Missing Trigger point? Michelle Keegan’s The Blame is the addictive replacement that will keep you guessing until the end
Drawing comparisons to Happy Valley and nicely filling the void left by Trigger Point, The Blame could be your next TV obsession
If you were sad to wave goodbye to Trigger Point when the season 4 finale aired, you won't be for much longer.
Its incoming replacement, The Blame, is gathering a huge buzz online and drawing comparisons to Happy Valley - it will most probably be your next TV obsession.
Based on the debut novel of the same name by Charlotte Langley, the six-part series airs on ITV from September 20 and stars Michelle Keegan as DI Emma Crane, and Douglas Booth as DI Tom Radley - Michelle says she was "hooked" on the script from the moment she laid eyes on it.
When the pair investigate a devastating murder of a teenage girl in the fictional town of Wakestead, a suspect is quickly identified. But as they dig deeper into the case, Emma and Tom uncover institutional cover-ups, lies, moral compromise and misogyny in the police force.
Described as "part propulsive mystery, part social commentary, part love story," there's something for everyone as The Blame takes on big questions affecting the real world.
While the subject matter was challenging for the cast, Michelle Keegan has revealed another "struggle" she had while filming, and the person she turned to that helped her through it.
"I was struggling one day, which happened a few times, with my lines," she says, adding, "because it's very police terminology and you have to get it spot on every single time."
Whenever Michelle ran into difficulty, she turned to her co-star Doug for support. "He would always have my back, always," she shares, continuing, "Even if I fluff a few lines, he would make me feel very, very calm about it, and I wouldn't spiral."
To prepare for the role, the Brassic actress "watched a lot of 24 Hours in Police Custody," and also used her dad as a source of inspiration.
"My dad was a police inspector in the early 90s and 2000s," she explains, adding, "so I asked him what it was like working in the force back then."
Her dad had told her "the ‘lad-culture’ was exactly the same" as it's shown in the drama, with it being "heavily male influenced" and "very rare to have a high-ranking female officer."
While the show has similar gritty, institutional corruption of its outgoing predecessor Trigger Point, it also brings deeper meaning to what can be a standard genre in the same way Happy Valley did, there's a little dose of something extra in The Blame - romance.
Not to give too much away, but this bonus element will also stray from the usual on-screen formula and give viewers something else to think about.
For Michelle, one of The Blame's greatest strengths is that it will keep everyone guessing until the very end - of this she is totally certain.
"I don't know one person who would guess that ending!" she says, adding, "I’d put money on it."
The actress concludes, "That’s why Megan [writer and producer] is so brilliant - all the twists and turns she puts in there, all the fingers being pointed at different people and then no one will see that ending coming."
The Blame airs on ITV and ITVX from September 20.
