Vicky McClure's shows, ranked – Line of Duty to Trigger Point
In honour of Trigger Point's season two return.
Vicky McClure is back on our screens as Lana Washington in the deliciously, uncomfortably tense Trigger Point.
After the success of its debut season, Trigger Point has kicked things up a notch by giving the fans more of what made the first series so exciting: Washington fighting her way out of adrenaline-inducing situations.
Off the back of a traumatic finale, the bomb-disposal expert returns to series two still carrying the weight of that deep betrayal and her brother's death.
This thankfully means more of McClure doing what she does best, delivering an emotionally gritty performance in the most authentic and grounded way.
Without a doubt, Trigger Point is made up of a brilliant cast, yet with McClure in the lead role delivering such a gripping performance one can't help but reflect on how the quality of performance has gone from strength to strength over her 15-year screen career.
Her early days began with performances in Doctors and other shows which paved the way for her breakout role in Line of Duty. Padding out either side of her six-season stint on the BBC police drama, McClure has been in some cracking (and some not-so-cracking) productions. But despite one or two middling shows, she has kept the bar for her performances high.
To mark the second season of Trigger Point and the talent that is Vicky McClure, we've rounded up some of her best television performances that have earned her household-name status.
Alex Rider
Though not the main cast member, Vicky McClure delivered a solid performance in Alex Rider, an espionage teen drama that sees titular character Alex become recruited for MI6.
McClure played the role of Alex's handler with a seriousness that makes the absurdity of a teen being recruited as a spy feel even more ridiculous, which added to the irony of it all.
The Secret Agent
In this 19th-century story about espionage, terrorism and suicide bombers, McClure took on the role of Winnie, secret agent Anton Verloc's downtrodden wife.
There's a brilliant softness and fragility to the way McClure handles the role of Winnie despite life's circumstances forcing her to be strong.
The Replacement
Despite hooking viewers in with its strong first two episodes, The Replacement has been widely criticised for fumbling at the last hurdle thanks to its far-reaching finale.
That said, McClure still served fans a thoughtful, deranged performance as Paula, who stepped in for new mum Ellen when she returned to work.
McClure's Single White Female-esque portrayal of Paula, whose slippery attempt to assume Ellen's life gets away from her, was unhinged and absorbing in equal measures despite the show's odd narrative choices and the weird pacing.
Without Sin
Without Sin may have been middling in quality but McClure does justice to the part of Stella, a bereaved mum on a mission to uncover her daughter's killer.
Within her performance was the tug and pull between guilt, regret, grief and determination as she teamed up with her daughter's accused killer, against her loved ones' wishes, to uncover the truth.
It's painful and touching even if her performance elevates beyond the flat story.
Broadchurch
To stand out against the likes of David Tennant and Olivia Colman is no easy feat and yet McClure manages to do just that as journalist Karen White in Broadchurch.
Her journey in the detective drama only spanned one season, but McClure used every second of screen time to make her mark.
She managed to make the trope of seed-in-your-teeth journalist feel natural and well-placed in the struggle to investigate the disappearance of an 11-year-old boy.
Our only quibble: there wasn't enough of her.
Trigger Point
Despite coming in at number four, Trigger Point is some of McClure's best work to date.
To do her job, Lana Washington works best by cauterising her emotions to stem their flow, compartmentalising and adopting a laser-focused attitude to the task at hand.
Life is messy though, messier than an explosion, and things do eventually go boom in Lana's life.
It's fun to watch McClure get to work depicting a woman with pulsating trauma just beating beneath the surface of every move she makes.
On the surface Lana is cool and steady – yet with just one look or particular intonation in tone, McClure is adept at giving us a glimpse of her pain.
Line of Duty
Kate Fleming is the role that catapulted McClure to a household name.
On the surface, Kate is an emotionally-limited detective inspector – yet bubbling underneath is an extremely complex woman attempting to delicately balance her home life against her demanding undercover police work.
For Kate, the results vary time and time again, but what remains steady is McClure's exceptional performance.
You need only look to that Ryan-Kate standoff in season six episode five of Line of Duty for confirmation.
I Am Nicola
When we mentioned McClure's ability to give a grounded performance, this is what we're talking about.
She carried the brunt of the emotionally punchy scenes in I Am Nicola which illuminate her pure talent.
There is a rawness in how she played Nicola, a woman trapped in an emotionally abusive, coercive relationship with her partner Adam (Perry Fitzpatrick).
At every step of the way we felt her dread, her nervousness, her weighted sense of obligation to Adam and it is that unease that creeps into our bodies that testifies to the strength of McClure's skill.
This is England ('86, '88 and '90)
Stealing the number one spot is McClure's performance in This is England (86', 88 and 90).
Off the back of the movie, This is England saw McClure step into the role of Lol, the skinhead turned single mother-of-two whose tough past impacted her mental wellbeing.
Lol's character growth over the course of the franchise allowed McClure to flex her acting skills as she cracked deeper and deeper into Lol's pain.
Themes of depression, abuse and death are explored, which culminate in some of the best moments throughout McClure's career. Let's hope we do eventually get the teased This is England '00.
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
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