Trigger Point returned to ITV on Sunday evening (August 30) with its fourth series, and within the opening episode the bomb disposal unit suffered a devastating loss. DCI Amar Batra, played by Maanuv Thiara, was killed instantly in an explosion while examining a derelict office alongside DS Helen Morgan, who survived the blast.
Lana Washington and the expo team face multiple bomb threats
Vicky McClure reprises her role as hardened expo Lana Washington, joined by familiar faces including Eric Shango as Danny, Natalie Simpson as DS Helen Morgan, Maanuv Thiara as DCI Amar Batra, and Nabil Elouahabi as Hass. The fourth series also welcomes several newcomers, including Shetland's Julie Graham as Commander Nia Quentin.
Within moments of the latest instalment beginning, Lana and her colleagues confronted multiple bomb scenarios, including one at the Bank of England in London, as they scrambled to protect the capital. While the unit fought to rescue as many members of the public as possible, Nia assumed command from the recently promoted DCI Batra, who departed headquarters to assist the team in defusing the devices.
Maanuv Thiara on his character's exit
Actor Maanuv Thiara joined Trigger Point during its second series as DCI Amar Batra, initially holding the rank of Detective Inspector before his promotion to Detective Chief Inspector. Speaking about his departure from the ITV drama, Maanuv said: "When I found out, I think we were just from the end of season three, and I had Dan and Chris waiting in my trailer one morning. They told me what was going on, and obviously, at first, I was totally gutted.
"But then annoyingly, it kind of made total sense for the story and the character, so I got on board with it pretty quickly after that."
Filming the final scenes
Maanuv also praised his co-star Natalie Simpson while discussing the filming of his character's final moments: "It was tough, it was very dusty and full of glass," he explained. "I chose to have my eyes open for it because I thought that would look cooler, but you know my eyes are still quite itchy from that. But it was great, it was great filming with Natalie as well, because we've had so much stuff like that together. So that felt kind of nice."
Trigger Point continues on Sundays at 9pm on ITV1, STV, and is available to stream on ITVX and STV Player.
