Before BBC’s Peaky Blinders even had a chance to conclude its epic six-season run, both the national broadcaster and series creator Steven Knight wasted no time unveiling their very next collaborative effort. Introducing SAS: Rogue Heroes.
Already, entertainment critics have been hailing the upcoming British historical drama as a “refreshingly macho” triumph for prestige television that’s “witty, pacy, confident” and “occasionally very violent.”
How much of a triumph has it been? BBC has gone ahead and greenlit SAS: Rogue Heroes season 2. In fact, at the time of this writing, the Steven Knight-helmed project boasts an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 100% and an equally-solid IMDb score of 8.2.
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Here’s everything you need to know about it (as well as how to watch it in Australia).
What is SAS: Rogue Heroes about?
Based on the best-selling book of the same name written by Ben Macintyre – the very same Ben Mcintyre who penned A Spy Among Friends, which has also recently been adapted for the small screen with help from Damien Lewis and Guy Pearce – SAS: Rogue Heroes tells the tale of the legendary Special Air Service’s formation during World War II.
In the summer of 1941, during the height of the conflict, a bored and eccentric officer named David Stirling (portrayed by Connor Swindells) came up with a plan while hospitalised in Cairo, Egypt after a failed training exercise. One that was “imaginative, radical, entirely against the rules” and involved establishing a small undercover unit that could create mayhem behind enemy lines. A precursor to modern warfare tested on German forces.
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Despite intense opposition, Winston Churchill personally gave young Stirling the green light to recruit the “toughest, brightest, and most ruthless soldiers” he could find within the British Army. And thus the most celebrated and mysterious military organisation in the world was born.
“This will be a secret history telling the story of exceptional soldiers who decided battles and won wars only to then disappear back into the shadows,” revealed Steven Knight of the wholly remarkable tale.
“We will shine a light on remarkable true events informed by the people who shaped them.”
BBC One added of the extraordinary circumstances behind this moment in history: “It’ll tell the story behind the revolutionary thinking which led to the creation of a new form of combat and warfare in the deserts of North Africa.”
“Celebrating the glory, action and camaraderie at the heart of this story, the series will delve into the psychology of the flawed, reckless but astonishingly brave group of maverick officers and men who formed the SAS in the darkest days of World War II.”
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Is SAS: Rogue Heroes based on a true story?
Yes. For the most part.
As previously mentioned, the source material Stephen Knight and the BBC have worked with is that of Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book, which is itself a history book. But that doesn’t mean the series hasn’t taken a few artistic liberties.
At the beginning of each episode, audiences are explicitly informed that SAS: Rogue Heroes is “based on a true story,” in addition to the fact that “the events depicted which seem most unbelievable… are mostly true.”
Certain characters such as Sofia Boutella’s Eve Mansour are completely fictional, although steeped in real-life inspirations such as the female spies Noor Inayat Khan and Virginia Hall; while Jack O’Connell’s interpretation of Paddy Mayne features an unnecessary and outright untrue roughness to him, having been born to a landed family, attended grammar school, and eventually graduating as a solicitor in reality.
Military historian Anthony Beevor noted these elements were “mainly additions, fleshing out characters and context,” rather than being significant “distortions” of facts.
Do we know the SAS: Rogue Heroes cast members?
Connor Swindells, star of Sex Education fame, is joined by Jack O’Connell (Unbroken) as Paddy Mayne, Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones) as Jock Lewes, Sofia Boutella (Atomic Blonde) as Eve, Dominic West (The Wire) as Lieutenant Colonel Wrangel Clarke, with Tom Glynn-Carney (Dunkirk) as SAS founding member Mike Sadler, Amir El-Masry as Dr Gamal, and Jason Watkins (The Crown) as Winston Churchill himself.
“I’m really excited to be gathering together the very best of a new generation of British and international talent to tell this remarkable story,” said Steven Knight.
“The people who are depicted and who did such extraordinary things were young, in their 20s, and we have made a conscious decision to cast people of the same age.”
Other cast members include the following:
- Theo Barklem-Biggs as Sergeant Reg Seekings
- Corin Silva as Sergeant Jim Almonds
- Jacob Ifan as Sergeant Pat Riley
- Dónal Finn as Second Lieutenant Eoin McGonigal
- Jacob McCarthy as Lance-Corporal Johnny Cooper
- Stuart Campbell as Second Lieutenant Bill Fraser
- Bobby Schofield as Sergeant Dave Kershaw
- Nicholas Nunn as Sergeant Peter Mitcham
- Miles Jupp as Major Alfred Knox
- Virgile Bramly as Capitaine Georges Bergé
- César Domboy as Lieutenant Augustin Jordan
- Tom Hygreck as Brevet Lieutenant André Zirnheld
- Arthur Orcier as Aspirant Marc Halévy
- Paul Boche as Sergeant Walter Essner
- Moritz Jahn as Corporal Herbert Brückner
- Adrian Lukis as Claude Auchinleck
- Michael Shaeffer as Neil Ritchie
- Ian Davies as Randolph Churchill
- Anthony Calf as Archibald Stirling
- Kate Cook as Margaret Fraser
- Isobel Laidler as Mirren Barford
- Ralph Davis as Captain Alexander Norton
- David Alcock as Jan Smuts
Has SAS: Rogue Heroes finished filming?
Principal photography wrapped up in Morocco and the UK all the way back in November 2021 and has already finished airing in the latter. Which brings us to the next section…
How to watch SAS: Rogue Heroes
SAS: Rogue Heroes Release Date (UK)
As previously mentioned, SAS: Rogue Heroes premiered on October 30, 2022 and has already aired all six episodes on BBC.
Currently, it’s available to stream on BBC iPlayer in the UK (and everywhere else in the world with the use of a VPN service / plug-in).
SAS: Rogue Heroes Release Date (Australia)
The SAS: Rogue Heroes release date for Australia has yet to be confirmed beyond the year 2023 by SBS:
SBS curates the best dramas from across the globe. From the creator of Peaky Blinders, the highly anticipated Australian premiere of SAS: Rogue Heroes is coming to SBS in 2023. Starring Dominic West, Alfie Allen and Connor Swindells, Rogue Heroes tells the story of how the world’s most famous Special Forces Unit, the SAS, was born.
Keep an eye out for it on both SBS and SBS On Demand.
Does SAS: Rogue Heroes have a trailer?
SAS: Rogue Heroes does indeed have a trailer.
For those of you too lazy to scroll all the way back up, check it out below.
