'Trigger Point': Vicky McClure and Jed Mercurio return with another tense crime thriller

Vicky McClure and Jed Mercurio reuniting for a tense new thriller that focusses on police work...it's difficult not to immediately think "Line Of Duty".

And that's no bad thing, as both McClure and Mercurio admit, if it draws in the viewers for new ITV launch Trigger Point - although a twisty, shock-filled first episode that's typical of the showrunner ensures they'll be coming back for more.

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McClure previously told Yahoo and other press: "People loved Line Of Duty so if there are any comparisons, it might not be a bad thing," as Mercurio agreed: "It's great if people come to it because they love Vicky from Line Of Duty and they want to see her in this, so that would be lovely if it gives the show more attention."

There are differences here - Mercurio is the executive producer rather than the writer (the series was penned by Daniel Brierley) but the series has his stamp all over it, while McClure plays bomb disposal expert (or "expo") Lana Washington rather than a detective.

But if you loved Line Of Duty, there's no doubt you'll be making a regular Sunday evening appointment with ITV to watch Trigger Point.

Episode one opens on Lana and her trusted work partner Joel "Nut" Nutkins (Adrian Lester) attending a police call out to a London tower block where residents have been evacuated after a tip-off about a bomb threat.

Right from the start, we get a sense of the nerves of steel needed to even contemplate a career in bomb disposal, something that Lana and Nut have honed in a previous life serving in Afghanistan.

In echoes of their earlier careers, the call-out comes during a heatwave with tensions rising from the hostile residents angry at the police keeping them away from their homes, while the pair must keep their cool enough to work out where the bomb source is and how to defuse it.

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Without giving away any of the myriad twists and turns packed into a pacy episode one, the situation turns out to be infinitely more knotty than the expos first realise and sets the series up nicely for a number of different horror-filled avenues to dive down.

Like Mercurio's Line Of Duty and Bodyguard before it, Trigger Point is a master of hooking viewers immediately and leaving them counting down the days until the next instalment.

There's also a familiar feel to some of the unforgiving police terminology and acronyms used, although you won't need Google on hand quite so often as with an AC-12 interview.

However, McClure has pointed out that her alter egos Kate Armstrong and Lana Washington are very different characters, but both have a strength that she loves.

She said: "I've fallen into this genre and Line Of Duty, we never expected it to do what it's done and I can't be worried about taking roles that might feel in a similar world because of that.

"I don't see (the two characters) together as the same people at all. They're both very strong women for sure and very brave and very committed, but that's the kind of roles I love to take, if I read a script I often want to play the male's role because that is the strong, committed role, so I'm always going to be drawn to that."

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As Lana, McClure exudes a calmness in the face of terror that you can't help but be drawn to, leaving no doubt that this is another gem of a leading role for the This Is England star.

Cosy Sunday night viewing it is not, but Trigger Point ticks all the right boxes for those still craving a replacement for their weekly Line Of Duty fix.

Trigger Point begins on Sunday at 9pm on ITV.

Watch: See the trailer for Trigger Point