Vigil | Interview with Anjli Mohindra (Tiffany Docherty)

Please tell us about Tiffany.

Lieutenant Tiffany Docherty, aka ‘Doc Doc’, is the ship’s doctor. She cares deeply for Vigil’s crew, she is the go-to person for the personal and mental issues that can come as an occupational hazard being aboard a submarine, lonely and isolated from life on land, for such long stints. She has grafted incredibly hard to get where she is. She was selected as part of the Navy’s Medical Training Grant Scheme, who sponsored her degree in medicine.

She is hugely respected by all onboard Vigil, but she definitely knows how to let her hair down during the land-breaks that the crew get every now then.

Did working on Vigil teach you anything that surprised you?

I knew they weren’t on the roomy side, but I hadn’t realised quite how small and compact submarines are. The bunks are tight allowing just enough room to clamber in sideways. There are often nine bunks to a dorm that is usually no bigger than a small double bedroom, and that space includes the showers too. You can’t smoke, get mobile or WIFI signal or natural daylight during the weeks, if not months, spent under the water. The missions out to sea are long ones. There are submarines stealthily creeping along ocean beds right now as we speak, ready to launch missiles should they need to!

The series paused filming for more than five months due to lockdown. How was it coming back to the role after that long away?

It was strangely great to have the time to let the character and the story marinate further during the time off – of course, there was no certainty we’d be able to return, but it gave us all a chance to take stock of the first half of filming and modulate as we went along! At first it was strange getting used to all of the PPE and testing, but we were all so grateful to be back that we soon got into the new rhythm of things.

Please tell us about that incredible HMS Vigil set.

The set was mind-blowingly detailed. It felt very real. During a particularly thrilling scene, I launched myself down one of the vertical fireman’s pole-esque staircases in a half-stunt / half-accidental trip, and it made the final cut. Things certainly felt real at that point!

Were there any especially memorable moments from filming?

There were some real naughty glinty-eyed castmates among us –  the kind whom you can’t look at for too long in a scene because you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself laughing. I won’t name any names! But we all fell about laughing quite a bit when words would come out wrong or technical spiel accidentally sounded euphemistic! Those moments are some of the best on set. The laughs become addictive and you have to get them out of your system so you can move on and complete the day.

Finally, please describe Vigil to us in three words.

Thrilling Who-Dunnit.