Chris Ryan’s Strike BackSeries 1 |
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| ritten by: | Jed Mercurio |
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| Executive Producer: | Andy Harries | |
| Directed by: | Daniel Percival |
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| Broadcast dates: |
Wed 5 May – Wed 19 May 9.00 – 11.00pm on Sky1 and Sky1 HD |
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| Distributor: | Sky and BBC Worldwide |
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| Duration: | 6 x 1 hour episodes, 2 episodes each week for 3 weeks |
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Cast:
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Also featuring Toby Stephens, Shaun Parkes and David Harewood |
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Introduction
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The first series of Strike Back was a Sky UK production, consisting 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 world have subsequently broadcast it in that format, just 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.
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Strike Back series 2 and 3 were co-produced by Sky and HBO/Cinemax and released in the US and UK simultaneously. New lead actors have taken over from Richard Armitage, who appeared briefly in episode 1 of series 2 but left the show to start filming The Hobbit. When the series was taken over by Cinemax for series 2 and named ‘Project Dawn’, it was promoted in the US as the “first series” of Strike Back, however in the UK and other countries ‘Project Dawn’ is promoted as series 2. Strike Back series 1 with John Porter has not been shown on US television.
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 ScreeningThe 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:
Screencaps from all of these videos are in the Behind the Scenes gallery.
Strike Back ClipsLots of downloads are available on the Strike Back Downloads page
DVD DetailsReleased on 7 June 2010. Extras (according to 2Entertain’s site): Cast interviews & Behind the scenes
Region 1 A region 1 DVD of this series is not available, however a multi-region Blu-ray version is here on Amazon.com.
Region 2 Amazon UK £15.91 Play.com £15.99 Amazon UK Blu-ray £17.99 Play.com Blu-ray £17.99 Strike Back in German was released on DVD on 25 February 2011. You can order at Amazon.de. The DVD was released with Dutch subtitles on 22 February 2011. You can order via bol.com.
Other regions The DVD was released in Australia on 5 May 2011. You can preorder it from the ABC shop or from EzyDVD for just under $30.
Screencaps from the Extras on the DVD are in the Strike Back DVD Extras gallery.
Miscellaneous Enlarged cover created by Teena (click thumbnail below to enlarge and click to enlarge further when viewing). Teena’s deviantart page.
Strike Back BillboardsA strange phenomenon popping up all over the country in April 2010 – “gladiator-style Richard”. Thanks to Koolkat for the pics.
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Useful Links
Strike Back at Left Back Productions
Strike Back Reviews in the Press Strike Back Promotional Downloads
last update 2 October 2011 |