Strike Back (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Chris Ryan's Strike Back is a six-part British
television series based on the novel of the same name written by best-selling author and former soldier of the Special Air Service
, Chris Ryan
. It was produced by Left Bank Pictures
for Sky1. The cast of Strike Back is led by Richard Armitage
and Andrew Lincoln
, also starring Orla Brady
, Shelley Conn
, Colin Salmon
and Jodhi May
, including a variety of guest appearances including Toby Stephens
, Ewen Bremner
, Dhaffer L'Abidine
, Shaun Parkes
and Alexander Siddig
. The series follows John Porter (Armitage), a former British Special Forces
soldier, who is drafted back into service by Section 20 of the Secret Intelligence Service
(MI6).
The series ran on a multi-million pound
budget, and was filmed on location in South Africa
, particularly in the Gauteng
. Ryan became a series consultant. Strike Back commenced airing on 5 May 2010 with two episodes showing a week. The first episode received unofficial overnight ratings of almost 400,000 viewers in the United Kingdom, which increased to just over one million according to the more official Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. It was met with generally positive reviews; comments of the series ranged from a positive "British action series that packs a Die Hard
-style thrill around every corner," to a more negative "pathetic male fantasy". It was released on DVD
and Blu-ray Disc
on 7 June 2010. A 10-part second series, known as Strike Back: Project Dawn
, a co-production between Sky and the American network Cinemax
, was first broadcast in August 2011. A third series of Strike Back, also to consist of 10 parts, will be released in 2012.
), a former SAS
Sergeant, and Hugh Collinson (Andrew Lincoln
), a Section 20 officer in the Secret Intelligence Service
(MI6). Both of them took part in a botched operation on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
where two soldiers in their unit were killed. The series is divided on three main story lines that took place seven years later. The first two episodes focus on the kidnapping of Katie Dartmouth (Orla Brady
), a British journalist, outside Basra
, Iraq
. Porter is redrafted to rescue her. The next two episodes take place in Zimbabwe
, where the Government accuses the UK of orchestrating the assassination plot of Robert Mugabe
; Porter is to enter the same prison the apparent shooter is being held and aids in breaking out. The last two episodes take place in Afghanistan
and Pakistan
, where a computer hacker
is responsible for killing several American troops in Helmand Province
. A loose arc also takes place during the series concerning who killed the soldiers.
plays series protagonist John Porter. Porter served with the SAS until he was dishonourably discharged after he saved a boy who was believed to have murdered two soldiers in his unit following a rescue operation the night before the Iraq invasion. He is later brought back into service by Section 20 seven years later. He is married to Diane, and has a daughter, Alexandra. Armitage described Porter as a "damaged hero", and "sort of like Lucas North
, only on some kind of go-faster drug." In order to fit in to the role, Armitage had to "bulk up for the role," and performed a lot of training for about ten weeks in the UK, and then flew to Johannesburg
the day after filming the eighth series of Spooks
wrapped up, where he proceeded with more training. He was trained from "how to hold a gun to how you can run through a door without getting your head blown off." Armitage had not trained as hard as in the past; the intensity of such training almost made him pass out after the first workout, stating "filming Spooks is demanding, but nowhere near as physical as this." Armitage performed most of his own stunts.
Andrew Lincoln
plays Hugh Collinson, former soldier in Porter's unit and has since become the head of Section 20. Lincoln was signed onto the role because he thought the series was a "great story", and that his character was "completely re-written from the book." Out of the cast, the weapons instructor told Lincoln that he was the most instinctive he ever worked with.
Orla Brady
plays Katie Dartmouth, a British war correspondent
who was kidnapped in Basra
by the "Sword of Islam", an Iraqi terrorist group. To play Dartmouth, Brady used her inspiration from real life BBC
war correspondent Orla Guerin
. During the filming of Dartmouth's holding, a male stand-in with a wig
was used as a stunt double. The crew also added oil and dirt on Brady's hair every morning. Brady stated that she liked playing extremes, and thought Dartmouth is "grown up" compared to Siobhan Dhillion, the character Brady portrayed in Mistresses.
Shelley Conn
plays Danni Prendiville, an officer with Section 20. Porter started an affair
with her after he was redrafted into service. She signed on for the role because she "thought the concept of the scripts was very clever and once I heard who was involved it didn't take me long to sign up." In researching for her role, Conn had somewhat of a military background since her father and uncle both served in the British Army
, and had since had a base understanding of military life.
Colin Salmon
plays James Middleton, a civil servant
who sits between the British government and the Ministry of Defence
. Salmon previously worked with Sky1 on Hex
. He was attracted to the role in Strike Back due to the script being "a page-turner, and they're rare. It's really lovely to sit down to start reading something and then not be able to stop because you have to know what's going to happen next," as well as hearing of who was involved in the project. A member of The Prince's Trust
charity, Salmon took the opportunity to visit some of their projects in Soweto
while the series was filmed.
Jodhi May
plays Layla Thompson, a lieutenant in military intelligence
and works alongside Collinson in Section 20. At first, she came to resent Porter, but starts opening up to him after she grows some distrust towards Collinson. May described Thompson as an "incredibly challenging, assertive and ambitious woman working in a male-dominated field that she's climbed to the top of." She was drawn into appear in the series because of the respect she has with Andy Harries
and Left Bank Productions. May knew people who work in the same world her character does, and talked with them to conduct some research into her role, as well as reading on the subject.
The first series was also given a variety of guest appearances. Among them include Nicola Stephenson
(Diane Porter), Laura Greenwood
(Alexandra Porter), Fenar Mohammed Ali (As'ad), Dhaffer L'Abidine
(Hakin Al Nazeri), Shaun Parkes
(Felix Masuku), David Harewood
(Colonel Tshuma), Toby Stephens
(Frank Arlington) and Alexander Siddig
(Zahar Sharq).
saw the novel while at an airport and took it on holiday with him. He did not manage to read it before returning to Britain, but pitched the idea to Sky's Head of Drama Elaine Pyke, who commissioned it anyway. Pyke and Harries had enthusiasm for the novel, and were excited to take up the challenge to adapt it for television. It was planned to be shot in high-definition
because, according to Pyke; "Sky1 HD drama is about trying to astound audiences, up the creative bar, and commission shows which make audiences love being Sky subscribers." After seeing the success from previous dramas such as Terry Pratchett's Hogfather and The Take
, Sky made a multi-million pound commitment to Strike Back.
Harries commented that he "was interested in developing a quality action series out of the UK because it's something we don't do very often, but there's no reason why we shouldn't." Richard Armitage called the series an "ambitious project for television. But the advantage of that is that these three feature films are linked together so you get a really interesting character arc through all episodes. American television is being brave and doing that at the moment, and this is stepping into that area." Former SAS soldier and the original novel's author, Chris Ryan
, served as the series consultant and script advisor. Chris Ryan stated; "When you produce a novel it's like a child and to see it put onto screen opens it up to a greater audience. I class myself as a storyteller now, and to tell that story on paper is a great privilege, then to see it on screen is even better."
As Strike Back is military drama, the production crew used a vast catalogue of firearm
s, including side arm
s, assault
and sniper rifle
s, as well as rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenade
s and other explosives. Cast members were first taught by carrying weights that mimicked the weight of the weapons so they could get used to carrying it during filming. Later, they were taught how to carry them professionally, including how to disassemble and re-assemble them, as well as how to fire and reload. Though the majority were actually rubber duplicates were sometimes used for some of the background characters. Three ex-SAS soldiers gave the cast weapons and tactical training, and were also on hand to oversee how cast members carried the weapons during filming sessions.
Filming commenced on August 2009, and concluded by the end of the same year. It was filmed on location primarily in the Johannesburg area in South Africa
, as well as the same Province the city is located, Gauteng
. Other filming locations in the series include Northern Cape
, Augrabies Falls National Park
, and the Kalahari Desert
. Harries wanted to film the series in South Africa because he worked there several times in the past, and knew the country can replicate anywhere in the world.
One of the biggest problems for filming is the environmental impact they would cause, particularly with explosions. Location manager Jaco Espach often coordinated with a special effects team to use more environmentally friendly methods. In order to film sequences involving firearms and explosives in private property, the series crew often negotiated with property owners, as well as notifying all neighbouring properties, local police
and the local hospital
. In the city, leaflets were distributed to the filming location a week in advance. In airport scenes, the crew would inform the aviation authorities. The action sequences in the beginning of the first episode took five days to shoot, and was filmed in the Johannesburg suburb of Yeoville
. On the scenes filmed on the Kalahari, filming temporarily halted due to the spotting of venomous snake
s in the area. After they retreated from some rainfall, the crew swept the area to remove them and filming continued.
acquired distribution rights to broadcast the first series internationally. Episodes 1 and 2 received unofficial overnight ratings of 398,000 and 370,000 viewers, with an audience share of 1.7% and 2.1% respectively. Both episodes more than tripled Sky1's average audience share in their slots from the previous three months, and were also the third most-watched non-terrestrial viewing behind BBC Four
's Timothy Spall
's Somewhere at Sea and a live Sky Sports
football game. The overnight figures for episodes 3 and 4 were down somewhat to 337,000 and 294,000 with an audience share of 1.4% and 1.5% respectively. The overnight ratings for the finale episodes were both 386,000 viewers, and received an audience share of 1.7% and 2.3% respectively.
Strike Back was released on both DVD
and Blu-ray Disc
in the United Kingdom on 7 June 2010. Released by 2entertain, they contain all six episodes, as well as cast interviews and a Behind the Scenes featurette.
, The Pacific
and the Call of Duty
video game series. Keith Watson of Metro
called the series a "British action series that packs a Die Hard
-style thrill around every corner." Watson praised Armitage's performance, calling him perfect for the role, and that "for once in a British series, the action scenes kick some proper butt." John Preston of The Daily Telegraph
stated that Strike Back was "a slick affair, crisply directed by Daniel Percival, scripted with considerable sharpness by Jed Mercurio and full of belting action sequences."
Jack Foley of IndieLondon rated the first episodes four stars out of five, stating that it "made for exciting viewing even if the politics and the script sometimes proved laughably gung-ho and naive." On review on the first two episodes, Jane Simon of The Mirror has said that between the cast, "there's enough shock and awe to make you very glad they're showing this in a double bill." Gerard Gilbert of The Arts Desk dubbed Strike Back as "thin and lightweight next to [Armitage's other gig] Spooks", and although "not unexciting", Gilbert did not find the series interesting. Andrea Mullaney of The Scotsman
was positive about the casting, and the changes in storyline from the original novel, though the series was aimed "squarely at the blokey viewer who'd rather watch paint dry than a costume drama." Whilst also reviewing Luther
and Lewis, John Lloyd of The Financial Times
called it "fine for tension," "good on sub-Bond
dialogue" and that the story lines make Spooks look true to life. Lloyd also called Richard Armitage "one of the best action men on television."
The Guardian
and The Independent
have each released two separate reviews; they were more mixed. Sam Wollaston enjoyed the first two episodes, but called it a "pathetic male fantasy." Andrew Anthony has said that "no scene lasted more than about 25 seconds in the first two episodes and no element of plot information was left unspoken. The dialogue is close to pure exposition, with an occasional clunkily macho line thrown in as a concession to dramatic atmosphere. Show, don't tell, say the screenwriting gurus. This was show and tell." From The Independent, Tom Sutcliffe
stated the series may be enjoyed by those who like explosions and Spooks-like operations. Rhiannon Harries was almost negative in her review, believing Strike Back was "in almost every respect, a terrible piece of television drama," although part of Harries enjoyed watching it. Harries noted that Luther was more recommended.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television series based on the novel of the same name written by best-selling author and former soldier of the Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
, Chris Ryan
Chris Ryan
Sergeant ‘Chris Ryan’ MM is the pseudonym of a former British Special Forces operative and soldier turned novelist...
. It was produced by Left Bank Pictures
Left Bank Pictures
Left Bank Pictures is an English film and television production company. It was formed in 2007 by Andy Harries, formerly controller of drama, comedy and film at Granada Productions, and Francis Hopkinson and Marigo Kehoe...
for Sky1. The cast of Strike Back is led by Richard Armitage
Richard Armitage (actor)
Richard Crispin Armitage is an English actor famous for his roles as John Thornton in North and South, Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and Lucas North in Spooks...
and Andrew Lincoln
Andrew Lincoln
Andrew Lincoln is an English actor, known for his roles in the TV series This Life, Teachers and Afterlife, and the films Love Actually and Heartbreaker...
, also starring Orla Brady
Orla Brady
-Early life and career:The second of four children born to Dublin publican Patrick Brady and his wife Catherine who had appeared in amateur productions at the Gate Theatre, Brady first became interested in an acting career after reading works by Germaine Greer and Simone de Beauvoir.Brady drifted...
, Shelley Conn
Shelley Conn
-Early life and education:Conn was born in Barnet, Greater London of British and Sri Lankan descent. The great niece of actress Merle Oberon , Conn trained at Bretton Hall...
, Colin Salmon
Colin Salmon
Colin Salmon is a British actor best known for playing the character Charles Robinson in three James Bond films.-Personal life:...
and Jodhi May
Jodhi May
Jodhi May is an English actress.-Early life:Born in Camden Town, London, May first acted at the age of 12 in 1988's A World Apart. The role earned her a Best Actress award at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, shared with her co-stars Barbara Hershey and Linda Mvusi...
, including a variety of guest appearances including Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip...
, Ewen Bremner
Ewen Bremner
-Early life:Bremner was born in Edinburgh, the son of two art teachers. He attended Davidson's Mains Primary School and Portobello High School. He originally wanted to be a circus clown, but was offered a chance in show business by television director Richard D. Brooks. One of his first notable...
, Dhaffer L'Abidine
Dhaffer L'Abidine
Dhaffer L'Abidine is a Tunisian former professional soccer player and now actor, who has starred in Sky One's Dream Team, BBC's Spooks and ITV's The Bill and more recently starred in the controversial film The Mark of Cain as Omar Abdullah.-Film:*Mark of Cain*Children of Men *The...
, Shaun Parkes
Shaun Parkes
Shaun Parkes is an English actor currently appearing in the ITV drama Identity.-Biography:At 16 he enrolled at Seltec College to study drama, two years later he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.-Career:...
and Alexander Siddig
Alexander Siddig
Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi is a Sudanese-born English actor, also known as Siddig El Fadil and his stage name Alexander Siddig. He is known for playing Dr...
. The series follows John Porter (Armitage), a former British Special Forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
soldier, who is drafted back into service by Section 20 of the Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
(MI6).
The series ran on a multi-million pound
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
budget, and was filmed on location in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, particularly in the Gauteng
Gauteng
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...
. Ryan became a series consultant. Strike Back commenced airing on 5 May 2010 with two episodes showing a week. The first episode received unofficial overnight ratings of almost 400,000 viewers in the United Kingdom, which increased to just over one million according to the more official Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. It was met with generally positive reviews; comments of the series ranged from a positive "British action series that packs a Die Hard
Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...
-style thrill around every corner," to a more negative "pathetic male fantasy". It was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on 7 June 2010. A 10-part second series, known as Strike Back: Project Dawn
Strike Back: Project Dawn
Strike Back: Project Dawn, as it is known in the United Kingdom is a ten-part British-American action television serial, and is the second series of Strike Back. However the only cast member to return from the original series was Richard Armitage in the first episode...
, a co-production between Sky and the American network Cinemax
Cinemax
Cinemax, sometimes abbreviated as simply "Max", is a collection of premium television networks that broadcasts primarily feature films, along with softcore erotica, original action series, documentaries and special behind-the-scenes features. Cinemax is operated by Home Box Office, Inc., a...
, was first broadcast in August 2011. A third series of Strike Back, also to consist of 10 parts, will be released in 2012.
Series overview
The series takes place in a six-episode format. It follows the actions of John Porter (Richard ArmitageRichard Armitage (actor)
Richard Crispin Armitage is an English actor famous for his roles as John Thornton in North and South, Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and Lucas North in Spooks...
), a former SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
Sergeant, and Hugh Collinson (Andrew Lincoln
Andrew Lincoln
Andrew Lincoln is an English actor, known for his roles in the TV series This Life, Teachers and Afterlife, and the films Love Actually and Heartbreaker...
), a Section 20 officer in the Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
(MI6). Both of them took part in a botched operation on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
where two soldiers in their unit were killed. The series is divided on three main story lines that took place seven years later. The first two episodes focus on the kidnapping of Katie Dartmouth (Orla Brady
Orla Brady
-Early life and career:The second of four children born to Dublin publican Patrick Brady and his wife Catherine who had appeared in amateur productions at the Gate Theatre, Brady first became interested in an acting career after reading works by Germaine Greer and Simone de Beauvoir.Brady drifted...
), a British journalist, outside Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Porter is redrafted to rescue her. The next two episodes take place in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, where the Government accuses the UK of orchestrating the assassination plot of Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
; Porter is to enter the same prison the apparent shooter is being held and aids in breaking out. The last two episodes take place in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, where a computer hacker
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
is responsible for killing several American troops in Helmand Province
Helmand Province
Helmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation....
. A loose arc also takes place during the series concerning who killed the soldiers.
Cast and characters
Richard ArmitageRichard Armitage (actor)
Richard Crispin Armitage is an English actor famous for his roles as John Thornton in North and South, Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and Lucas North in Spooks...
plays series protagonist John Porter. Porter served with the SAS until he was dishonourably discharged after he saved a boy who was believed to have murdered two soldiers in his unit following a rescue operation the night before the Iraq invasion. He is later brought back into service by Section 20 seven years later. He is married to Diane, and has a daughter, Alexandra. Armitage described Porter as a "damaged hero", and "sort of like Lucas North
Lucas North
Lucas North, formerly known as John Bateman, is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series Spooks , which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division of MI5. North is portrayed by British actor Richard Armitage...
, only on some kind of go-faster drug." In order to fit in to the role, Armitage had to "bulk up for the role," and performed a lot of training for about ten weeks in the UK, and then flew to Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
the day after filming the eighth series of Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
wrapped up, where he proceeded with more training. He was trained from "how to hold a gun to how you can run through a door without getting your head blown off." Armitage had not trained as hard as in the past; the intensity of such training almost made him pass out after the first workout, stating "filming Spooks is demanding, but nowhere near as physical as this." Armitage performed most of his own stunts.
Andrew Lincoln
Andrew Lincoln
Andrew Lincoln is an English actor, known for his roles in the TV series This Life, Teachers and Afterlife, and the films Love Actually and Heartbreaker...
plays Hugh Collinson, former soldier in Porter's unit and has since become the head of Section 20. Lincoln was signed onto the role because he thought the series was a "great story", and that his character was "completely re-written from the book." Out of the cast, the weapons instructor told Lincoln that he was the most instinctive he ever worked with.
Orla Brady
Orla Brady
-Early life and career:The second of four children born to Dublin publican Patrick Brady and his wife Catherine who had appeared in amateur productions at the Gate Theatre, Brady first became interested in an acting career after reading works by Germaine Greer and Simone de Beauvoir.Brady drifted...
plays Katie Dartmouth, a British war correspondent
War correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
who was kidnapped in Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
by the "Sword of Islam", an Iraqi terrorist group. To play Dartmouth, Brady used her inspiration from real life BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
war correspondent Orla Guerin
Orla Guerin
Orla Guerin MBE is an Irish journalist. She is a BBC Middle East correspondent, based in Jerusalem. She has extensive experience, having reported from many areas including the West Coast of the USA, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, the Basque Country in northern Spain, and Moscow, where she...
. During the filming of Dartmouth's holding, a male stand-in with a wig
Wig
A wig is a head of hair made from horsehair, human hair, wool, feathers, yak hair, buffalo hair, or synthetic materials which is worn on the head for fashion or various other aesthetic and stylistic reasons, including cultural and religious observance. The word wig is short for periwig and first...
was used as a stunt double. The crew also added oil and dirt on Brady's hair every morning. Brady stated that she liked playing extremes, and thought Dartmouth is "grown up" compared to Siobhan Dhillion, the character Brady portrayed in Mistresses.
Shelley Conn
Shelley Conn
-Early life and education:Conn was born in Barnet, Greater London of British and Sri Lankan descent. The great niece of actress Merle Oberon , Conn trained at Bretton Hall...
plays Danni Prendiville, an officer with Section 20. Porter started an affair
Affair
Affair may refer to professional, personal, or public business matters or to a particular business or private activity of a temporary duration, as in family affair, a private affair, or a romantic affair.-Political affair:...
with her after he was redrafted into service. She signed on for the role because she "thought the concept of the scripts was very clever and once I heard who was involved it didn't take me long to sign up." In researching for her role, Conn had somewhat of a military background since her father and uncle both served in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, and had since had a base understanding of military life.
Colin Salmon
Colin Salmon
Colin Salmon is a British actor best known for playing the character Charles Robinson in three James Bond films.-Personal life:...
plays James Middleton, a civil servant
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
who sits between the British government and the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
. Salmon previously worked with Sky1 on Hex
Hex (TV series)
Hex is a British television programme developed by Shine Limited and aired on the Sky One satellite channel. The story is about a remote English country school that becomes the battleground between a demonic entity and the witches who oppose it...
. He was attracted to the role in Strike Back due to the script being "a page-turner, and they're rare. It's really lovely to sit down to start reading something and then not be able to stop because you have to know what's going to happen next," as well as hearing of who was involved in the project. A member of The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales to help young people. They run a range of training programmes, provide mentoring support and offer financial grants to build the confidence and motivation of disadvantaged young people...
charity, Salmon took the opportunity to visit some of their projects in Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
while the series was filmed.
Jodhi May
Jodhi May
Jodhi May is an English actress.-Early life:Born in Camden Town, London, May first acted at the age of 12 in 1988's A World Apart. The role earned her a Best Actress award at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, shared with her co-stars Barbara Hershey and Linda Mvusi...
plays Layla Thompson, a lieutenant in military intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
and works alongside Collinson in Section 20. At first, she came to resent Porter, but starts opening up to him after she grows some distrust towards Collinson. May described Thompson as an "incredibly challenging, assertive and ambitious woman working in a male-dominated field that she's climbed to the top of." She was drawn into appear in the series because of the respect she has with Andy Harries
Andy Harries
Andrew D. M. Harries is a British television and film producer. After graduating from Hull University in the 1970s, Harries began his television career on the Granada Television current affairs series World in Action, before moving on to freelance work...
and Left Bank Productions. May knew people who work in the same world her character does, and talked with them to conduct some research into her role, as well as reading on the subject.
The first series was also given a variety of guest appearances. Among them include Nicola Stephenson
Nicola Stephenson
Nicola Stephenson is an English actress. She is known mainly for her roles in television, which include Margaret Clemence in Brookside, Julie Fitzjohn/Bradford in Holby City, Suzie Davidson in Clocking Off, Jackie in ITV's Christmas Lights/Northern Lights/City Lights, and Sarah Williams in BBC's...
(Diane Porter), Laura Greenwood
Laura Greenwood
Laura Greenwood is an English actress and a member of the YoungBlood Theatre Company in 2006.Greenwood's big breakthrough came in 2006 when at age 14 she starred as Penny Philips opposite Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect The Final Act, the two-part conclusion to ITV's long-running series...
(Alexandra Porter), Fenar Mohammed Ali (As'ad), Dhaffer L'Abidine
Dhaffer L'Abidine
Dhaffer L'Abidine is a Tunisian former professional soccer player and now actor, who has starred in Sky One's Dream Team, BBC's Spooks and ITV's The Bill and more recently starred in the controversial film The Mark of Cain as Omar Abdullah.-Film:*Mark of Cain*Children of Men *The...
(Hakin Al Nazeri), Shaun Parkes
Shaun Parkes
Shaun Parkes is an English actor currently appearing in the ITV drama Identity.-Biography:At 16 he enrolled at Seltec College to study drama, two years later he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.-Career:...
(Felix Masuku), David Harewood
David Harewood
David Harewood is a British actor.-Biography:David Harewood was born and grew up in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, England, where he attended St. Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Comprehensive School. As a schoolboy, he excelled at all sports—from sprinting to basketball to rugby...
(Colonel Tshuma), Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip...
(Frank Arlington) and Alexander Siddig
Alexander Siddig
Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi is a Sudanese-born English actor, also known as Siddig El Fadil and his stage name Alexander Siddig. He is known for playing Dr...
(Zahar Sharq).
Production
The inspiration for a television adaptation came when executive producer Andy HarriesAndy Harries
Andrew D. M. Harries is a British television and film producer. After graduating from Hull University in the 1970s, Harries began his television career on the Granada Television current affairs series World in Action, before moving on to freelance work...
saw the novel while at an airport and took it on holiday with him. He did not manage to read it before returning to Britain, but pitched the idea to Sky's Head of Drama Elaine Pyke, who commissioned it anyway. Pyke and Harries had enthusiasm for the novel, and were excited to take up the challenge to adapt it for television. It was planned to be shot in high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
because, according to Pyke; "Sky1 HD drama is about trying to astound audiences, up the creative bar, and commission shows which make audiences love being Sky subscribers." After seeing the success from previous dramas such as Terry Pratchett's Hogfather and The Take
The Take (TV series)
The Take is a 4 episode drama TV series on Sky 1 based upon the Martina Cole novel. Shooting for the show took place in Dublin. The show premiered on June 17 2009 and stars Tom Hardy, Brian Cox, Hayley Angel Wardle, Shaun Evans, Kierston Wareing and Charlotte Riley .The show received critical...
, Sky made a multi-million pound commitment to Strike Back.
Harries commented that he "was interested in developing a quality action series out of the UK because it's something we don't do very often, but there's no reason why we shouldn't." Richard Armitage called the series an "ambitious project for television. But the advantage of that is that these three feature films are linked together so you get a really interesting character arc through all episodes. American television is being brave and doing that at the moment, and this is stepping into that area." Former SAS soldier and the original novel's author, Chris Ryan
Chris Ryan
Sergeant ‘Chris Ryan’ MM is the pseudonym of a former British Special Forces operative and soldier turned novelist...
, served as the series consultant and script advisor. Chris Ryan stated; "When you produce a novel it's like a child and to see it put onto screen opens it up to a greater audience. I class myself as a storyteller now, and to tell that story on paper is a great privilege, then to see it on screen is even better."
As Strike Back is military drama, the production crew used a vast catalogue of firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s, including side arm
Side arm
A side arm is a weapon, usually a pistol but can be a dagger, as used in pre-modern times, which is worn on the body in a holster to permit immediate access and use. A side arm is typically required equipment for military personnel and sometimes carried by law enforcement personnel...
s, assault
Assault rifle
An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...
and sniper rifle
Sniper rifle
In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...
s, as well as rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenade
Hand grenade
A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
s and other explosives. Cast members were first taught by carrying weights that mimicked the weight of the weapons so they could get used to carrying it during filming. Later, they were taught how to carry them professionally, including how to disassemble and re-assemble them, as well as how to fire and reload. Though the majority were actually rubber duplicates were sometimes used for some of the background characters. Three ex-SAS soldiers gave the cast weapons and tactical training, and were also on hand to oversee how cast members carried the weapons during filming sessions.
Filming commenced on August 2009, and concluded by the end of the same year. It was filmed on location primarily in the Johannesburg area in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, as well as the same Province the city is located, Gauteng
Gauteng
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...
. Other filming locations in the series include Northern Cape
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of an international park shared with Botswana...
, Augrabies Falls National Park
Augrabies Falls National Park
Augrabies Falls National Park is a national park located around the Augrabies Falls, about 120 km west of Upington in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It was established in 1966....
, and the Kalahari Desert
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa extending , covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert...
. Harries wanted to film the series in South Africa because he worked there several times in the past, and knew the country can replicate anywhere in the world.
One of the biggest problems for filming is the environmental impact they would cause, particularly with explosions. Location manager Jaco Espach often coordinated with a special effects team to use more environmentally friendly methods. In order to film sequences involving firearms and explosives in private property, the series crew often negotiated with property owners, as well as notifying all neighbouring properties, local police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and the local hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
. In the city, leaflets were distributed to the filming location a week in advance. In airport scenes, the crew would inform the aviation authorities. The action sequences in the beginning of the first episode took five days to shoot, and was filmed in the Johannesburg suburb of Yeoville
Yeoville, Gauteng
Yeoville is a suburb of Johannesburg, in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. It is located in Region F .-Founding:Yeoville was proclaimed as a suburb in 1890 by Thomas Yeo Sherwell, who came from Yeovil in the United Kingdom...
. On the scenes filmed on the Kalahari, filming temporarily halted due to the spotting of venomous snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s in the area. After they retreated from some rainfall, the crew swept the area to remove them and filming continued.
Release and ratings
The series aired two episodes a week from 5 to 19 May 2010 in the United Kingdom. BBC WorldwideBBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...
acquired distribution rights to broadcast the first series internationally. Episodes 1 and 2 received unofficial overnight ratings of 398,000 and 370,000 viewers, with an audience share of 1.7% and 2.1% respectively. Both episodes more than tripled Sky1's average audience share in their slots from the previous three months, and were also the third most-watched non-terrestrial viewing behind BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
's Timothy Spall
Timothy Spall
Timothy Leonard Spall, OBE is an English character actor and occasional presenter.-Early life:Spall, the third of four sons, was born in Battersea, London. His mother, Sylvia R. , was a hairdresser, and his father, Joseph L. Spall, was a postal worker...
's Somewhere at Sea and a live Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
football game. The overnight figures for episodes 3 and 4 were down somewhat to 337,000 and 294,000 with an audience share of 1.4% and 1.5% respectively. The overnight ratings for the finale episodes were both 386,000 viewers, and received an audience share of 1.7% and 2.3% respectively.
Strike Back was released on both DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
in the United Kingdom on 7 June 2010. Released by 2entertain, they contain all six episodes, as well as cast interviews and a Behind the Scenes featurette.
Critical reception
Overall, the reviews of the series were generally positive. Michael Conroy of GQ named Strike Back an "Editor's Pick" for its "excellent cinematography, stellar performances and a surprisingly balanced global perspective makes this story of two former British SAS soldiers a thoroughly enjoyable action romp." Conroy compared the series to Green ZoneGreen Zone (film)
Green Zone is a 2010 American war thriller film written by Brian Helgeland and directed by Paul Greengrass. The film was inspired by the non-fiction 2006 book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran, which documented life in the Green Zone, Baghdad...
, The Pacific
The Pacific (miniseries)
The Pacific is a 2010 television series produced by HBO, Seven Network Australia, Sky Movies, Playtone and DreamWorks that premiered in the United States on March 14, 2010....
and the Call of Duty
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in 2003. It is the first game in a series with the same name. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine...
video game series. Keith Watson of Metro
Metro (Associated Metro Limited)
Metro is a free daily newspaper in the United Kingdom published by Associated Newspapers Ltd . It is available from Monday to Friday each week on many public transport services across the United Kingdom.-History:The paper was launched in London in 1999, and can now be found in 14 UK urban centres...
called the series a "British action series that packs a Die Hard
Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...
-style thrill around every corner." Watson praised Armitage's performance, calling him perfect for the role, and that "for once in a British series, the action scenes kick some proper butt." John Preston of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
stated that Strike Back was "a slick affair, crisply directed by Daniel Percival, scripted with considerable sharpness by Jed Mercurio and full of belting action sequences."
Jack Foley of IndieLondon rated the first episodes four stars out of five, stating that it "made for exciting viewing even if the politics and the script sometimes proved laughably gung-ho and naive." On review on the first two episodes, Jane Simon of The Mirror has said that between the cast, "there's enough shock and awe to make you very glad they're showing this in a double bill." Gerard Gilbert of The Arts Desk dubbed Strike Back as "thin and lightweight next to [Armitage's other gig] Spooks", and although "not unexciting", Gilbert did not find the series interesting. Andrea Mullaney of The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
was positive about the casting, and the changes in storyline from the original novel, though the series was aimed "squarely at the blokey viewer who'd rather watch paint dry than a costume drama." Whilst also reviewing Luther
Luther (TV series)
Luther is a British psychological crime drama television series starring Idris Elba as the title character Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. A first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC One from 4 May to 8 June 2010. The second series of four episodes was shown on BBC One in summer 2011...
and Lewis, John Lloyd of The Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
called it "fine for tension," "good on sub-Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
dialogue" and that the story lines make Spooks look true to life. Lloyd also called Richard Armitage "one of the best action men on television."
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
have each released two separate reviews; they were more mixed. Sam Wollaston enjoyed the first two episodes, but called it a "pathetic male fantasy." Andrew Anthony has said that "no scene lasted more than about 25 seconds in the first two episodes and no element of plot information was left unspoken. The dialogue is close to pure exposition, with an occasional clunkily macho line thrown in as a concession to dramatic atmosphere. Show, don't tell, say the screenwriting gurus. This was show and tell." From The Independent, Tom Sutcliffe
Tom Sutcliffe (broadcaster)
Thomas Sutcliffe is a British journalist and arts broadcaster.Sutcliffe studied English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge...
stated the series may be enjoyed by those who like explosions and Spooks-like operations. Rhiannon Harries was almost negative in her review, believing Strike Back was "in almost every respect, a terrible piece of television drama," although part of Harries enjoyed watching it. Harries noted that Luther was more recommended.
Episodes
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK viewers (million) |
Original air date |
|---|
External links
- Strike Back at Sky1