\n<\/p>\n
\n\tITV\u2019s hit drama Trigger Point<\/em>, starring Vicky McClure (Line of Duty<\/em>, Alex Rider<\/em>), as Explosives Officer, or Expo, Lana Washington, an Afghan War veteran, is returning to U.K. screens for season 3 on Sunday. And it is set to be another explosive season. <\/p>\n \n\tProduced by Jed Mercurio\u2019s (Line of Duty<\/em>, Bodyguard<\/em>) HTM Television, in association with All3Media International, which distributes the series internationally,Trigger Point<\/em> follows a team of bomb disposal officers in London, dedicated to keeping the capital safe from dangerous devices and terrorist threats. Season two last year averaged 8.1 million viewers and was streamed 30 million times on streamer ITVX, making it ITV1\u2019s second-most-watched drama of 2024 behind Mr Bates vs The Post Office<\/em>.<\/p>\n Returning cast members include Eric Shango (On the Edge<\/em>) as Danny, Nabil Elouahabi (Blue Lights<\/em>, Unforgotten<\/em>) as Hassan \u201cHass\u201d Rahim, Natalie Simpson (North Sea Connection<\/em>) as DS Helen Morgan, and Maanuv Thiara (DI Ray<\/em>, Landscapers<\/em>) as DI Amar Batra. Jason Flemyng (Gemma Bovery<\/em>, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels<\/em>) guest stars in season 3 as antagonist Steven Wyles.<\/p>\n \n\tExecutive producers are Mercurio, Daniel Walker (The Tourist<\/em>), Jessica Sharkey (Breathtaking<\/em>, Derry Girls<\/em>), Chris Brandon and McClure. The lead writer for the third season is Chris Brandon (Bloodlands<\/em>), with Jamie Donouhue (Doctor Who<\/em>, A Discovery of Witches<\/em>) and Audrey Cooke (Trigger Point<\/em>, DI Ray<\/em>) directing.<\/p>\n \n\tThe third season, comprised of six episodes, sees Washington and her team investigate a bomb threat that soon reveals itself to be the start of a sinister vendetta. \u201cSomeone is targeting individuals and demanding revenue,\u201d according to a season 3 plot description. \u201cWorking alongside the Police Counter Terrorism Unit, the Bomb Disposal Squad race against time to find the bomber before they claim their next victim.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSeason 3 will air on ITV1 and STV and will be available to stream on ITVX and STV Player with season 1 and 2 available to watch now on ITVX.<\/p>\n \n\tMcClure talked to THR<\/em> about what Trigger Point<\/em> fans, or newbies, for that matter, can expect from season 3.<\/p>\n \n\tLana overcame all sorts of drama and danger at the end of season 2. \u201cBecause of what she\u2019s faced in [seasons] one and two, we needed to address how she\u2019s dealing with that, how she\u2019s living with the traumas that she\u2019s faced and the people that she\u2019s lost,\u201d McClure told THR<\/em>. \u201cPTSD has always been a thing for Lana, but it was very much in the background before. Whereas we bring that to the forefront this time. There was talk of tinnitus, and so we explored that.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tNot that Lana needed any more hurdles to overcome. \u201cThe characters around her, such as [Kerry Godliman\u2019s Bomb Data Center civilian specialist] Sonya [Reeves], Hassan, and Danny, know she\u2019s facing certain things, but she doesn\u2019t really talk. She\u2019s not an open book.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn that sense, the protagonist is not dissimilar from the bombs she defuses. \u201cYeah, the question is when is Lana going to explode?\u201d says McClure. \u201cWhen is she going to have her moment where actually she is either having an outburst or she\u2019s going to accept help? And what does that lead to?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAfter playing an Expo for several seasons, does the star feel she could ever defuse a bomb herself? \u201cPeople have been asking me this a lot,\u201d she highlights. \u201cCan I defuse one? No, I cannot. I wouldn\u2019t want to either. I\u2019m not strong enough for that kind of work. But what\u2019s been lovely is, once you\u2019re on a third season, you pick up the lingo a lot quicker. You know what you\u2019re talking about.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tSome behavior has become second nature, thanks also to the show\u2019s explosives advisor, Joel Snarr. \u201cJust going through a doorway without checking it first would be alien to me now,\u201d McClure shares. \u201cEven if it might not be in the script again, we need to check the door before we walk through it.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tHow did she go about portraying the tinnitus? \u201cIt\u2019s hard because you rely on sound to really emphasize it,\u201d McClure emphasizes. \u201cAnd it was tough for me personally, because my dad\u2019s got tinnitus. He worked with power tools, which is what brought that on for him, but you can\u2019t hear it \u2013 nobody else can hear. It needs to be really subtle. As an actor, I\u2019ve always wanted to feel something as much as I can to make sure I can use it in acting. But in this case, there\u2019s nothing you can really do apart from imagining it. If you have never experienced something that\u2019s internal, it\u2019s really tough.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tBut the star was happy to be able to highlight Lana\u2019s struggle with tinnitus in some scenes. \u201cWe had some really nice moments where we were able to establish that this is a moment where it\u2019s really attacking her,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n \n\tThe production shot seasons 3 and 4 this time, making for not only a long production cycle but also creating the challenge of scenes not being shot chronologically. \u201cOnce you\u2019re a couple of weeks in, the names of places, all the technical things, and all the details of the plot very much are in your bones,\u201d McClure tells THR<\/em>. \u201cBut you must also actually rely on people like script supervisors. That is vital. You are spending a lot of time going, \u2018Where have I been? Where am I heading?’\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tHow key is having lighter moments in Trigger Point<\/em> between all the action and drama? \u201cThe audience needs it for a little light relief,\u201d offers McClure. \u201cBut the characters also need it. Their friendship can\u2019t just be based on trauma. They must sometimes have a laugh, and we\u2019ve managed to find that, especially with Nabil, who plays Hass, a great character. And I feel his character is now really propelled and has that gallows humor that Expos have, that people who have been in the forces need.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMcClure also had a blast facing off with Flemyng\u2019s season 3 baddie. \u201cIt\u2019s been an absolute pleasure to work with Jason,\u201d she tells THR<\/em>. \u201cHe\u2019s an amazing actor and has done so many shows over the years that I\u2019ve watched and thoroughly enjoyed. So it was great to have him on the show, a real coup for us. But he couldn\u2019t be further from the baddie he plays. In real life, he\u2019s just full of life, full of laughter.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThat said, \u201che played a blinder with this character who has a personal vendetta,\u201d explains McClure. \u201cSo, there is not a big organization with a much bigger machine behind him. And Jason did what you want actors to do \u2013 bring more to it than what\u2019s on the page.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe star also highlights the importance of the Trigger Point<\/em> crew and cast having grown together and collaborating like a family. \u201cIt is such a team effort,\u201d she emphasizes. \u201cIt\u2019s about all the little details. You just can\u2019t do this without every single person turning up and giving it their everything.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOnce season 3 of Trigger Point<\/em> is finished, fans don\u2019t need to worry about Lana & Co. getting bored. Jumping straight from season 3 into season 4 was different and interesting for McClure. \u201cWe had new people to introduce and a whole new story,\u201d she says. \u201cSo I had to quite quickly erase [season 3] from my mind, pretend it never happened, and start again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ITV\u2019s hit drama Trigger Point, starring Vicky McClure (Line of Duty, Alex Rider), as Explosives Officer, or Expo, Lana Washington, an Afghan War veteran, is returning to U.K. screens for season 3 on Sunday. And it is set to be another explosive season. Produced by Jed Mercurio\u2019s (Line of Duty, Bodyguard) HTM Television, in association<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[9884,17795,622,17794],"class_list":{"0":"post-30254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-lana","9":"tag-mcclure","10":"tag-star","11":"tag-vicky"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}