Trigger Point – how true is it to real-life bomb disposal? Explosives experts have their say
First it was bent coppers, now it’s explosives planted around London – Vicky McClure’s characters never have it easy.
The BAFTA-winning actress is currently on screen as Lana Washington in the second series of ITV drama Trigger Point, leading a team of bomb disposal experts – or “expos” – working for the Met Police.
Written by Daniel Brierley, it’s another series executive produced by Jed Mercurio, the man behind Line Of Duty. While it hasn’t quite reached the same fevered levels of fandom just yet, the first season was a ratings winner and a linear TV draw for viewers tuning in to see what – or who – will face an explosive end each Sunday night.
Warning – contains spoilers
Stay away from the lift shaft: McClure and co-star Mark Stanley as DCI Thom Youngblood. Pic: ITV
The penultimate episode airs this evening and the tension has ramped up; Lana has faced car park bombs, disused tube station bombs and laptop bombs – not to mention her detective ex being pushed down a lift shaft by a woman disguised as a firefighter checking the scene, right after their romance had been rekindled.
But how good is Trigger Point at getting the work of a real-life expo right?
Major Chris Hunter, who spent years in bomb disposal for the army and the Special Forces – and whose work inspired the Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker – has written books including Extreme Risk and Eight Lives Down.
He now works for an NGO clearing explosives from conflict zones and has been watching Trigger Point in Iraq. While he wasn’t too impressed with the first series, he says things have vastly improved second time round.
“You can’t help sort of looking at the technical aspects of it and critiquing it,” he told Sky News. “And I think a lot of the aspects are really technically on the ball [in series two].”
‘Absence of the normal, presence of the abnormal’
Experts agree the second series is more true to life than the first. Pic: ITV
There’s still “a little bit of running around, a little bit of shouting” in the show, he understates it, but appreciates you need this to make a drama. In reality, he says it’s not so chaotic.
“We don’t do that as bomb techs, we just don’t shout. We don’t run around. We don’t run towards a bomb, we don’t run away from a bomb. Everything is calculated. Everything. You’re constantly going through this threat assessment.
“When you turn up at a bomb scene, you’ve got to draw on your experience, you’ve got to draw on your intelligence, your intellect, your IQ. You’ve got to draw on your intuition as well, because you’ve never got 100% of the threat picture, if you like. So you have to make a plan based on what information you’ve got.
“It’s cold, it’s calculating, it’s thorough. And then you’ve got to walk up to that bomb – and I say walk, you don’t run up to a bomb, ever. You walk up to that bomb and as you’re walking up to it, you’re continually refining that threat assessment.
“You’re looking at the environment. You’re looking at the atmospherics. You’re taking in every single aspect of the information around you.
“You’re looking at absence of the normal, you’re looking at presence of the abnormal. And as you take each step towards that bomb, you’re constantly updating the threat picture. Is there something right, is there something wrong?”
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You have to think about intent, he adds, and what type of bomb you’re dealing with. “Is it time? Is it command? Is it victim-operated? And you constantly hear Vicky McClure’s character asking that question and that’s really good to see as well, they’ve absolutely got that right. And then finally when you get up to the bomb, that’s when you’ve built up most of your threat picture.”
In this series, drones have been used in an attack on Washington and her team.
“Drone warfare is very much at the forefront of what we do,” says Chris. “So I think that’s something they’ve got absolutely right, it’s definitely in every aspect of conflict. It’s something we’re seeing now, and it’s something we’re going to see 100% in the future.
“I think they’ve done a really good job at looking at the current technologies and how to turn those into IEDs and threats, and a good sort of analysis of future technologies as well. Things that are just around the corner.”
‘I can suspend my disbelief’
Kerry Godliman stars alongside McClure as data analyst Sonya. Pic: ITV
Lucy Lewis, the army’s first female bomb disposal expert, says there are parts the show gets right and parts it gets wrong – but these things are often incorrect on purpose.
“In these kinds of shows you have to get some bits wrong so they can never be mistaken as a documentary,” she says. “When it’s a police [or military] uniform, you have to get something visually wrong so there’s no way snippets could be mistaken for the real thing.” For example, in the recent police procedural series Vigil, she points out, military badges read “British Air Force” and not “Royal Air Force”.
In Trigger Point, as there are no distinguishing badges for the expos they often have their radios upside down, “which I find really annoying”, she says, “but it’s because there’s nothing else they can really ‘get wrong’, visually”.
Lucy has written a book about her work, titled Lighting The Fuse, and says there has been renewed interest since Trigger Point debuted six months later, such is the fascination with the show. She says she has watched it “between my fingers and shouted at the telly quite a lot” at some points.
“It must be the same for police watching police [portrayed in TV dramas], medics watching medics,” she says. “But I love watching Vicky McClure and I think Jed Mercurio is really good. I watch for quality of the drama rather than technical aspects. But this series is better than the first, and I can suspend my disbelief.”
In real life, bomb disposal work is “very boring, lots of hanging about”, she says. “There’s a small crack and a puff of smoke and nothing happens. They’ve made it very dramatic in Trigger Point – every explosion is always a fireball.”
‘It’s a problem that needs to be dealt with’
McClure and co-star Nabil Elhouahabi, who plays Hass. Pic: ITV
But rather than being annoyed at the exaggerations, Lucy enjoys “the drama of it”. And to critics on social media who have questioned certain actions, such as Lana sometimes removing her helmet when searching for explosive devices, she says this does happen.
“We do take our helmets off to look under cars,” she says. “And we do use fibreoptics to look inside things. They’ve also done the controlled explosions right, pretty much. But there’s a lot more snipping of the red wire than really goes on.”
Most people would say bomb disposal experts must need nerves of steel, but Lucy is having none of it. “Not at all – it’s a problem that needs to be dealt with.
“For me, the worst part was always the journey there, not knowing what I was going to find. As soon as you arrive there’s bits to check – where gas mains are, what’s in the buildings around you, why the bomb is where it is, is it next to something vulnerable and what are the consequences of that?”
As has been shown in Trigger Point, “very rarely is where the bomb is placed the actual target, that’s what it gets right… they’ll put in a small bomb that draws you in, but the main bomb is in location two. In Afghanistan, the idea was not to kill but to injure, to then target the Chinook coming in to get the injured.”
The show has faced questions from some viewers about potentially giving away too much about how to make and operate explosives, or work out ways to prevent expos from doing their job, but Chris says there is enough missing from the show to prevent too much information being given away.
“They’ve got the technical aspects correct enough for it to be absolutely authentic, but not quite enough for somebody to go in there and say, oh, I’m going to go make a bomb now. If you tried to use it as some sort of recipe book, then you would definitely be getting it slightly wrong.”
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And like Lucy, he plays down the bravery aspect, saying dealing with explosives comes after years of training and experience.
“As bomb techs, we know exactly what we’re doing. And I guess, more importantly, we know what we don’t know. Everything is calculated risk, it’s not foolhardy risk. So, I guess, yeah, a healthy amount of courage, but I wouldn’t say nerves of steel, no.”
As for Lana Washington – would he have her on his team?
“You know what? I think when she was in series one, probably not. I think she needed a bit more training. I think series two, yeah, she’s definitely very good.
“I’ve heard actually, through the grapevine – I don’t know if this is true, but apparently – I’ve heard that when [McClure] talks to the technical adviser, she’s actually read the script [at times] and said, ‘I’m not sure I’d do that, I’d probably want to do this’, because she’s learnt so much she’s actually started to think like an operator now. So, you know, kudos to her, and her technical adviser as well. Good effort.”
From soaring power ballads to novelty earworms, disco to metal and even “ouija pop”, there’s nothing quite like Eurovision – watched by millions around the world, tuning in to celebrate live music’s weird and wonderful.
Politics has always played a part, despite insistence by organisers the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that it remains politically neutral.
Countries have pulled out or been banned in previous years – most notably Russia in 2022, just days after the invasion of Ukraine.
But it now seems like Eurovision could be facing its biggest political crisis yet.
Yuval Raphael represented Israel at this year’s contest, held in Basel in May. Pic: AP
In the last two years, there has been growing controversy over Israel’s participation, with protests in host city Basel, Switzerland, earlier this year, and Malmo in Sweden when it held the competition in 2024.
Ahead of next year’s ceremony in Vienna, Austria, tensions have risen already.
Earlier this month, Irish broadcaster RTE made an announcement: it will boycott the competition if Israel is allowed to take part. The Netherlands and Spain quickly followed suit, and other countries including Slovenia and Iceland have suggested similar.
It comes amid increasing criticism of Israel’s continued military action in Gaza, launched in response to the attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which left some 1,200 people dead.
The Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group, the competition’s governing body, has extended the deadline for broadcasters to confirm participation to mid-December. It says a decision on Israel’s participation is pending and that it has “taken note of the concerns expressed by several broadcasters”.
Politics at Eurovision – and why is this different?
Kalush Orchestra won for Ukraine in 2022. Pic: AP/Luca Bruno
What is unfolding now is unlike anything that has come before, says Dean Vuletic, a historian of contemporary Europe and author of Postwar Europe In The Eurovision Song Contest.
“Politics has always been there,” he says. “Countries have always used the contest to send political messages. For example, in the very first contest in 1956, West Germany was represented by a Jew and a Holocaust survivor.
“In recent years, though, things have changed because the European Broadcasting Union has had to make political decisions.”
Vuletic cites Belarus’s exclusion in 2021, after the country had experienced large protests over the disputed re-election of leader Alexander Lukashenko, and its entry was deemed too political.
The following year, Russia was kicked out just a few days after the start of the invasion on Ukraine. The EBU said at the time that Russia’s participation would “bring the competition into disrepute”.
But these are not the first examples of countries being excluded from the competition; this first happened in the early 1990s, when the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was banned due to UN sanctions.
“When it came to Belarus, Russia, there were also European sanctions,” says Vuletic. “Israel was for a long time not subject to sanctions from European countries for its actions in Gaza – although in recent days we’ve seen that changing.”
What about the BBC?
Remember Monday represented the UK at Eurovision in 2025. Pic: MANDOGA MEDIA/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
BBC director general Tim Davie has said the corporation is “aware of the concerns” raised, but the song contest has “never been about politics”.
A spokesperson for the broadcaster sent a similar statement to Sky News, saying: “We are aware of the various views and concerns which have been expressed in recent days in relation to next year’s Eurovision. At this stage, we will continue to be part of the discussions, led by the European Broadcasting Union, with other members and broadcasters.
“Eurovision has never been led by politics, it has been – and is – a celebration of music and culture that brings people together from across the world.”
Why is Spain’s stance particularly important?
Spain is one of Eurovision’s “Big Five” countries, a group which also includes France, Germany, Italy and the UK. While the host broadcaster – decided by the previous year’s winner – will often contribute most towards the cost of staging the contest, the Big Five will also make up a significant amount.
These countries are big markets for Eurovision and acts are given direct entry to the final because of this. They also act as reserve countries should a winning country not be able to host; in 2023, the UK stepped in following Ukraine’s win the previous year.
Pic: Corinne Cumming/ EBU
“Dr Eurovision” Paul Jordan, who has a PhD in the subject and also worked behind the scenes as part of the EBU’s communications team between 2015 and 2018, says Spain’s stance has increased the pressure.
“There’s always been these tensions but there’s never been a kind of threat of a mass boycott in the way that has happened now,” he says. “The fact they are now outwardly saying they won’t participate with Israel in, that could make the EBU sit up and take notice because there is potential funding pitfalls and audience pitfalls.
“Having a big five country not part of the contest could potentially unravel the funding model. I also think the funding itself potentially needs to be looked at in the context of the financial challenges facing public broadcasters today.”
The EBU has said it is “assessing the potential impacts” of broadcasters pulling out. When asked by Sky News if this includes financial ones they, simply said that “all impacts will be assessed”.
Are other countries likely to follow suit?
Germany, represented by Abor & Tinny at this year’s event, has said it will support the EBU’s decision. Pic: MANDOGA MEDIA/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
Sky News has contacted broadcasters set to take part in the event. Italy’s RAI, another of the Big Five, said it hoped to have news on the issue soon. Germany’s SWR said its parent company, ARD, supports the consultation process and will back the EBU’s decision.
In a statement, an SWR spokesperson said the goal is “to reach a well-founded and sustainable agreement that aligns with the values” of the EBU.
“The ESC has been a major musical event for decades, connecting people across Europe and beyond through diversity, respect, and openness, regardless of origin, religion, or beliefs. It is a competition organised by EBU broadcasters, not by governments.”
Experts agree the number of countries threatening a boycott will likely increase – although it could work both ways.
“We have to see what this period of consultation will bring, which countries will also join the calls for a boycott of the contest if Israel does participate, which countries might be steadfast in their support of Israel,” says Vuletic.
“For now, that’s not clear, whether countries will actually be so supportive of Israel so as to themselves contribute to a boycott of the contest. That would be a very big political message because if they take the side of Israel and not of their European partners, then we might see even greater ramifications of this crisis.”
What has Israel said?
Netta won the competition for Israel in 2018. Pic: Armando Franca/AP
Israel’s broadcaster, Kan, did not respond to Sky News’ request for comment.
However, chief executive Golan Yochpaz reportedly told the Times of Israel that the event should not become political and that that there is “no reason” why Israel should not be part of it.
He also highlighted Israel’s success in the competition, with one win in 2018 and three other top-five finishes in recent years.
The situation in Gaza
More than 65,000 people in Gaza have now been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The figure does not specify the number of Hamas members killed.
The ongoing military action continues following the Hamas terror attack on Israel in October 2023, which saw around 1,200 people killed and 251 people taken hostage. Forty-eight remain in Gaza, but fewer then half are thought to still be alive.
Earlier in September, a UN commission agreed Israel is committing genocide – the first time such an explosive allegation has been made publicly by a UN body. Israel has vehemently denied this claim as “distorted and false”.
Sky News analysis shows thousands of families remain in crowded tent camps in Gaza City, with the UN estimating last week that a million people remain there.
Israel, however, believes 40% of the population has already fled south and earlier this week opened a new evacuation route for 48 hours.
What happened at the contest this year and in 2024?
Final scores for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025. Pic: BBC
Israeli contestant Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the October 2-23 Hamas attack, won the public vote with the song New Day Will Rise, and at one point looked set to be crowned the overall winner of this year’s competition – but ultimately finished second when the jury vote was included.
There were protests before and during her performance.
“I was just metres away from pro-Palestinian protesters who threw red paint when the Israeli artist appeared on stage,” says Vuletic. “And of course, it must be hugely stressful for these artists. There are also increased security measures, especially for these artists who are targeted.
“You could sense the tension in the arena when it became apparent that Israel could win the contest. A lot of people were willing to allow Israel to participate in the contest, they were not necessarily supporting the Netanyahu government… but when it appeared that Israel really could win the contest you could really sense this fear among the live audience in the arena, that the contest could be held in Israel the following year.”
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Protest during Israel’s Eurovision song
Having Israel as a host country would lead to a lot more countries boycotting, he says.
“It’s become so toxic,” says Jordan. “You see now, booing on the stage in a way that you had for Russia before. But really, in 2024, it became much more pronounced.
“Eurovision is meant to be joyous. And I remember the day of the [2024] final being with friends in a pub. And it just felt like an impending sense of doom, something was going to go wrong… it just felt that this is a house of cards that could potentially come falling down…
“Eurovision for me was all about escapism, they call it the Eurovision bubble. And that was a very special thing. And I feel now that’s kind of changing. It feels like an event that we all grew up with, now at 70 years old, and it could potentially start to unravel. It’d be a great shame, I think, culturally, if that does happen.”
Who else has commented?
Austria will host the event in 2026 following singer JJ’s win. Pic: Reuters
Austrian singer JJ, who won this year’s competition, has also reportedly called for Israel’s exclusion in 2026.
Following his win in May, singer JJ said it was “disappointing to see Israel still participating”, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais. “I would like the next Eurovision to be held in Vienna and without Israel,” he added.
And Austria will of course host the show next year.
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In a statement sent to Sky News, broadcaster ORF said the decision is a matter for the EBU.
“It is always the public broadcaster of a country that takes part in the Eurovision Song Contest, not the government or country itself,” an ORF spokesperson said. “Ultimately, however, the decision regarding participation is a matter for the EBU and its members. ORF will be a good host for all delegations in May 2026.”
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Russia’s alternative Eurovision
What happens now?
The competition’s director, Martin Green, has said the EBU understands “the concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East” and that the organisation is still consulting with all members “to gather views on how we manage participation and geopolitical tensions”.
Broadcasters have until mid-December to confirm whether or not they are taking part – and the EBU then has a decision to make.
Entertainment
Jonathan Pie: British satirist’s free speech warning to UK after Jimmy Kimmel show taken off air
The UK has to be “careful” and protect free speech as debate becomes “more and more toxic” on both sides of the Atlantic, a British satirist has said.
Tom Walker, better known as the ranting fictitious newsreader Jonathan Pie, has issued the warning after US talk show Jimmy Kimmel was taken off air for comments he made following the death of Charlie Kirk.
Speaking to Niall Paterson on the Sky News Daily podcast, Walker said he believes he wouldn’t be able work as a satirist in America today as the Trump administration appears to be cracking down on those who speak out against him.
Tom Walker as his satirical creation. Pic: Jonathan Pie
He added: “I genuinely don’t think I would be allowed into the country. That might sound dramatic, but they go through your social media posts. I think Trump thinks that not agreeing with him is anti-American, whereas it’s not, it’s anti-Trump, it’s anti-Republican. So a lot of my posts would be seen as anti-American.”
Walker went viral in 2016 after posting a clip of Jonathan Pie passionately blaming “the left” for Mr Trump’s victory in the US election the same year.
The comedian argued that left-leaning people had “lost the art” of engaging with anyone with a different opinion to them and urged them to “stop thinking everyone who disagrees with you is evil, racist or sexist or stupid”.
Asked by Niall if he believes Kimmel, who has a long history of speaking out against Mr Trump, is partly responsible for the rise of the populist president, Walker said: “No, I don’t… Most of these late-night hosts are left-leaning and Trump is an own goal for satire.
“I don’t think there was much that Jimmy Kimmel said in his monologue the other day that was anywhere near as divisive as the rhetoric coming from Donald Trump or (vice president) JD Vance, so there is an inherent hypocrisy there.”
However, Walker believes “right-wingers” are not the only reason free speech is under a “huge amount of threat in America”.
The satirist, who counts himself as being left-wing, continued: “I think the left have enabled a culture where people don’t feel that they’re able to express their views.
“The left-wing were the flag-bearers of cancel culture. And now it’s sort of coming back to bite us in a terrifying way.”
Kimmel was taken off air months after US talk show host Stephen Colbert had his show cancelled – something his fans have attributed to his criticism of Mr Trump.
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US talk show titans speak out
Meanwhile, the US president appeared to encourage NBC to cancel the talk shows of Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers in a Truth Social post on Thursday. Both presenters are known to have made jokes about Mr Trump in the past.
Asked whether the UK should be worried about free speech apparently being targeted in the UK in a similar way, Walker said: “I think that there are issues of free speech in this country. I don’t think it is quite as bad as what’s happening in America, but we have to be careful. The debate on both sides of the Atlantic is becoming more and more toxic, I think. And it’s divide and conquer. ‘You’re either with me or you’re against me’. And I think both sides have to take some responsibility for that.”
Walker pointed out that when he posted a satirical video on X called “The Death Of Discourse” in relation to the Kirk assassination, he was attacked by social media users on both the left and right of politics.
He added: “I think that’s the problem… We have forgotten how to talk and listen to people that we fundamentally disagree with.”
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