mcclure

Telly star Vicky McClure has shared an insight into the upcoming series of Trigger Point and she’s hinted that fans can expect high-powered storylines

She is perhaps better known for Line Of Duty, but Vicky McClure is in the line of fire again during her ITV drama Trigger Point.

The fourth series kicks off with her troubled character Lana Washington on the front line with Counter Terrorism Command as the capital is hit by a wave of devastating bombings.

It’s shocking on screen and the 43-year-old admits it keeps her on her toes. Vicky says: “I think it’s a really great start, and it was the right place to start with Lana’s personal situation. If you’ve been a fan of the show, you’ve got to deal with her, and she’s got to put herself first eventually, for the job as well as for herself. You just cannot keep going. Especially with what’s to come. So yeah, there’s a lot going on.

“But I don’t think anyone will ever know Lana inside out bless her. There’s a numbness to her because of the amount of tragedy that she’s faced. Whether it be close family or a stranger in you know a situation, she doesn’t feel, and that must be such a disconcerting and scary place to be.”

Vicky and the team of bomb disposal officers – known as EXPOs – begin the new series jumping onto a truck as she tries to keep the capital safe from explosive devices and terrorist threats.

Although it is serious and tense on screen, the high octane opening episode was also mixture of fun and fitness for Vicky. She joked she does a lot of prep in the gym before adding:”No I don’t! and I’m not going to lie about it because I don’t.

“It’s my gym! It’s happening while I’m working, and it is it is long days, and it is physical, and it is a lot to take on. But, I know it might get said a lot, but I mean it, this was one of the best jobs.

“And y’know as much as there’s a lot of running, there’s like running, and then it’s like okay, we’re going to change lens. I’m like ‘I’ll see in 20 minutes’. So I’ll go and have a cup of tea and sit down and catch my breath and go again.”

Vicky is joined on the show by returning fellow cast members Eric Shango who plays Danny, Nabil Elouahabi who stars as Hass, Natalie Simpson who is DS Helen Morgan and Maanuv Thiara who is DCI Batra. Director Jennie Darnell, who also worked on Line Of Duty also got to use guest stars including Julie Graham and Jonas Armstrong.

They hope to build on the success of the third series which averaged 7 million viewers, with the launch attracting 7.4million

The main problem the team had for the explosive opening episode was shooting in London and all its landmarks, which is not easy as its a city that is never quiet or empty.

Director Jennie said It was “very exciting” but added: “How of you track a device on a lorry through London in almost real time. We had to work through that. What makes it complex and difficult is if we were going to say it was set in London, we needed to be in London.

So we needed to know those landmarks and know how we could use them, know which ones we could have access to using, and then piece that together from there.”

The result is an extraordinarily tense and exciting opening episode, although actor Vicky is at pains to keep all the details secret.

Writer Chris Brandon teased: “This show thrives on its on its cliffhangers and and and its surprises, and there’s plenty more to come.”

Before promoting this ITV series, Vicky has also just finished filming new Line Of Duty scenes for the BBC and is sworn to secrecy on that action too, although she thinks some measures by TV bosses to keep things under wraps can be a bit over the top.

She said: “ I do think sometimes it’s a bit dramatic, the industry, it’s a bit MI5. Oh sign an NDA for this script.

“Like we’re gonna copy it and get a green light tomorrow, which is impossible ever. So I do think sometimes it’s excessive.

“But then, for the audience’s sake, I wouldn’t dream of saying anything, because, you know whether you’re gonna binge it, whether you’re gonna go week by week, whatever way you want to approach telly now, which is in so many different ways, people have a choice, and that’s great.

And it’s such a shame when sometimes it is you know given out, and therefore you kind of can’t miss the spoilers. But that’s that’s the way it is now.

“I wouldn’t dream of sort of saying too much. I think if my family ask, yeah, they probably know a lot. So don’t approach them!”

* Trigger Point Series 4 starts on ITV and ITVX on Sunday August 30 at 9pm.

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The ITV crime series is returning with a familiar face leading the expos command

Trigger Point will soon return to television screens with a much-loved actress joining the bomb disposal experts.

The fourth season of the ITV crime drama sees Vicky McClure’s Lana Washington and her bomb defusal unit take on an explosive new case as they seek to keep the people of London safe from explosive devices and terrorist threats.

McClure has shared her excitement about the new episodes ahead of the release: “I love working with the team, we have a great time making the show, and I cannot wait to continue Lana’s journey on Trigger Point.”

The first look trailer confirms the team’s new challenge is “unprecedented”, with Lana noting that they seem to know how her team works. The scale of the attacks is made even clearer when Lana confirms, “The threats feel bigger, the bombs are closer.”

Returning on-screen alongside Lana is Eric Shango as Danny, Nabil Elouahabi as Hassan “Hass” Rahim, Natalie Simpson as DS Helen Morgan, and Maanuv Thiara as DCI Amar Batra.

Shetland star Julie Graham has also joined the star-studded cast as Commander Nia Quentin.

In the trailer, viewers see Nia confirm that this could be “the biggest terror attack this country has seen,” as the expo team battles to save the capital.

Away from Trigger Point, fans of crime dramas will know Julie as Rhona Kelly in the BBC series Shetland between 2014 and 2022.

The show is based on the bestselling crime novels by award-winning author Ann Cleeves and follows a dedicated police team as they investigate grisly murders and long-buried secrets within the tight-knit, remote island community of Scotland’s Isles.

Scottish actress Julie, 61, has been a seemingly near-permanent fixture on our screens since a Taggart appearance in the mid-1980s.

Her other long-running series commitments include portraying Megan Hartnoll in At Home With The Braithwaites, Abby Grant in Survivors, and playing Sheron Dawson in the adored sitcom, Benidorm.

Most recently, period drama fans saw Julie transform into Ma Hardacre in the Channel 5 show The Hardacres, which follows the sweeping rags-to-riches journey of a working-class family in 1890s Yorkshire.

She also played Annie Marling in Ridley and Elain Phelan in This City is Ours.

Trigger Point series 1-3 is available to stream on ITVX

Josh Grisetti, the Broadway actor who charmed audiences with roles in “Something Rotten!” and TV’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” has died, a family member confirmed to The Times on Monday. He was 44.

Grisetti died by suicide Friday, his “Something Rotten!” co-star Rob McClure first announced Sunday on Instagram, adding he is heartbroken and “not ready to even attempt to understand.” McClure also expressed his condolences to Grisetti’s wife and family. The Instagram post included photos of Grisetti and McClure over the years, including at Grisetti’s wedding. The actor married Mackenzie Perpich in 2020.

“Communities around the world will never be the same without him. We love you Josh,” McClure wrote in his caption. “Just a cataclysmic loss.”

On Broadway, Grisetti was best known for starring as Bottom brother Nigel alongside McClure’s Nick. The play follows the pair of brothers as they strive for success in the theatrical world amid William Shakespeare’s unstoppable rise. Grisetti portrayed Nigel Bottom from 2017 to 2018 for the show’s national tour. Grisetti also starred in musical comedies “It Shoulda Been You” and “Broadway Bound.” He appeared in award-winning off-Broadway productions including “Rent,” “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “Enter Laughing,” among others.

Grisetti’s regional credits also include “Spamalot” in Las Vegas, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” at the Reprise Theatre, “Beauty & the Beast” and “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” in La Mirada.

“Thank you, Josh, for sharing your beautiful energy and immense talent with us,” the La Mirada Theatre said on Instagram.

The actor, in what would be his final Instagram post, announced he departed a production of “Legally Blonde” at the Trentino Music Festival for “personal reasons” before the show’s opening.

The festival also mourned Grisetti in an Instagram post Monday: “Josh was a loving and caring person who was deeply dedicated to his friends, his students, and his colleagues. He was beloved by all who knew him, and he will be deeply missed by our students, faculty, and staff.”

Grisetti, born in December 1981 in Roanoke, Va., acted throughout childhood and performed in a variety of productions, including a kindergarten production of “Peter Rabbit” and high school productions of “Anything Goes” and “Flowers for Algernon.” He officially earned his Actors’ Equity card in 2004 for a production of “Where’s Charley?” at the Goodspeed Opera House, he told Playbill in 2009.

He also pursued a career in TV and film, most notably appearing in the Emmy-winning series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” He appeared as comedy writer Ralph Emerson in the series’ fifth season. He also had roles in shows “The Knights of Prosperity,” “Nurse Jackie” and “The Good Fight.”

He appeared in the film adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake,” “The Immigrant,” “The Revolutionary Road” and “Men in Black 3,” among other movies, according to IMDb.

Grisetti, who also directed various musical productions, notably brought his talent and experience to Cal State Fullerton and Loyola Marymount University, teaching acting, musical theater and business. He also authored “God in My Head” in 2016, an “irreverent spiritual memoir” that details his accidental meeting with God through a “hallucinogenic journey.”

During his time on “Price of Broadway” in 2015, Grisetti reflected on luck and breaking into the industry. “Luck is required to kind of spark some things in this business a lot of the time, but then talent is what keeps you there,” he told Playbill.

“You start making your own luck, you start forging your own connections and making it happen.”