Trigger Point led to 'influx' of applications to become Explosive Officers

After the first season of Trigger Point aired in 2022, the metropolitan police saw an 'influx' of people applying to become Explosive Officers (Expos), star Vicky McClure has revealed.

Speaking after a screening of the show’s second season premiere attended by Yahoo UK, McClure — who plays the show’s central Expo — said the ITV series had “exposed” a job that had previously remained out of the public limelight.

Asked about the response from real Expos to the first season, McClure said: “One thing that we've been told is that the influx of people that applied to become expos — females as well, which is quite rare — was huge.

Read more: Trigger Point recap: What happened in S1?

“That was what attracted me to the role initially because I was just like, ‘What is an Expo?’ I'd never heard of the word Expo. I knew about bomb disposal. But it's a whole world that was untouched, apart from maybe [the Oscar-winning movie] Hurt Locker.

“For popular television, it wasn't something that we knew about, and so it exposed something that has attracted people to want to do it, which is no bad thing. It's something that's an important role. It was nice to know that that was influential to people.”

The second season of Trigger Point sees McClure’s Expo, the head of bomb disposal at the Metropolitan Police, return to work only to find herself at the centre of another fight against a mysterious terrorist group. Returning cast members include Mark Stanley, Nabil Elouahabi, and Eric Shango, while Julian Ovenden and Natalie Simpson join the series.

The show’s executive producer Jed Mercurio, who previously collaborated with McClure on the series Line of Duty, said that they worked with real Expos on the series.

“We do work very closely with the advisors because we want to get the technical details, right,” he said. “It's really important to pay tribute to the work they do.

“They're incredibly heroic, what they do is so courageous, but when you meet these people, they're all so down to earth and humble. That's just so kind of amazing that they're like that.

“Anything this series does to make people understand what a heroic and courageous and important job they do is really pleasing for us.”

McClure added: “Expos haven't got a clue what they're walking towards. They don't know who's behind it, they don't know how they've put it together, what the tripwire might be. There are so many different variables when it comes to the devices.

“Some can be very complex, and some can be very simple, but those both have the same effect.”

The real-world impact of television series has recently been highlighted by the success of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which led to renewed public interest in the ongoing inquiry into the Post Office’s Horizon IT scandal.

Trigger Point season 2 airs weekly from Sunday, 28 January at 9pm on ITV.

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