THE first episodes of a thriller set onboard a nuclear submarine have been met with rave reviews.

Six part series Vigil, starring Suranne Jones and Martin Compston, focuses on a death on board the titular nuclear submarine that coincides with a fishing trawler going missing.

It received overwhelmingly positive reviews after the first two episodes of the show aired on BBC One.

The Guardian praised the submarine thriller, saying: "The BBC’s new six-part drama has all the ingredients to be an absolute humdinger of a series, and it is.

"It’s a dense, sharply written, absolute treat of a show about a murky, unseen world that doesn’t want to break the surface and show itself, and one that viewers will surely want to dive into."

The Independent said the show being set on a Vanguard class Trident submarine increased the drama.

It said: "Why aren’t more things set on submarines?

"It’s such a fertile setting, so claustrophobic and brooding, that you wonder what other franchises the Beeb could profitably move to a submarine. Doctor Who? Motherland? Strictly?"

Further adulation was given from The Telegraph, which said: "Vigil has an absolute gem of a premise and a wholly unfamiliar, hugely claustrophobic, utterly thrilling setting for what turned out to be an ingenious new take on that old crime-drama chestnut, the locked-room murder mystery.

"Except, in this case, it’s the detective who was locked in, and being a woman in what’s still a mostly male environment made it a lot more interesting."

A description of the thriller's plot said: "When a crew member is found dead on board the Trident nuclear submarine HMS Vigil, police in Scotland are called in to investigate.

"The catch? The UK’s nuclear deterrent must remain unbroken, so the submarine stays on patrol and Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) must go aboard to begin an investigation. Although the death was written off as an accidental overdose, Amy suspects foul play."