Richard Armitage in Strike Back

Chris Ryan's Strike Back Series 1
ritten by:	Jed Mercurio
Executive Producer:	Andy Harries
Directed by:	Daniel Percival
Broadcast dates:	Wed 5 May - Wed 19 May 9.00 - 11.00pm on Sky1 and Sky1 HD
Distributor:	Sky and BBC Worldwide
Duration:	6 x 1 hour episodes, 2 episodes each week for 3 weeks
Cast:	John Porter - RICHARD ARMITAGE Hugh Collinson - ANDREW LINCOLN Layla Thompson - JODHI MAY Katie Dartmouth - ORLA BRADY Danni Prendiville - SHELLEY CONN James Middleton - COLIN SALMON Diane Porter - NICOLA STEPHENSON Alexandra Porter - LAURA GREENWOOD Also featuring Toby Stephens, Shaun Parkes and David Harewood

DVD release Info

Strike Back was released in the UK on 7 June 2010. Links on RA on DVD page.

In Australia, the DVD was released on 5 May 2011. You can preorder it from the ABC shop or from EzyDVD for just under $30.

Introduction

strikeback

The first series of Strike Back consisted of three stories told across six episodes. Episode 1 and 2 told the first story set in Iraq, episodes 3 and 4 were a separate story set in Zimbabwe and the third story, episodes 5 and 6, were set in Afghanistan. All stories featured Richard Armitage in the lead role as John Porter.

Each story was originally broadcast by Sky1 in one evening, so two episodes were shown back-to-back each week. The DVD however plays each story as a separate episode, so in fact there are just three episodes lasting 1.5 hours each on the DVD. Many countries around the wolrd have subsequently broadcast it in that format, i.e. 3 episodes.

Strike Back was filmed in South Africa between September and December 2009. It is based on the book by ex-SAS soldier Chris Ryan and is produced by Left Bank Productions.

Episode 1 introduction by Sky Press Office:

STRIKE BACK is a story of deception, redemption and revenge, all played out in the interlinked lives of two former soldiers; Major Hugh Collinson and discharged veteran John Porter. Their paths last crossed seven years ago. Now, amidst a new hostage crisis in the Middle East, their lives are about to collide again.

On the eve of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, John Porter leads a Special Forces unit on a daring hostage rescue into the heart of Basra, events overtake our hero with disastrous results. The decisions taken on that night inexorably unite the fate of both Porter and Collinson. Porter bares the burden of guilt and the repercussions haunt him for seven years, until an opportunity presents itself for him to return to Iraq and redeem himself.

The series followed John Porter across the three separate storylines. Richard said:

"It’s an ambitious project for television. We’ve made three feature films on a TV budget and schedule. 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.”

from the Press Release 22 March 2010

The first picture from the series was released on 21 December 2009. Further details about the series can be seen on Sky's 'Looking Ahead: Coming to Sky1 HD in 2010' page.

(click to enlarge pictures)

BAFTA Screening

The first two episodes of Strike Back were screened at BAFTA's Princess Anne Theatre in London on Monday 19 April - more information on the BAFTA site. This information was accompanied by the following picture on the BAFTA page (click to enlarge):

Strike Back Premiere April 2010

The press premiere of Strike Back was held on Thursday 15 April 2010 at the Vue West End cinema in London's Leicester Square. There are pictures of this event in our Strike Back Premiere gallery.

Videos from the Strike Back Premiere are here: Strike Back Downloads page

Strike Back website - video links

Sky1 Strike Back series 1: About the Show

The Sky1 site contains a wealth of information about the series, the cast and the production with videos, photos and wallpapers. The website is described in detail on the day the site went live on our news page dated 19 April 2010.

Behind the scenes videos were added on 29 April 2010. These include:

Behind the Scenes trailer introduced by Daniel Percival and Richard Armitage
The Making of Strike Back: Girls and Guns
Strike Back: The Women
Andrew Lincoln on Set: Who is Hugh Collinson?
Strike Back: Who is John Porter?

Screencaps from all of these videos are in the Behind the Scenes gallery.

Strike Back Clips

Lots of downloads are available on the Strike Back Downloads page

Strike Back on TV Abroad

According to visitors to this site, we know that to date, Strike Back has been shown in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Norway, Japan and South Korea.