How’s your blood pressure? Are you ready for one of the tensest TV dramas to return for a third series? Yep, that’s right, Trigger Point – the series that follows a team of bomb disposal officers, also known as EXPOs, is back.
And better than ever according to Her Majesty The Queen (yes, really) who visited the set whilst the cast filmed this third series. Naturally we assume that the royals’ love of Trigger Point is why the show’s lead Vicky McClure was awarded an MBE for services to drama and to charity in 2023.
Here’s everything you need to know about Trigger Point series three.
What is Trigger Point series three about?
Barely given a moment to breathe following her dramatic kidnapping and subsequent recovery last series, Lana Washington (Vicky McClure) and her team of EXPOs are sent to investigate a bomb threat.
When that targeted explosion appears to be a part of a sinister vendetta, the team must work alongside the Police Counter Terrorism Unit to beat the bomber.
Who stars in Trigger Point?
Vicky McClure as Lana Washington
As we’re reunited with EXPO Lana, it quickly becomes clear that she’s not coping. Vicky explains, ‘Lana is a strong person and she likes to see herself as a perfectionist, but we very quickly see that that’s starting to crumble.
‘We know from the previous two series that she has experienced a lot of loss, which was always going to catch up with her eventually. She’s dealing with PTSD, she's struggling with tinnitus, and she is relying on medication to get her through. She’s quite a lonely character at the beginning of the series.’
Actress Vicky made her on-screen debut back in 1999 with A Room for Romeo Brass. Then, in 2006 she appeared in This Is England alongside Thomas Turgoose and Stephen Graham. She continued to portray Frances Lorraine ‘Lol’ Jenkins in the subsequent TV spinoffs This Is England ’86 (2010), This Is England ’88 (2011) and This Is England ’90 (2015). For This Is England ’86, Vicky won the RTS Award and the BAFTA for Best Actress.
You may also recognise Vicky from Line of Duty (2012-2021) which is rumoured to be returning, series one of Broadchurch (2013), Alex Rider (2020-2024), Without Sin (2022) and Insomnia (2024).
Eric Shango as Danny
Where do we find Lana’s friend and colleague Danny at the start of series three?
‘Danny has just got married so now his focus has shifted,’ reveals Eric. ‘He’s no longer thinking exclusively about his own wellbeing, instead he’s thinking about his wife and how his job could affect her. Essentially he’s beginning to question whether this line of work is actually something he should still be doing, rather than just something he wants to do.
‘He’s more tentative, but there are also lots of things keeping him in this job and he still wants to establish himself and prove his credibility. He’s conflicted - balancing the journey of marriage with the magnitude of this high risk, mentally demanding job.’
Playing Danny in Trigger Point is Eric’s biggest role to date, but he also briefly appeared in the TV shows Suspicion (2022) and On The Edge (2023).
Nabil Elouahabi as Hassan Rahim
Although Lana – who Hassan calls Wash - may be struggling, she has her colleague Hass in her corner to support her.
Nabil says, ‘Hass has evolved into almost an older uncle figure, he’s the wise guy now and there are some lovely interactions between Hass and Wash. He’s concerned about her wellbeing, but he knows that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, so he’s very gentle with it, and is just consistently present for her.’
‘Hass has a lot more to do in series three,’ Nabil teases. ‘You really begin to know who he is and how he operates, he's much more involved. It has been great to let him grow a bit and you understand that he really is Wash's right-hand man - the two of them are the experts here. The fact that they are dealing with a chemical threat this time really heightens the drama.’
Nabil has made something of a name for himself by playing characters with incredibly stressful jobs. There’s been investigator Joseph in Blue Lights (2023), soldier Rabee in Our Girl (2020) and ‘Meesh’ an army translator in Generation Kill (2008) among others.
You may also have spotted him in EastEnders (2003-2005) in which he played Tariq, Top Boy (2013) in which she played Mr. Mustapha and The Night Of (2016) in which she played Yusuf.
Natalie Simpson as DS Helen Morgan
Having joined the show as Thom’s (Mark Stanley) boyfriend in season two, following his passing it appears that DS Helen has more of a role to play in series three.
‘There’s a concoction of emotions for Helen,’ shares Natalie. ‘Obviously she still feels grief for Thom, but it’s more than that. She was only with him for a few months, but everything became quite messy at work as a result of that relationship. I think she now feels quite embarrassed and perhaps a bit helpless.
‘At the start of this series, we see her putting on a slightly tougher front, because she wants to deal with work in a more professional way and she needs to get herself under control. She just wants to keep a clear head and prove her professionalism.’
Whilst DS Helen in Trigger Point is the biggest role that Natalie has played to date, you may have also spotted her in Outlander (2018-2019) and the recent TV adaptation of Les Miserables (2019).
Maanuv Thiara as DCI Amar Batra
Following Francis leaving, Batra has been promote to DCI and is heading up Lana and the rest of the EXPO team.
Maanuv explains the difference that that promotion makes to the dynamic of the team.
‘He’s been promoted to DCI and he's very much heading up this operation. He’s a very good detective because he’s a details guy, but he’s not used to being in charge, and he's not necessarily equipped to come head-to-head with such a strong personality as Lana. That has been a great thing to grapple with this series – very quickly Lana starts to question how he is running the operation and Batra has to find a way to deal with that.
‘He’s finding his feet and there’s no time for him to get used to anything before this big case comes his way. I'm sure he would have liked another month to work out exactly where his office is before he had to dive into this operation!’
Another member of the cast who’s probably best known for Trigger Point, you may have briefly spotted Maanuv in Landscapers (2021) playing DC MacBride, D.I. Ray (2022) playing PS Tony Khatri and Prime Target (2025) playing Dr. Charan Nathoo.
Jason Flemyng as Steven Wyles
Jason joins the cast of Trigger Point as the ‘villain’ for series three.
Trying not to spoil anything Jason shares, ‘He’s a union boy, a working-class lad, who just decides that the world has let him down. Corporate greed and capitalism have thrown him into touch, and instead of just rolling over or disappearing like most people have to, he decides to reap his revenge and take control.
‘In his eyes certain people should be in prison. Good people do bad things, and that’s what we see with him. So he's a sort of a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Che Guevara!’
Jason Flemyng is probably best known for his collaborations with directors Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn. Thanks to the former he appeared in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), and Layer Cake (2004), Kick-Ass (2020) and X-Men: First Class (2011) due to the latter.
Other films that you may recognise Jason from include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) as the antagonist Thomas Button, Sunshine on Leith as Harry Harper and Boiling Point as Alastair Skye.
And Jason’s TV career is no less prolific with the actor starring in Dr Finlay (1993-1994) as Dr. David Neil, Primeval (2009-2011) as Danny Quinn, This Missing (2014) as Mark, the first season on Save Me (2018) as Tam, Pennyworth (2019-2022) as Lord Harwood and A Town Called Malice (2023) as Albert Lord.
Kerry Godliman as Dr. Sonya Reeves
Sonya is a forensics specialist working for the Bomb Data Centre within the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Unit and a close friend of Lana.
Trigger Point isn’t the only TV series that Kerry has a regular role in, she also leads the cast of cosy crime drama Whitstable Pearl (2021-2025) as Pearl Nolan, played Lisa - the wife of Ricky Gervais – in After Life (2019-2022) and played Teens in series one and two of Save Me (2018-2020), series one of which her Trigger Point series three co-star Jason Flemyng also starred in.
Film-wise there have been two recent, and frankly iconic, cameos. One in the Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield-led We Live In Time (2024) and another in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025) in which she played Hope Faith.
As well as being a successful actress, Kerry also performs as a stand-up comedian. In her capacity as a comedian, she appeared on the seventh series of Taskmaster and won.
Mark Rowley as Rich Manning
Rich Manning is the latest addition to Lana’s squad so we’ll have to see how well he copes with his new colleagues and such a high-pressure career.
No stranger to an action series, Mark previously appeared as Jock McDiarmid in SAS: Rogue Heroes (2024). Generally though, the actor’s CV consists of more fantastical projects like playing Piers in Young Dracula (2014), Finan in The Last Kingdom (2017-2022) and Prince Alvitirin in The Witcher: Blood Origin (2022).
Michael Gould as Edward ‘Ned’ Cole
The target of the first bomb, clearly Ned has done something which has irked Jason Flemyng’s Steven in some way…
Equally at home on stage and on screen, there are a few films that you may recognise Michael from. He played Judge Clark in the Rosamund Pike-led Radioactive (2019), Lord Londonderry in the Gary Oldman-led Darkest Hour (2017) and Mr Monks in Private Peaceful (2012).
Who wrote Trigger Point?
Trigger Point is a series that comes from the brain of Daniel Brierley.
The lead writer for series three is Chris Brandon (Bloodlands) with Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty and Bodyguard) bringing it to life with his production company HTM Television.
What happened in Trigger Point series two?
Following the death of her ex-boyfriend Thom Youngblood (Mark Stanley), Lana became personally involved in stopping an elite terrorist group known as The Wave – whose fight was initially against immoral big tech companies, but had since become twisted into attacks on individuals.
Luckily one member of The Wave, Alex, was able to provide insider information to Lana and her team to help safely detonate bombs (most of the time), but even he couldn’t stop Lana from walking into a trap and being kidnapped.
All’s well that ends well though! Lana was able to prevent the bomb from killing both herself and the home secretary, instead blowing up the mastermind behind the terrorist organisation: Hope. Lana’s parents – who had also been kidnapped – were rescued too.
What happened in Trigger Point series one?
The terrorist organisation in series one was a right-wing splinter group known as The Crusaders who attacked mosques and LGBTQ+ bars. Sadly Lana’s brother Billy (Ewan Mitchell) had got himself caught up in The Crusaders, as did Lana’s colleague Hudson who was detonating bombs at the same time that he was pretending to diffuse them.
The big twist however came in the form of Lana’s friend Karl Maguire (Warren Brown) who was also a member of The Crusaders - having joined the organisation seeking revenge for the cover-up of an ambush in Afghanistan back in 2009.
When does Trigger Point series three air?
The first episode of series three of Trigger Point airs on ITV1 at 9pm Sunday 26 Oct with all six episodes airing weekly.
Where can I watch Trigger Point?
All episodes of series one and two of Trigger Point are available to watch on ITVX, with all episodes of series three joining the streaming service on Sunday 26 Oct.
Daisy Hall became a writer for TVChoice after realising that she could make a career out of her incredible ability to extensively name an actor's credits when they randomly pop up in whatever she's watching. Her friends find it infuriating, but hopefully you find it useful!