Jed Mercurio has teased a “mystery” hook at the heart of new ITV drama series Trigger Point, starring Vicky McClure and Adrian Lester as bomb disposal officers (or ‘Expos’).
In the drama, “death is always just a heartbeat away” for the two Expo officers, which is made all the more clear when a terrorist campaign threatens the safety of Londoners over one fateful summer, according to the official series synopsis.
On handling sensitive storylines in the drama, Mercurio (who’s on producing duties) said the show tries to approach the terrorist threat “in a credible way”, before later adding that, “on the other hand, the big hook of the series… is the mystery of who is behind this”.
He said: “We don’t want people to become nervous about terrorist threats or to feed into anxiety, but we do recognise that in big cities these threats to national security do exist. So the way that we approached it was to try to imagine a credible, real-world threat and a credible way in which that would be investigated.
“That’s really the mystery side of the story. So we have the danger, the excitement and all the tension from the fact that in every episode our main characters are dealing with devices that might blow them up.
“But on the other hand, the big hook of the series that drives you is the mystery of who is behind this, because it’s not immediately clear what the purpose of the terrorist campaign is. And that is something that’s very different from the real world, because usually it becomes clear fairly quickly. So dealing with a situation in which the terrorists don’t want people to know who’s behind an attack felt like a really interesting area for drama.”
Speaking at a press event attended by RadioTimes.com, creator Daniel Brierley revealed that he had written the lead part of ‘Expo’ Lana Washington “with Vicky [McClure] in mind”.
“I was delighted,” said Brierly. “I mean, honestly, it sounds like such such a cliché, but I’d actually written it with with Vicky in mind. Because I think [from] the roles she’s done in the past, she has that perfect blend of courage and determination and vulnerability – that was Lana for me, and obviously Adrian’s a national treasure, so when you get them involved, it’s perfect.”
Read more: Trigger Point’s Vicky McClure teases “edge of your seat” bomb disposal drama
Trigger Point will begin on ITV on Sunday 23rd January at 9pm. See what else is on with our TV Guide, or visit our Drama hub for all the latest news.