Chris Ryan's Strike Back
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''Chris Ryan's Strike Back'', also known as ''Strike Back: Origins'' on
Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...
, is a six-part British
television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
based on the novel of the same name written by best-selling author and former soldier of the
Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...
,
Chris Ryan Colin Armstrong, (born 1961), usually known by the pen-name Chris Ryan, is a British author, television presenter, security consultant and former Special Air Service sergeant. After the publication of fellow patrol member Andy McNab's '' Brav ...
, and is the first series of '' Strike Back''. It was produced by
Left Bank Pictures Left Bank Pictures Ltd. (stylised as LEFT BANK Pictures) is a British film and television production company owned by Sony Pictures Television through its International Production division. It was formed in 2007 and was the first British media c ...
for
Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989 ...
. The cast of ''Strike Back'' is led by Richard Armitage and
Andrew Lincoln Andrew James Clutterbuck (born 14 September 1973), known professionally as Andrew Lincoln, is an English actor. His first major role was as the character Egg in the BBC drama '' This Life'' (1996–1997). Lincoln later portrayed Simon Casey i ...
, also starring
Orla Brady Orla Brady (born 28 March 1961) is an Irish theatre, television, and film actress born in Dublin. Brady has since appeared in many feature films and major television series, and was named in the 2020 list of Ireland's best film actors, publi ...
,
Shelley Conn Shelley Deborah Conn (born 21 September 1976) is an English actress. She portrayed Lady Mary Sharma in the second season of ''Bridgerton'', Isabella in the film '' Love Sarah'', Dr Elizabeth Shannon in the Spielberg series '' Terra Nova'', Beelz ...
,
Colin Salmon Colin Roy Salmon (born 6 December 1961) is an English actor. He is known for playing Charles Robinson in three James Bond films and James "One" Shade in the ''Resident Evil'' film series. He has had roles on many television series such as ''D ...
and
Jodhi May Jodhi May (born 8 May 1975) is an English actress. Starting her career as a child actress, she is the youngest recipient (age 12) of the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, for '' A World Apart'' (1988). Her other credits include '' ...
, including a variety of guest appearances including
Toby Stephens Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the United Kingdom, United States, and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film '' Die Another Day'', for whic ...
,
Ewen Bremner Ewen Bremner (born 23 January 1972) is a Scottish actor. His roles have included Shawn Nelson in '' Black Hawk Down'', Julien in '' Julien Donkey-Boy'' and Daniel "Spud" Murphy in '' Trainspotting'' and its 2017 sequel '' T2 Trainspotting''. E ...
,
Dhaffer L'Abidine Dhafer L'Abidine (, also spelt Dhaffer L'Abidine, Zafer El-Abedin and Dhafer El Abidine; born 26 November 1972) is a Tunisian actor, director, screenwriter, producer and former professional football player. Biography Dhafer made his acting de ...
,
Shaun Parkes Shaun Parkes (born 9 February 1973) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Koop in Human Traffic and Izzy Buttons in The Mummy Returns. Biography At 16, Parkes enrolled at Seltec College to study drama. Two years later, he wa ...
and
Alexander Siddig Siddig el-Fadil (born 21 November 1965) is a British actor and director, known professionally as Alexander Siddig. Siddig is best known for his roles as Dr. Julian Bashir in the television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', former terrori ...
. The series follows John Porter (Armitage), a former British
Special Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
soldier, who is drafted back into service by Section 20, a fictional branch of the
Defence Intelligence Defence Intelligence (DI) is an organisation within the United Kingdom intelligence community which focuses on gathering and analysing military intelligence. It differs from the UK's intelligence agencies (MI6, GCHQ and MI5) in that it is an ...
(DI) of the Ministry of Defence. The series ran on a multi-million
pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), various units of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile * A bas ...
budget, and was filmed on location in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, particularly in
Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...
. 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 highly regarded
Broadcasters' Audience Research Board Barb Audiences Ltd (formerly Broadcasters Audience Research Board) is a British organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom. It was created in 1981 to replace two previous systems whereby ITV (T ...
. 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'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart (writer), Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, based on the 1979 novel ''Nothing Lasts Forever (Thorp novel), Nothing Lasts Forever'' by Roderick ...
''-style thrill around every corner," to a more negative "pathetic male fantasy". It was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
and
Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...
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 Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...
, was first broadcast in August 2011. A
third series Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...
of ''Strike Back'', also consisting of 10 parts, was released in August 2012. Following success of the second through fourth series,
Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...
began airing the six-part series starting 25 October 2013 in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It is airing as a
prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...
in the U.S. since Cinemax aired '' Strike Back: Project Dawn'', '' Strike Back: Vengeance'', and '' Strike Back: Shadow Warfare'' prior to the first season.


Episodes

In this table, the number in the first column refers to the episode's number within the entire series, "UK viewers in millions" refers to how many Britons watched the episode on Sky1. The series plays out as three two-part episodes.


Cast and characters

* Richard Armitage plays series protagonist John Porter. Porter served with the SAS until he was discharged after he spared the life of a boy who was believed to have subsequently killed two soldiers in his unit following a rescue operation the night before the Iraq invasion. He is 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 into the role, Armitage performed a lot of training for about ten weeks in the UK, and then flew to
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
the day after filming the eighth series of '' Spooks'' wrapped up, where he proceeded with more training. 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 James Clutterbuck (born 14 September 1973), known professionally as Andrew Lincoln, is an English actor. His first major role was as the character Egg in the BBC drama '' This Life'' (1996–1997). Lincoln later portrayed Simon Casey i ...
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 (born 28 March 1961) is an Irish theatre, television, and film actress born in Dublin. Brady has since appeared in many feature films and major television series, and was named in the 2020 list of Ireland's best film actors, publi ...
plays Katie Dartmouth, a British
war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...
who was kidnapped in
Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
by the "Sword of Islam", an Iraqi terrorist group. To play Dartmouth, Brady used her inspiration from real life
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
war correspondent
Orla Guerin Orla Guerin Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE ( ; born 15 May 1966) is an Irish people, Irish journalist. She is a Senior International correspondent working for BBC News broadcasting around the world and across the U ...
. During the filming of Dartmouth's holding, a male stand-in with a
wig A wig is a head covering made from human or animal hair, or a synthetic imitation thereof. The word is short for "periwig". Wigs may be worn to disguise baldness, to alter the wearer's appearance, or as part of certain professional uniforms. H ...
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 Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...
''. *
Shelley Conn Shelley Deborah Conn (born 21 September 1976) is an English actress. She portrayed Lady Mary Sharma in the second season of ''Bridgerton'', Isabella in the film '' Love Sarah'', Dr Elizabeth Shannon in the Spielberg series '' Terra Nova'', Beelz ...
plays Danni Prendiville, an officer with Section 20. Porter started an
affair An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term Monogamy, monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or ...
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 The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
, and had since had a base understanding of military life. *
Colin Salmon Colin Roy Salmon (born 6 December 1961) is an English actor. He is known for playing Charles Robinson in three James Bond films and James "One" Shade in the ''Resident Evil'' film series. He has had roles on many television series such as ''D ...
plays James Middleton, a
civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
who sits between the British government and the
Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...
. Salmon previously worked with Sky1 on ''
Hex Hex usually refers to: * A curse or supposed real and potentially supernaturally realized malicious wish * Hexadecimal, a base-16 number system often used in computer nomenclature Hex, HEX, or The Hex may also refer to: Magic * Hex sign, a b ...
''. 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 King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by Charles III, King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds w ...
charity, Salmon took the opportunity to visit some of their projects in
Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...
while the series was filmed. *
Jodhi May Jodhi May (born 8 May 1975) is an English actress. Starting her career as a child actress, she is the youngest recipient (age 12) of the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, for '' A World Apart'' (1988). Her other credits include '' ...
plays Layla Thompson, a lieutenant in
military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...
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 Andrew Harries''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. Volume 15, page 1493, reg # 792. (born 7 April 1954) is chief executive and co-founder of Left Bank Pictures, a UK based production company formed in 2007. ...
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 (born 5 July 1971) is an English actress. She played the roles of Margaret Clemence in '' Brookside'', Julie Fitzjohn in '' Holby City'', Sarah Williams in '' The Chase'', Allie Westbrook in '' Waterloo Road'', and Tess Harr ...
(Diane Porter), Laura Greenwood (Alexandra Porter), Fenar Mohammed Ali (As'ad),
Dhaffer L'Abidine Dhafer L'Abidine (, also spelt Dhaffer L'Abidine, Zafer El-Abedin and Dhafer El Abidine; born 26 November 1972) is a Tunisian actor, director, screenwriter, producer and former professional football player. Biography Dhafer made his acting de ...
(Hakim Al Nazeri),
Shaun Parkes Shaun Parkes (born 9 February 1973) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Koop in Human Traffic and Izzy Buttons in The Mummy Returns. Biography At 16, Parkes enrolled at Seltec College to study drama. Two years later, he wa ...
(Felix Masuku),
David Harewood David Michael Harewood (born 8 December 1965) is a British actor, presenter and the current president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in ''Homeland'' (2011–2012 ...
(Colonel Tshuma),
Toby Stephens Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the United Kingdom, United States, and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film '' Die Another Day'', for whic ...
(Frank Arlington) and
Alexander Siddig Siddig el-Fadil (born 21 November 1965) is a British actor and director, known professionally as Alexander Siddig. Siddig is best known for his roles as Dr. Julian Bashir in the television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', former terrori ...
(Zahar Sharq).


Production


Development

The inspiration for a television adaptation came when executive producer
Andy Harries Andrew Harries''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. Volume 15, page 1493, reg # 792. (born 7 April 1954) is chief executive and co-founder of Left Bank Pictures, a UK based production company formed in 2007. ...
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 ''Terry Pratchett's Hogfather'' is a 2006 two-part British Christmas-themed fantasy comedy television adaptation of ''Hogfather'' by Terry Pratchett, produced by The Mob, and first broadcast on Sky1, and in High Definition on Sky1 HD, ove ...
'' and '' The Take'', Sky made a multimillion-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 Colin Armstrong, (born 1961), usually known by the pen-name Chris Ryan, is a British author, television presenter, security consultant and former Special Air Service sergeant. After the publication of fellow patrol member Andy McNab's '' Brav ...
, 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."


Preparation

As ''Strike Back'' is a military drama, the production crew used a vast catalogue of
firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...
s, including
side arm Sidearm, side-arm or Side Arm(s) may refer to: * Sidearm (weapon), a backup weapon *Sidearm (baseball) In baseball, sidearm is a motion for throwing a ball along a low, approximately horizontal plane rather than a high, mostly vertical plane (Ov ...
s,
assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...
and
sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long range shooting, long-range rifle. Requirements include high accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment, and optics, for anti-personnel weapon, anti-personnel, anti-materiel rifle, anti-materiel and sur ...
s, as well as
rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...
s,
hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...
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

Filming commenced in 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, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, as well as the same Province the city is located,
Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...
. Other filming locations in the series include
Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
,
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. The Augrabies Falls National Park covers an area of 820 km2 and stretches ...
, and the
Kalahari Desert The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid climate, semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African ...
. 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 The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
and the local
hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
. 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 is an inner city neighbourhood of Johannesburg, in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. It is located in Region F (previously Region 8). Originally intended as a "well-to-do" neighbourhood, it instead developed into a white working ...
. On the scenes filmed on the Kalahari, filming temporarily halted due to the spotting of venomous
snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
s in the area. After they retreated from some rainfall, the crew swept the area to remove them and filming continued.


Release and reception


Release and ratings

The series aired two episodes a week from 5 to 19 May 2010 in the United Kingdom.
BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...
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 is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
's '' Timothy Spall: Somewhere at Sea'' and a live
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
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 The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
and
Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...
in the United Kingdom on 7 June 2010. Released by
2entertain 2 Entertain Video Limited, trading as BBC Studios Home Entertainment, is a British video and music publisher founded in 2004 following the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International by BBC Worldwide and the Woolworths Group respec ...
, 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 Zone The Green Zone () is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area in the Karkh, Karkh district of central Baghdad, Iraq. It is the chief government precinct and the seat of the Iraqi government. History Pre-200 ...
'', ''
The Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
'' and the ''
Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...
'' video game series. Keith Watson of ''
Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...
'' called the series a "British action series that packs a ''
Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart (writer), Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, based on the 1979 novel ''Nothing Lasts Forever (Thorp novel), Nothing Lasts Forever'' by Roderick ...
''-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'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' stated that ''Strike Back'' was "a slick affair, crisply directed by
Daniel Percival Daniel Percival was an English actor and businessman. Early life and education Percival was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. He attended the University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Y ...
, 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 rmitage's other gig''Spooks''", and although "not unexciting", Gilbert did not find the series interesting. Andrea Mullaney of ''
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
'' 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 Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...
'', John Lloyd of ''
The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' called it "fine for tension," "good on sub-
Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Fidelity bond, a type of insurance policy for employers * Chemical bond, t ...
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'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' 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.


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External links


''Strike Back''
at
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* {{Strike Back 2010 British television seasons Strike Back (TV series) War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) in popular culture