M.a duvet! Steven Knight's dramatization of the formation and exploits of the Special Air Service during World War II returns with a problem to solve. In the first season, this elite new regiment of the British Army and the show that commemorated it were led by Connor Swindells as David Stirling, an officer with a heady mix of good-natured elan and suppressed rage. But SAS Rogue Heroes is based on fact, even if it's in the way of a scattered gun, a crooked tie and stealing your wife, and the fact is that in January 1943, Stirling became prisoner of war in Italy. Season two begins in the spring and summer of that year, so Stirling is duly confined and Swindells, the star, is hardly there.
Jack O'Connell now takes charge as Paddy Mayne, previously the screaming identity of Stirling's intelligent ego. Can he hack it alone? The success of the operation depends on him… Paddy Mayne is still a borderline risk-taker and dead-eyed killer of the faceless enemy, but his new position as leader demands a new level of reckless bravery from of the actor who plays him. O'Connell is up to the task.
After helping to take control of North Africa in the first season by carrying out ridiculously dangerous missions behind enemy lines, the new SAS are offered what London strategist Dudley Wrangel Clarke (Dominic West) amusingly describes as “a new and even more effective means”. to commit suicide.” The men, temporarily renamed the Special Raid Squadron for sensitive reasons of military administration, are to lead the southern end of the invasion of continental Europe, beginning with a landing in Sicily which top brass believe will have a 50% mortality rate.
Before all this, a postman is leisurely cycling down a country lane in County Down. The letter he delivers is from Paddy Mayne, writing home to tell his mother that his commanding officers have not allowed him compassionate leave to attend his father's funeral. We see Mayne's reaction to this in an early scene where he destroys a fancy Cairo restaurant and the five military policemen who try to stop him from breaking more chairs.
The Second World War, with its impeccable casus belli, is safe ground for a drama about military heroism – you certainly wouldn't be able to dramatize the post-war adventures of the SAS without running into a thick ethical fog and many disgusting military fantasies. But you can enjoy SAS Rogue Heroes without fear of turning into Alan Partridge salivating over an Andy McNab hardback. Yet the show is aware of the class divisions within its cast: even with a cause as unifying as stopping the Nazis, there's still a strong element of posh men telling working-class guys where and when to die.
Played by O'Connell, Paddy Mayne is the ideal hero in this scenario. His surly rejection of authority is absolute, and in series two he has a fascinating new ally/antagonist in the form of Bill Stirling, David's older brother. Sparking a real-life debate over whether Stirling should be credited with creating the SAS, Bill presents himself to Paddy as the more diligent and less impulsive brother, but his self-image is about to take a hit a blow. Paddy greeting Bill by looking down on him and telling him he sees no reason to pay him respects is one of many moments where O'Connell makes us want to punch the air.
While Stirling tries to win over Mayne by emphasizing their shared goals, Gwilym Lee is excellent at bringing out the mixed emotions of the supposedly more refined and capable man. Does Bill Stirling feel fear, admiration, envy or patrician disdain as he negotiates with a man who embodies the reckless courage his team will need to win? Lee gives them to us all at once. For his part, O'Connell is his own whirlwind of contradictory strengths and weaknesses as he briefs the SAS rabble before the trip to Europe, struggling to accept his role as superior but ultimately convincing them – and becoming the man they 'it must be. before our eyes – acquiring a sudden steely calm and quoting William Blake: “Prepare to meet our fathers in heaven…”
With its sober view of sacrifice and clever use of extreme adversity to bring out different facets of the male psyche, Rogue Heroes earns its stripes, but rest assured, with all that groundwork in place, it's all about of a good old game. The wildly incongruous but perfectly chosen rock soundtrack, the cool freeze frames, the fist fights, the jokes and of course the battle scenes are all unabashedly exciting – and the landing in Sicily, with Mayne's men dodging Italian bullets under powder-gray moonlight, is also cool as hell. It's exciting to see O'Connell and his boys charge.
SAS Rogue Heroes aired on BBC One and is now on iPlayer.
