'Rogue Heroes' Season 2 First Look Takes Us Back to the Front
The cast of 'Rogue Heroes' Season 2: Mark Rowley as Jock McDiarmid, Jacob McCarthy as Johnny Copper, Theo Barklem-Biggs as Reg Seekings, Stuart Thompson as Anthony Greville-Bell, Bobby Schofield as Dave Kershaw, Jacob Ifan as Pat Riley, Corin Silva as Jim Almonds, Jack O’Connell as Paddy Mayne and Stuart Campbell as Bill Fraser.
BBC/Banijay Rights/Robert Viglasky
The BBC has released first-look images from Season 2 of the surprise hit drama SAS Rogue Heroes, which dropped the “SAS” for the American market and streams on MGM+ as Rogue Heroes. The series, Steven Knight’s first BBC drama after the end of Peaky Blinders, takes his trademark dark' n gritty period piece realism and applies it to the traditional World War II drama, tracing the origins of the British Army Special Air Service (SAS) during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II.
Initially based on Ben MacIntyre’s 2016 non-fiction SAS Rogue Heroes, Season 1 focused on Lieutenant Archibald David Stirling, played by Sex Education’s Connor Swindells, and his idea of forming the unit after his regiment’s defeat in Cairo. The series co-stars Jack O’Connell (Skins) as co-founder Lieutenant Robert Blair Mayne, better known as Paddy, Dominic West (The Crown) as Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke, the real-life mastermind behind some of the British Army’s crazier World War II stunts, and Sofia Boutella (The Kingsman) as the fictional Eve Mansour*, the Deputy Head of French intelligence in Cairo.
(*In reality, women were only first admitted into the SAS in 2018. No, that’s not a typo.)
Season 1 used up most of the material from McIntyre’s book; Season 2 plans to continue the story by adapting real-life SAS operations in the European theatre of war, taking the regiment to a whole new terrain.
Jack O’Connell as Paddy Mayne, Dominic West as Dudley Clarke, and Sofia Boutella as Eve Mansour in 'Rogue Heroes'
BBC/Banijay Rights/Robert Viglasky
Here's the synopsis for the show's forthcoming season:
Season 2 returns to action with the troops in Spring 1943. Paddy Mayne takes control of the SAS following David Stirling’s capture, and now attention must turn from the conflict in North Africa to mainland Europe. But GHQ have cast doubt over the future of the regiment, while the creation of a second unit and an influx of new arrivals make things even more difficult for the men. Can they prove that the SAS remain essential to the war, wherever it may lead them?
Connor Swindells as David Stirling in 'Rogue Heroes' Season 2
BBC/Banijay Rights/Robert Viglasky
O’Connell, Swindells, Boutella, and West will be joined by most of the extensive ensemble from Season 1. That includes Theo Barklem-Biggs (The End We Start From), Corin Silva (Masters of the Air), Jacob Ifan (A Discovery of Witches), Jacob McCarthy (Mary & George), Stuart Campbell (Baptiste), and Bobby Schofield (The Suspect).
Season 2's new additions include Gwilym Lee (The Great), Con O’Neill (Happy Valley), Mark Rowley (The North Water), Jack Barton (Heartstopper), Stuart Thompson (Starstruck), Paolo De Vita (Maigret), Anna Manuelli (Thou Shalt Not Kill), Edward Bennett (Industry), and newcomer Matteo Franco.
Jack Barton as John Tonkin in 'Rogue Heroes' Season 2
BBC/Banijay Rights/Robert Viglasky
Steven Knight created and wrote all six episodes of Season 2, with director Stephen Woolfenden (Outlander) helming all episodes, with Stephen Smallwood (The Serpent) returning as producer. The series is executive produced by Knight, Karen Wilson, Emma Kingsman-Lloyd, and Martin Haines for Kudos, and Nick Lambon for the BBC.
Rogue Heroes Season 2 does not yet have a release date, but it is expected to debut with all episodes on MGM+ here in the U.S. as soon as the season finale airs in the U.K.
