vigil error© Photo: BBC

Vigil fans spot big continuity error in episode four

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Senior Features Writer
September 13, 2021

The fourth episode of BBC's latest drama offering, Vigil, generated plenty of discussion on Sunday evening – but for one reason in particular. 

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During the episode, viewers at home noticed a continuity error involving one of the costumes and branded the gaffe as "really bad" on social media.

Taking to Twitter, one person posted two images of Commander Neil Newsome, played by Paterson Joseph, pointing out the character's epaulette on his shirt had changed mid-scene, indicating an unintended promotion in rank.

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The user wrote: "Terrible continuity error on #Vigil. The Commander has promoted himself to Captain mid patrol." It seems the fan wasn't the only one to notice the mistake.

One person replied to the original tweet: "Difficult enough to follow the plot without costume gaffes!" as a second added: "Yup I noticed that too. Really bad continuity." A third wrote: "Ah! I'm not going mad! I thought that was the case..."

Others were also left disappointed by the error in the BBC drama. "Tried to ignore the inaccurate portrayal of the [Royal Navy] as it's only a drama, but it bugs me now. The writer has also prioritised having dramatic events that are unrealistic in RN terms at the expense of accuracy when he/she did not need to do so and most of them are so obvious," said another viewer.

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Did you spot the costume error?

However, a fifth fan was more forgiving, and wondered if the change in shirt was deliberate. "Good spot. Maybe he's the Russian spy and he's got costume changes in his arsenal?" they tweeted.

Elsewhere in the episode, the investigation into the murder of Craig Burke (Martin Compston) is getting more complicated. Detective Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) and her team came to learn that it's likely there is a Russian spy on board HMS Vigil working to expose cover-ups undertaken by the Royal Navy.

Meanwhile, DS Amy Silva's (Suranne Jones) operation has also become more intense. Her suspicions of coxswain Elliot Glover (Shaun Evans) have grown and the final moments saw her discover chef Jackie Hamilton's body poisoned, shortly before a gas-mask clad Elliot attacked her – offering up a major cliffhanger for Sunday's episode.

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