
Scripted series · Sky One
Strike Back
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How Strike Back actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
Strike Back reads strongest on Character Depth, Bingeability and Emotional Weight.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
The story
What it's about
The series follows John Porter, a former British Special Forces soldier, who is drafted back into service by Section 20, a fictional branch of the Secret Intelligence Service.
The run
Seasons
8 seasons · 76 episodes.

Season 0 · Unannounced
Specials
6 episodes

Season 1 · Complete
Chris Ryan's Strike Back
20106 episodes
8.1IMDbJohn Porter resigns from the SAS following the aftermath of a rescue mission in Iraq on the eve of the American led invasion in 2003, where two fellow soldiers were killed, apparently by a thirteen-year boy Porter had failed to kill, leaving him responsible. Seven years later, Porter is "reactivated" following the kidnap of journalist Katie Dartmouth by the same terrorists he fought seven years ago, including the same boy: As'ad.
Best episode · S01E02 Episode 2

Season 2 · Complete
Project Dawn
201110 episodes
7.2IMDbPorter is captured by a Pakistani terrorist called Latif while investigating a planned operation of Latif, Project Dawn. Sergeant Michael Stonebridge finds disgraced ex-Delta Force operative Damian Scott, who would not be hired by even private military contractors, who previously worked with Porter to track Latif. After Porter is executed, Section 20 discover Porter left the team clues to a hotel in New Delhi, India, where a group of terrorists attempt to capture a weapons scientist with knowledge of hidden weapons of mass destruction originally used to plant in Iraq, which serves as a part of Project Dawn. The weapon, namely VX nerve gas was kept in storage, and Latif has known about its existence.
Best episode · S02E06 Episode 6

Season 3 · Complete
Vengeance
201210 episodes
7.4IMDbFormer military intelligence operative, Major Rachel Dalton takes charge of Section 20. They work throughout Africa to gain their hands on four nuclear triggers which are in the wrong hands after a mission in Somalia. The triggers have originally been sold to Conrad Knox, an English billionaire and philanthropist based in South Africa, who runs the Knox Foundation, charged with disarming unstable regions. However, it becomes apparent that he is using the weapons to arm his own militia, and is using the triggers to build nuclear weapons with the intent on liberating Africa "to a point where its voice is not just heard but listened to." Due to Knox's influence, Section 20 is forced to go dark to stop him. In the meantime Stonebridge seeks revenge on Craig Hanson for murdering his wife, and Scott has to contend with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent Christy Bryant, whom he used to work contract killings with. By the conclusion of the series, two of the bombs are recovered, and the remaining two were disarmed before they could destroy Johannesburg, Stonebridge fulfills his revenge, and Knox kills himself when he fails.
Best episode · S03E10 Episode 10

Season 4 · Complete
Shadow Warfare
201310 episodes
7.3IMDbScott and Stonebridge are recalled from holiday in California to capture Leo Kamali, a high ranking member of a terrorist cell led by al-Zuhari, an elusive terrorist. After capturing him in Colombia it is revealed that Kamali is working deep cover with the CIA to stop al-Zuhari. As Kamali is pressured to work with Section 20, Dalton is suspended by Colonel Philip Locke, who takes charge. Dalton is later killed by the Real Irish Republican Army (IRA), who have joined forces with al-Zuhari's group. In the meantime, Scott and Stonebridge are wanted by the Russian mafia after killing the son of mob boss Arkady Ulyanov in Colombia.
Best episode · S04E09 Episode 9

Season 5 · Complete
Legacy
201510 episodes
8.2IMDbFrom the tropical beaches of Thailand to the towering peaks of the Swiss Alps, Strike Back: Legacy thrusts Section 20 onto a mission the scale of which has never been seen before as this season Scott & Stonebridge go up against the state sanctioned criminal wing of the North Korean regime, known as Office 39. Coordinated by a beautiful and devoted North Korean agent deeply embedded in the British Establishment, Han Li-na is secretly assembling intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of wiping out Washington and London. Putting a stop to the threat posed by North Korea becomes Section 20’s undoing when, in a bid to ease escalating global tensions, Sir Charles Ridley a senior figure within Whitehall, brokers a deal with North Korea to eliminate Section 20.
Best episode · S05E04 Episode 4

Season 6 · Complete
Retribution
201710 episodes
7.5IMDbTasked with covert military intelligence and high-risk operations, the resurrected unit, known as Section 20, embarks on a lethal manhunt that will uncover a vast web of interconnected criminal activity. As the team journey across the Middle East and Europe, they uncover a deadly conspiracy which threatens to overwhelm them all and change the face of modern warfare forever.
Best episode · S06E09 Episode 9

Season 7 · Complete
Revolution
201910 episodes
8.7IMDbWhen a Russian bomber crashes in the South China Sea, the covert special-ops soldiers of Section 20— Thomas “Mac” McAllister, Samuel Wyatt and Gracie Novin — are sent to investigate. There, they cross paths with Katrina Zarkova, a rogue Russian operative with questionable loyalties. Under orders of the new commanding officer, Col. Alexander Coltrane, Section 20 pursues stolen contents of the Russian jet across Southeast Asia. They will work alongside the Malaysian police to shut down a Triad gang in Kuala Lumpur, uncover a corrupt plot by a wealthy Indian businesswoman running for Parliament and plunge into the jungles of the Golden Triangle in Myanmar, facing off against mercenary drug agents and terrifying warlords as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens to push the world to the brink of global conflict.
Best episode · S07E06 Episode 6

Season 8 · Complete
Vendetta
202010 episodes
8.8IMDbThe members of Section 20 are thrown back into combat when a seemingly-straightforward mission in Kosovo to rescue a British scientist uncovers a conspiracy.
Best episode · S08E03 Episode 3
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.

S05E04
Episode 4
Scott has a serious talk with his son whilst the rest of Section 20 form an uneasy alliance with a couple of CIA mercenaries as they go after Shiro and Mei Foster.

S05E05
Episode 5
Scott and Stonebridge make a major mistake and fall into the clutches of North Korean agent Li-Na, leaving Locke having to defy orders to get them out.

S03E10
Episode 10
In order to stop Knox, Scott comes to Bryant for assistance. Meanwhile Stonebridge has trouble focusing on the mission as he is bent on revenge. Section 20 get assistance from South African police to stop Knox's plot.
- Directed by Bill Eagles
- Written by Tony Saint

S04E09
Episode 9
Scott and Stonebridge try to keep their promise to protect Ester; Richmond and Martinez follow an Al-Zuhari associate; the team sets out to stop an infiltrator before he reaches a populated area.
- Directed by MJ Bassett
- Written by Richard Zajdlic

S02E06
Episode 6
Grant travels to Khartoum when Sinclair and Scott are arrested. Clare is offered a choice by Tahir of either death or starting a new life as his partner. Stonebridge blames himself for Kate's death/ Crawford reveals that Latif has embedded a spy at the top of Western intelligence but refuses to reveal the person's identity until Clare is returned alive.
- Directed by Alex Holmes

S03E09
Episode 9
Knox plans on unloading nuclear bombs into politically unstable African nations, while Matlock reveals why he joined Knox.
- Directed by Bill Eagles
- Written by Tony Saint
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.

Jed Mercurio
Showrunner
- Photo unavailable
Marigo Kehoe
Creator

MJ Bassett
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Lance Samuels
Executive producer

Andy Harries
Executive producer

Elaine Pyke
Executive producer

Simon Allen
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Tony Saint
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Jack Lothian
Writer

Frank Spotnitz
Writer
- Photo unavailable
James Dormer
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Tim Vaughan
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Richard Zajdlic
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Alan Whiting
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Ben Newman
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Simon Burke
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Robert Murphy
Writer
- Photo unavailable
John Simpson
Writer
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- MJ BassettExecutive Producer
- Lance SamuelsExecutive Producer
- Andrew BensonProducer
- Kristian DenchProducer
- Andy HarriesExecutive Producer
- Andy HarriesProducer
Writing
- Jed MercurioWriter
- MJ BassettWriter
- Simon AllenWriter
- Tony SaintWriter
- Jack LothianWriter
- Frank SpotnitzWriter
Direction
- MJ BassettDirector
- Bill EaglesDirector
- Julian HolmesDirector
- Paul WilmshurstDirector
- Daniel PercivalDirector
- Stephen WoolfendenDirector
Cinematography
- Steve LawesDirector of Photography
Where to watch
Streaming
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