One to watch: Bethan Cullinane steals the show in new series of Trigger Point
Stephen Price
High-octane thriller, Trigger Point has returned to ITV1 and ITVX for a second series, and fans of the acclaimed TV production have reserved their highest praise for lead-antagonist, Hope – masterly-portrayed by Bethan Cullinane.
Starting afresh with a whole new storyline following the success of series one, Vicky McClure returns in the lead role as police bomb disposal officer Lana Washington, earning high praise from critics.
Praise has also fallen on Bethan Cullinane’s gripping performance as the Welsh leader of terrorist group, The Wave.
Caerleon
Bethan Cullinane is a writer and actor with a growing reputation based on her powerful performances in the roles of Guildenstern in Hamlet performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Lizzie Wingfield in Hotel Portofino, and Innogen in Cymbeline performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Having studied at RADA, she began her acting career in 2012 with the role of Sally Montague in Thyme.
Bethan’s family hail from Caerleon, where she spent much of her holidays as a child, having grown up overseas, which explains her note-perfect Welsh accent.
The first series, which focused on the Expo officers in the Metropolitan Police Bomb Disposal Squad, was commissioned by ITV’s Head of Drama, Polly Hill, and was the best performing drama of 2022, averaging 9.5m viewers per episode.
Alongside Vicky McClure, the second series features returning cast members Nabil Elouahabi (Blue Lights, Unforgotten) as Hass, Eric Shango (Suspicion) as Danny, Mark Stanley (Happy Valley, The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe) as DI Thom Youngblood, Kerry Godliman (After Life, Whitstable Pearl) as Sonya Reeves, Kris Hitchen (Four Lives) as John and Kevin Eldon (Sanditon) as Jeff.
Besides Bethan Cullinane as Hope, it also features new cast members Natalie Simpson (North Sea Connection, Outlander) who plays DS Helen Morgan, Julian Ovenden (Bridgerton) who plays Commander John Francis and Tomiwa Edun as Alex (Young Wallander, Trying).
Motives
The new six-part series has been written by Simon Ashdown (Our House, EastEnders), Amanda Duke (Treason) and Daniel Brierley. It was created by Daniel Brierley.
In episode one, Lana is back from secondment in Estonia, training Ukrainian bomb disposal teams, but has not yet returned to active duty. She is giving a routine talk to security officers from major financial institutions about the issues surrounding bomb centred terrorism, when there is a bomb attack in the heart of the city. Lana is closest to the incident, but is she ready to take it on?
And what are the motives behind the bombers, led by the seemingly cold-hearted Hope?
Trigger Point has already begun airing on ITV1 and is currently available to stream in full on ITVX.
Ahead of its first episode, Vicky McClure had high praise for this latest series, saying: “It’s always a gamble putting out a new show with such a big concept like Trigger Point, but I also had a lot of confidence in the series because I thought the script was strong and the characters were great
“It was a real shocker when we won at the National Television Awards too, we had so much fun that night. I don’t do anything for the potential of an award, that’s really the cherry on top for any show, but it’s always such a pleasure when you win!”
Alluding to the theme of series two, and the powerful ’scene-stealing’ performance from Cullinane’s character, Hope, Vicky McClure added: “The terror threat this series is very complex. It’s not the same one man band that we dealt with last time – it’s a much bigger game being played and the Met and expos find themselves in a long running cat and mouse game, they’re being sent in circles. It’s tense and frustrating and we’ve definitely got more explosives than last year.”
You can stream Trigger Point in full on ITVX now.
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Pulp fiction at its most empty headed. The lead character does everything. Rest of the cast are spectators in this juvenile drama. As you might guess I have stopped watching it.