List of Strike Back characters
Strike Back is a British/American action and military television series, based on a novel of the same name by novelist and former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier Chris Ryan. The series follows the actions of Section 20, a secretive branch of the British Defence Intelligence service (DI), who operate several high risk, priority missions throughout the globe. The series began broadcasting on Sky1 on 5 May 2010, showing the first six-part series. After a second series was commissioned, it was announced that Cinemax would co-produce the franchise. The first episode of the ten-part second series, under the banner title Project Dawn in the United Kingdom, first aired on Cinemax on 12 August 2011. The ten-part third series, under the title Strike Back: Vengeance, began airing on Cinemax on 17 August 2012. On 3 October 2012, Cinemax and Sky commissioned a fourth series, which was broadcast on Cinemax beginning 9 August 2013.[1][2] A ten-episode fifth and final season will air in 2015.
The following is a list of characters that have appeared on the television series.
Section 20 characters
| Character | Actor | Series appearances | |||
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| John Porter | Richard Armitage | 1–2 | |||
.jpg) Richard Armitage John Porter is the main protagonist of the first series. Porter is a soldier of the Special Air Service (SAS). In 2003 he took part in a botched operation to rescue Kenneth Bratton, a weapons contractor held hostage in Iraq on the eve of the American-led invasion, where two soldiers were killed and a third left in a persistent vegetative state. Porter was blamed as they suspected the killer was a 13 year-old hotile, As'ad, and Porter failed to kill him. As a result he resigned a disgraced officer, he could not find suitable employment, and became estranged from his wife and daughter.[3] Seven years later, he is drafted back into service to work for Section 20. He ultimately learns that the boy, was not the killer,[4] but his new superior Hugh Collinson.[5] In the second series, Project Dawn, Porter worked to capture terrorist Latif in Pakistan, who is planning the epynomous operation. Instead, Porter gets captured, and later executed. It is later revealed that Porter was exposed by Pakistani intelligence and to a lesser extent, Eleanor Grant, Collinson's successor. Armitage dropped out of the role after the first series to play Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit film trilogy.[6]
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| Hugh Collinson | Andrew Lincoln | 1 | |||
 Andrew Lincoln Major Hugh Collinson is the head of Section 20 in the first series. Collinson was a military intelligence officer who worked with Porter in the SAS mission to rescue Kenneth Bratton. When enemy re-enforcements arrived Collinson accidentally killed two SAS soldiers. However, Porter was given the blame. Later, Collinson is promoted to lead Section 20.[3] In 2010, journalist Katie Dartmouth is kidnapped by terrorists in Iraq, among them is As'ad, who is the only witness to Collinson's shooting. Collinson covers his tracks by refusing to aid As'ad, likely leading to his death.[4] The truth is later discovered by Layla, after the third soldier dies after the seven-year coma, and ballistics evidence matches Collinson's gun. Collinson is later forced to help Porter in Afghanistan, after he sells the latter out by the American government to kill him. Collinson is shot several times by the Taliban while helping Porter escape, and in his dying moments uses a grenade to kill them.[5]
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| Danni Prendiville | Shelley Conn | 1 | |||
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Danni Prendiville is an officer in Section 20. In the first series, Prendiville oversees Porter's training after he joins the unit, and then has sex with him.[3] The two later have an affair.[7] Her status since the end of the first series is unknown.
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| Layla Thompson | Jodhi May | 1 | |||
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Layla Thompson is a lieutenant in military intelligence and works alongside Collinson in Section 20. Throughout the first series her demeanor towards Porter's employment in the section changes. At first she comes to resent Porter,[3][4] but as time goes by an opens up to him.[8] She later becomes aware of the truth behind the botched 2003 operation and ultimately learns it was Collinson who killed the soldiers. She then confronts Collinson and blackmails him into aiding Porter in Afghanistan or she will report her findings to Collinson's superiors.[5] Her status since the end of the first series is unknown.
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| Michael Stonebridge | Philip Winchester | 2–5 | |||
 Philip Winchester Colour Sergeant Michael Stonebridge is one of the two series protagonists, alongside Damien Scott, since Project Dawn. In the series, Stonebridge is an Ex Royal Marine and SBS (Special Boat Squadron) Commando working for Section 20, and is married to his wife Kerry. Despite this, Stonebridge has an affair with Section 20 officer Kate Marshall. In Project Dawn, Stonebridge is assigned to collect Damien Scott to identify Latif, a mysterious terrorist. Their working relationship begins somewhat rocky due to the duo's polarising views on tactics. He ends his affair with Kate, but soon afterwards, Kate is killed in a bomb, and Stonebridge temporarily loses focus on his job. When Kerry announces she is pregnant, the wife pressures Stonebridge to leave Section 20. After foiling Latif's Project Dawn, Stonebridge decides to resign. In Vengeance, Stonebridge trains recruits, but during a live-ammunition training exercise, he is forced to kill a recruit when he breaks down and threatens the other recruits. He briefly rejoins Section 20 to rescue Scott in Somalia, but then rejoins full time after the dead recruit's brother, Craig Hanson, avenges his death by killing Kerry. Stonebridge becomes fixated on killing Hanson, who is now working for Conrad Knox, the season's antagonist, and hence loses focus again. By the end of the series, Stonebridge fulfils his revenge, but decides to forgive Hanson also. In Shadow Warfare, he and Scott are ordered to capture Kamali, a lieutenant of elusive terrorist al-Zuhari, in Colombia, and kill Viktor Ulyanov of the Russian mafia in the process. This action results in a hit his and Scott's life as his father Arkady is a high ranking mob boss. In the third episode, Stonebridge is unknowingly contaminated with a chemical weapon leaked from outdated missiles in a warehouse. As a result he suffers episodes of impaired visions, affecting his combat abilities. He is not made aware of his condition until episode seven, where he has only days to live. He is later given the antidote and manages to survive to fight again, while also having the bounty gone after Arkady is killed.
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| Damien Scott | Sullivan Stapleton | 2–5 | |||
 Sullivan Stapleton First Sergeant Damien Scott is one of the two series protagonists, alongside Michael Stonebridge, since Project Dawn. Scott was a member of the Delta Force Commandos, Special Forces within the United States Army, working to investigate possible weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. When he began questioning the investigation, he found himself dishonourable discharged when two pounds of opium were planted in his possession. He was considered so unorthodox in his methods, that even private military contractors would not hire him. He is first seen in Malaysia entering fighting contests for income. He is brought in by Section 20 to identify Latif, though Scott later admits he never actually saw him. Scott later becomes a member of Section 20. Throughout the series he realises that he was set up by Eleanor Grant as part of a mission to plant weapons in Iraq. He acquires the file that would exonerate him, but he decides to burn the file instead. In Vengeance Scott is captured while on a rescue mission in Somalia, but later rescued by Stonebridge. While working to recover four stolen nuclear triggers, he is reacquainted with Christy Bryant. It is revealed that after his dishonourable discharge, he and Christy worked together to kill numerous targets around the world that posed a threat to the United States, but stopped in 2005 when he killed the son of a target in a car bomb in Ecuador. By the end of the series, Scott reluctantly partners up with her once more to stop Conrad Knox from selling and detonating four nuclear weapons. In Shadow Warfare he and Stonebridge are wanted by the Russian mafia for killing the son of mob boss Arkady Ulyanov during a mission to capture Kamali. Over the course of the series, Scott learns that he fathered a son, Finn, from one of his past relationships while in the States. He acquires a bag of diamonds from one of the missions, and decides to give it to his son's mother Rebecca. By the end of the series, Scott begins a relationship with Julia Richmond.
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| Eleanor Grant | Amanda Mealing | 2 | |||
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Colonel Eleanor Grant is the head of Section 20 following the demise of Hugh Collinson, in Project Dawn. Her main assignment was to stop Latif, who killed Porter. She reluctantly takes in Scott as an operative. By the end of the series, it is revealed that she took part in "Operation Trojan Horse", a project to plant VX nerve gas in Iraq to prove the existence of weapons of mass destruction there. Though the operation was abandoned, she was ashamed of her actions (having indirectly caused the events of Project Dawn), and in her attempt to cover up her involvement, she framed Scott's possession charges and indirectly exposed Porter leading to his death. In the climax, Grant forces Latif to shoot an explosive canister under her jacket, killing Latif and herself. In Vengeance she would be replaced by Rachel Dalton as head of the section.
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| Kate Marshall | Eva Birthistle | 2 | |||
 Eva Birthistle (right) Captain Kate Marshall is a Section 20 officer in Project Dawn. Originally from the Republic of Ireland, Marshall oversees the personnel in the section, as well as having an affair with Michael Stonebridge, which he later breaks off. In the fourth episode, Marshall is captured by Daniel Connolly, later revealed to be strapped with a bomb as insurance should he be captured. Connolly refuses to disarm the bomb, and Kate dies in the explosion.
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| Oliver Sinclair | Rhashan Stone | 2–3 | |||
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Major Oliver Sinclair is Section 20's second-in-command, behind Grant in Project Dawn. In Vengeance, following Grant's death, Sinclair takes provisional command until Dalton is promoted. Though little is known about his personal life, he is revealed to have children in Vengeance. In the season's seventh episode he and the rest of Section 20 (sans Scott and Stonebridge) where arrested by corrupt South African officials and sent to a prison. Sinclair realises that the officials intend to kill them. Sinclair manages to warn the rest of his team before he is executed by mercenaries.
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| Julia Richmond | Michelle Lukes | 2–5 | |||
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Sergeant Julia Richmond is introduced in Project Dawn as one of the section's newest recruits. She begins the series mostly as a technical officer, but takes a more active role in the field beginning in Vengeance, starting by rescuing Scott from capture by Somalis with Stonebridge. Throughout the series, Scott attempts to flirt with her on numerous occasions. The two later become, and by the end of Shadow Warfare, they have sex and begin a relationship that lasts as of the beginning of Legacy. Richmond gets shot and killed by Mei Foster in episode four of Legacy.
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| Rachel Dalton | Rhona Mitra | 3–4 | |||
 Rhona Mitra Major Rachel Dalton (formerly Captain) is a military intelligence officer. She is introduced in Vengeance as "Rachel McMillan", junior attaché to British Diplomat Patrick Burton. She is later revealed to be undercover to intercept four nuclear triggers, which end up in the wrong hands. Whitehall later appoint her to command Section 20, replacing Grant, to hunt the nuclear triggers, which are later in the hands of philanthropist Conrad Knox. Due to Knox's influence with the South African government, Dalton has Section 20 go dark in order to stop him. By the end, she gets the co-operation with the South Africans again, and they work together to stop Knox. When the team succeed, Knox shoots Dalton, but she survives. In Shadow Warfare, Dalton becomes addicted to morphine, and begins to act more erratically. Her drug use would later result in her suspension by Philip Locke. Despite this she captures the wife of al-Zuhari and has her released so she could follow her to al-Zuhari. Instead, Dalton finds Mairead McKenna of the Real Irish Republican Army (IRA) and is shot to death. Dalton has a daughter.
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| Liam Baxter | Liam Garrigan | 3–4 | |||
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Sergeant Liam Baxter is a field officer introduced in Vengeance, working for Rachel Dalton to find four nuclear triggers. In Shadow Warfare, he is working undercover as a journalist to find al-Zuhari, but is exposed and captured by the terrorists. He is swiflty executed by the terrorists when they realise his true identity. Dalton fails to save him as she is out of ammunition.
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| Philip Locke | Robson Green | 4–5 | |||
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Colonel Philip Locke begins as an official in Whitehall. According to Stonebridge, Locke was an SAS legend who worked several missions against the IRA in the 1980s. At one point the IRA attempted to kill him with a car bomb, but instead the bomb killed his son and left his wife in a persistent vegetative state. The bomber was never caught. In Shadow Warfare, Locke suspends Dalton and effectively takes charge of Section 20 from then on. When the IRA are revealed to be working with al-Zuhari's cell, Locke is briefly held captive by them. After he is rescued, Locke later manages to capture Mairead McKenna and forces her to divulge the identity of the bomber. When McKenna instead tries to shoot him (but is killed by Kamali before she can), Locke is forced to accept that he will never find his son's killer.
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| Kim Martinez | Milauna Jackson | 4–5 | |||
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Kim Martinez is an American agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Stationed in Colombia, she is introduced in Shadow Warfare to aid Section 20 in capturing Kamali, after which she helps Section 20 for the rest of the season. In the finale she is infected with weaponised smallpox, but is given the vaccine before she started to display symptoms. She continues working for Section 20 in Legacy.
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Other characters
Chris Ryan's Strike Back
- James Middleton (played by Colin Salmon), a civil servant who sits between the British government and the Ministry of Defence, and who oversees Section 20 in the first four episodes.[3][4][7][8]
- Katie Dartmouth (played by Orla Brady), a British war correspondent covering the Iraq war. She is kidnapped by the terrorist group the Sword of Islam. During her capture terrorists cut off one of her hands.[3] John Porter succeeds in rescuing her.[4]
- Hakim Al Nazeri (played by Dhaffer L'Abidine), the leader of the Sword of Islam responsible for kidnapping Dartmouth. Killed by John Porter.[3][4]
- As'ad (played by Fenar Mohammed Ali), also known as "scarface", a member of the Sword of Islam. Previously, As'ad was thought to be responsible for killing two British soldiers, but in fact witnessed Collinson committing the act.[3] As'ad decides to aid Porter and Dartmouth's escape. However, Collinson refuses As'ad entry into the rescue helicopter, and he is last seen running for his life from other Sword members, and is presumed dead.[4]
- Kenneth Bratton (played by David Butler in Chris Ryan's Strike Back, Alistair Petrie in Project Dawn) is an executive of the weapons contractor ATAT. In the beginning of the first series, he is kidnapped in Iraq in 2003, and then rescued.[3] In Project Dawn, it is revealed that Bratton was pressured to plant VX gas in Iraq, but has since kept it in storage in South Africa. He is kidnapped by Daniel Connolly to steal the VX, and is then killed by Donnolly.
- Diane Porter (played by Nicola Stephenson) is Porter's wife. The two are separated following Porter's resignation.[3] In episode three she is revealed to be diagnosed with cancer,[7] and in the next episode she dies from complications with the surgery.[8]
- Alexandra Porter (played by Laura Greenwood) is Porter's daughter. They become estranged after Porter's resignation.[3] Following her mother's death she lives with Collinson and his wife.[8]
- Felix Masuku (played by Shaun Parkes), a former SAS soldier who was ordered to assassinate Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. He is arrested after killing a double. Porter is assigned to break him out of prison and kill him before his trial.[7] Following the escape, Porter spares his life after learning that Masuku was duped to assassinate Mugabe by the British, but in fact a South African diplomat. Masuku, having his roots in Zimbabwe, decides to stay in the country.[8]
- Colonel Tshuma (played by David Harewood), the warden of the prison Masuku is being held. Following Porter and Masuku's escape, Tshuma leads a manhunt to find the two. Killed by Porter.[8]
- Gerald Baxter (played by Ewen Bremner), a British computer hacker working for the American armed forces. At some point he joins the Taliban to intercepts missiles to kill American soldiers.[9] Porter extracts him, but learns he is suffering from a mental disorder after a tragic event in his past. Killed by the Taliban.[5]
- Zahar Sharq (played by Alexander Siddig), an Afghan politician and Baxter's employer. He conspires with the American government to have Baxter killed in exchange for arms and intelligence so he could lead an Afghan insurgent movement.[9]
- Frank Arlington (played by Toby Stephens), an American liaison in the UK, conspiring with Sharq as he is deemed fit to lead the insurgence movement in Afghanistan. Through his order, Arlington also wants Baxter and Porter killed (Porter survives).[5]
References
- ↑ Bibel, Sara (3 October 2012). "'Strike Back' Renewed for Season 3 by Cinemax". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- ↑ Jeffery, Morgan (3 October 2012). "'Strike Back' renewed for another season". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Daniel Percival (director); Jed Mercurio (writer) (5 May 2010). "Episode 1". Strike Back. Series 1. Episode 1. Sky plc. Sky 1.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Daniel Percival (director); Jed Mercurio (writer) (5 May 2010). "Episode 2". Strike Back. Series 1. Episode 2. Sky plc. Sky 1.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Edward Hall (director); Robert Murphy (writer) (19 May 2010). "Episode 6". Strike Back. Series 1. Episode 6. Sky plc. Sky 1.
- ↑ "Sullivan Stapleton lands lead role in HBO drama Strike Back". Herald Sun (The Herald and Weekly Times). 20 January 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 Daniel Percival (director); Jed Mercurio & Alan Whiting (writer) (12 May 2010). "Episode 3". Strike Back. Series 1. Episode 3. Sky plc. Sky 1.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Daniel Percival (director); Jed Mercurio & Alan Whiting (writer) (12 May 2010). "Episode 4". Strike Back. Series 1. Episode 4. Sky plc. Sky 1.
- 1 2 Edward Hall (director); Robert Murphy (writer) (19 May 2010). "Episode 5". Strike Back. Series 1. Episode 5. Sky plc. Sky 1.
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