Jack O’Connell, Alfie Allen, Connor Swindells, Sofia Boutella, and Dominic West are all set to star in “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight’s new Kudos and BBC-produced six-part true story period drama series “SAS: Rogue Heroes”.
The story will deal with the formation of Britain’s famous Special Air Services (the U.K.’s Special Forces) in the darkest days of the second world war. Swindells plays eccentric young officer David Stirling, hospitalized after a training exercise went wrong.
Convinced traditional commando units don’t work, especially due to the increasingly mechanized nature of war, he creates a radical plan. He recruits the toughest, boldest, and brightest soldiers for a small undercover regiment that, with the advantage of surprise, could exact greater damage to the enemy’s ability to fight than an entire platoon.
After a series of successful operations, his vision was vindicated. The SAS was later reconstituted as a corps in 1950 dealing with counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, direct action, and covert reconnaissance. The group inspired the creation of numerous other Special Forces services across the globe.
Amir El Masry, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Corin Silva, Jacob Ifan, Donal Finn, Jacob McCarthy, Michael Schaeffer, and Miles Jupp co-star in the series which is currently in production under the helm of Tom Shankland (“The Serpent”).
Knight, Karen Wilson, Tommy Bulfin, Martin Haines, and Emma Kingsman-Lloyd also executive produce.
Source: Deadline