Fans of crime offerings will enjoy “Trigger Point”, which is back for a second instalment on BritBox.
The second series picks up a year on from the Crusader’s attacks. Lana Washington (Vicky McClure) has returned to Expo after helping train bomb disposal teams in Ukraine.
While she’s back and giving a corporate talk on bomb disposal, a series of devices are used to attack a power station, causing widespread chaos and signalling the start of a new and active threat.
In a recent interview with McClure and Mark Stanley, who plays Detective Chief Inspector Thom Youngblood, they unpack the upsets in this gripping season.
On the action scenes, McClure explained: “I’m going to be really honest: I’m not a massive gym bunny. It wasn’t the physical training that I tapped into a lot; it was more the emotional training because, in season two for Lana, she’s battling with the amount of loss that she’s had in series one, and she’s not dealt with it.
“She’s hugely unhappy and very depressed throughout the entire second series. To show as much reality as we can, we wanted to serve that and show that she’s not focused like she normally would be.
“So, we had to make artistic choices, where we lose people where you wouldn’t expect to lose them in certain circumstances.
“But it also shows just how Lana’s head isn’t in the game and she’s not dealt with things from season one, so it wasn’t so much training – it was more talking to people like Joel and Paul, who were our experts on the job, and doing your own research as well, and just trying your best to get the reality of it and what that looks like.”
She added: “Because for any expo (bomb disposal expert) or for anybody who’s been through those kinds of circumstances, I’ll really never understand it because it’s just so traumatic and so out of my world, that it would be wrong for me to say yeah, I know exactly what that is.
“I don’t; I can only use what I can use, which is a great imagination, a great script and great advisers.”
Shedding light on where we find his character this season, Stanley said: “When we first meet him, Lana’s been away in Estonia helping out with IEDs (improvised explosive devices) that have been used in Ukraine.
“We’ve got a lot of unanswered questions at the beginning of the series, but Thom has started a new relationship with Helen (Morgan), who’s played by Natalie Simpson, so we’re there. He’s been promoted and he’s doing very well for himself.
“But an unexpected visit from Lana, and being forced to work together again, it’s the catalyst for a whole new storyline which we’re lucky enough to have been able to explore this time around.”
Stanley describes his character as resilient and adept at compartmentalising his feelings, especially when it comes to relationships.
As for the most exciting additions to the new season, McClure said: “First, we had lots of new cast members and we had lots of new crew members and we had lots of returners as well, so there was a real nice mix of the family we’d started to build on series one, and then new people come in and make it as exciting as they do.”
She continued: “But I think for the show, the actual devices and the people that we’re after – they’re very, very complex and technical.
“We didn’t want to just repeat the same devices we had in series one, and some of them, like the collar bomb for instance, it’s not your typical device.
“It’s something that’s very, very rare, but it was just another way of showcasing different types of devices, and they went for it this year.
“They know that people that are watching the show want an explosive experience – that’s what the show is. There were some really technical and forward-thinking ways in which we could make sure that people were gripped by the story and not just by the characters and the plot.
“It was very messy in a non-messy fashion, I guess.”
On the conflicts of his character, Stanley added: “Well, when it comes to personal life and working life, I don’t know whether he does deal with it very well, to be honest with you.
“Sometimes, he’s in these situations that he places himself in a lot of the time. When it comes to his personal life, I don’t think he’s always been straightforward about how he feels about a lot of things.
“I think things get cleared up, as this series starts.
“Having had distance is the thing that allows him to deal with that kind of conflict that’s happening with himself, Helen and Lana, and that makes him think quite clearly.
“But I think, in terms of conflict at work, like Vicky says, we do have to twist things a little bit. I’m pretty sure that in real life if you were stood on a mine for six hours, you probably wouldn’t just change your shirt and go back to work. You would probably be put through therapy for the next six months (laughs) and you wouldn’t be allowed to go near it.
“I think, in that case, the writers just give us permission to be able to stretch these characters to the nth degree and that’s interesting; that’s what keeps people guessing and, that allows for what feels this rigorous energy that runs through the entire show, and it’s brilliant.
“When it comes to the conflict, he has to deal with what’s in front of him but does he deal with it well? I’m not sure he does. He’s got massive flaws, as well as everybody else.”
The second season will keep viewers on tenterhooks with its tense drama and fast-paced action scenes that it has become known for.
∎ “Trigger Point” is streaming on BritBox.