, the wider Svalbard environment was central to the production.

The filmmakers were able to use the enormous landscapes around the settlement and more remote areas to make the fictional research station feel genuinely cut off from the outside world. That isolation is important to the plot. In the series, Silva and Longacre are investigating the death of a British special forces member at a remote Arctic research facility. The environment itself becomes part of the tension.

The production also filmed around glaciers and mountainous areas. Actress Naomi Yang has described travelling to a glacier while shooting in Svalbard, calling the experience unforgettable.

Glasgow, Scotland

While Svalbard provides the spectacular Arctic backdrop, Glasgow remains an important production base for Vigil.

The third season was filmed partly in and around Glasgow, continuing the show’s long relationship with Scotland. Reports specifically confirm that a substantial portion of Vigil Season 3 was shot in Glasgow. This is particularly interesting because Glasgow is obviously very different from the frozen Arctic landscape shown in the story. The production therefore had to transform Scottish locations into convincing Arctic environments.

Rose Leslie, who plays Kirsten Longacre, has a personal connection with Glasgow and has spoken positively about returning to Scotland for the production.

The city also gives the production access to experienced Scottish crews, facilities and locations. Vigil has been closely associated with Scotland since its first season, when World Productions established a Glasgow base for the show. Screen Scotland notes that the original series was filmed and set in Scotland and received support through its Production Growth Fund.

For Vigil Season 3, Glasgow once again became the practical Scottish counterpart to the remote Arctic setting.

Scotland’s Film and Studio Locations

Not every location seen in Vigil Season 3 is a real Arctic facility. Like many television dramas, the production combines location filming with controlled sets and production facilities.

This approach was particularly important for scenes that required precise lighting, sound and camera control. The production had already developed considerable experience creating realistic environments for Vigil. In the first season, for example, the enormous HMS Vigil submarine interior was created as a studio set because filming aboard a real nuclear submarine was not practical.

Season 3 uses the same basic filmmaking philosophy: capture the spectacular elements of the real environment in Svalbard while using Scottish production locations for scenes that require greater control. This combination helps explain why the show can move between enormous Arctic landscapes and more controlled interior sequences without the locations feeling disconnected.

The Arctic Research Station

One of the most important locations in the story is the remote Arctic research station where the central murder investigation takes place.

However, viewers should not assume that the entire research station is a single real building somewhere in Svalbard. The production used a combination of real Arctic locations and Scottish filming to create the fictional facility. The station is designed to feel isolated, dangerous and politically significant rather than simply functioning as a backdrop.

That distinction is important because the story requires interiors such as offices, corridors, laboratories and operational areas. Those environments can be much more effectively controlled on a constructed set or Scottish location than in an actual remote Arctic facility. The real Svalbard landscapes then provide the exterior scale.

This gives the fictional station an impressive sense of authenticity: audiences see genuine Arctic wilderness outside while the interior drama unfolds in tightly controlled spaces.

Why Did Vigil Season 3 Film in Svalbard?

The decision to shoot in Svalbard was closely connected to the story.

The new season is set against growing international competition for Arctic land, energy and resources. Climate change and melting ice are also important elements of the narrative. A conventional snow-covered location elsewhere in Europe might have provided the appearance of winter, but Svalbard offered something much more convincing.

The enormous mountains, glaciers and remote wilderness create the feeling that the characters are operating at the edge of civilisation.

That atmosphere is especially valuable for a murder mystery. There are fewer people around, communication can be difficult, weather can become dangerous and escape is not straightforward. In other words, the environment increases the suspense.

What Was It Like for the Cast to Film in Svalbard?

Shooting in the Arctic presented challenges that would be difficult to reproduce in a studio.

Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie reportedly had to wear bulky cold-weather clothing, while the crew dealt with genuine Arctic conditions. Jones has described seeing reindeer around the area where the cast stayed, while the production team travelled through remote landscapes using snow vehicles. Naomi Yang also recalled visiting a glacier during filming. The cast even had to take precautions because polar bears are present in Svalbard.

Interestingly, some of the biggest temperature problems came after the cast returned to Scotland. Because Scottish locations were being used to represent the same Arctic environment, actors sometimes had to continue wearing heavy winter costumes even when the weather in Glasgow was comparatively warm. Suranne Jones joked about being too hot in Glasgow while still dressed for the Arctic.

How the Filming Locations Compare With Earlier Seasons

The locations of Vigil have changed dramatically from season to season.

Season 1 was dominated by the fictional HMS Vigil submarine, with Scotland providing many of the land-based locations and sets.

Season 2 expanded internationally, using Scotland as well as Morocco to portray the fictional Middle Eastern country of Wudyan.

Season 3 goes even further north. Instead of recreating the Arctic entirely in Scotland, the production travelled to Svalbard and combined those genuine landscapes with Scottish filming.

That makes the third season particularly distinctive visually.

The Real Locations Behind the Fiction

One of the most impressive aspects of Vigil Season 3 is the way the production blends real places with fictional locations.

The Arctic research station is fictional, but the environment surrounding it is very real. Svalbard provides the mountains, glaciers, snow and isolation, while Glasgow and other Scottish production locations help construct the human side of the story. The filmmakers therefore did not need to rely entirely on digital backgrounds to create the Arctic.

Instead, they travelled to one of the world’s most remote regions and captured its atmosphere firsthand. That decision should be especially noticeable when the season moves outdoors. The enormous landscapes give Amy Silva and Kirsten Longacre’s investigation a sense of danger that would be difficult to achieve on a conventional soundstage.

Vigil Season 3 was filmed primarily across Svalbard in Norway and Scotland, with Glasgow playing a significant role in the Scottish production. The Svalbard shoot provided genuine Arctic landscapes, glaciers and remote wilderness, while Scottish locations and production facilities were used for additional scenes and controlled sequences.

The filming strategy perfectly matches the new story. Amy Silva and Kirsten Longacre are no longer investigating a mystery confined to a submarine or a Scottish military operation. This time, they are dealing with murder and international tensions in one of the most remote environments on Earth.

With its combination of real Arctic photography and Scottish production work, Season 3 gives Vigil a colder, larger and more cinematic visual identity. The choice of Svalbard in particular adds an authenticity that makes the fictional research station and its dangerous surroundings feel remarkably believable.

For fans interested in television filming locations, Svalbard is undoubtedly the standout destination of the new season, while Glasgow continues to serve as an important home for the production behind one of the BBC’s most successful crime dramas.