Shake the sand out of your boots because SAS Rogue Heroes season 2 has begun filming, with Paddy Mayne's boys swapping the deserts of North Africa for the war in Europe! (Note spoilers ahead if you've not seen series one!)
After the success of SAS Rogue Heroes season 1, which adapted Ben Macinytyre's book on the origins of the SAS during World War Two for BBC One, another six-part series is in the works.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Stephen Knight, the six-part series followed Captain David Stirling, Lt Paddy Mayne and Lt Jock Lewes as they forged the elite unit in the deserts of North Africa during the darkest days of the war.
Steven Knight, SAS Rogue Heroes’ creator, writer, and executive producer, says: “It’s so good to be back in the wild world of the SAS so soon. Series two will take the SAS into mainland Europe and will take our heroes to the limits of their endurance. The second chapter is even more incredible than the first and we hope to do justice to the brave men and women whose story we are telling.”
With the first season ending on a cliffhanger when Captain Stirling was captured by the Nazis, fans will be eager for the next chapter of this wartime story.
Here's everything we know about the second season...
SAS Rogue Heroes season 2 release date - when is it on BBC1?
Filming on SAS Rogue Heroes season 2 began in the UK and Croatia in Spring 2023, with the six month shoot wrapping in September of that year.
Director Stephen Woolfenden revealed the shoot had been completed in the following social media post...
"Wrapped on SAS Rogue Heroes 2!!! 81 shoot days, 6 episodes, 370’ish scenes, almost 2,000 slates across two units. Croatia, Italy, England & Scotland. Boats, planes, tanks, Jeeps, bicycles, donkeys, beaches, towns, castles and an extraordinary cast and crew… Thank you all!"
Wrapped on SAS Rogue Heroes 2!!! 81 shoot days, 6 episodes, 370’ish scenes, almost 2,000 slates across two units. Croatia, Italy, England & Scotland. Boats, planes, tanks, Jeeps, bicycles, donkeys, beaches, towns, castles and an extraordinary cast and crew. . Thank-you all!🎥🎬❤️ pic.twitter.com/zZU2wug105September 11, 2023
However, while the series has been filmed, there's a rumour we won't see it until early 2025. We'll let you know as soon as we have an official broadcast date.
SAS Rogue Heroes will air on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK, MGM+ in the United States and is distributed internationally by Banijay Rights.
Series one is available to stream now in full on BBC iPlayer, while in the US it's on Epix and is known as simply Rogue Heroes.
SAS Rogue Heroes season 2 plot
An official synopsis from BBC1 reads..
"Spring, 1943. With David Stirling captured and Paddy Mayne now in charge of the SAS, their attention must turn from the conflict in North Africa to mainland Europe. But GHQ have cast doubt over the future of the regiment, while the creation of a new unit and a surprise arrival make things even more difficult for the men. Can they prove that the SAS remains essential to the war, wherever it may lead them?"
Captain Stirling's time at Colditz could prove a major part of the second series, yet the adventures of Lt Paddy Mayne, who took over command of the SAS after Stirling was captured, could also make for great wartime drama.
Mayne spearheaded the invasion of Sicily and then mainland Italy in 1943, with the newly formed 2nd SAS, a unit which had been formed by Stirling's older brother, Lieutenant Colonel Bill Stirling.
The flighting in Italy was considered by many of the original SAS servicemen as the most brutal they'd ever endured, so we might be seeing far more action in the second series.
Mayne then led the special unit through the final campaigns of the war in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Norway, often campaigning alongside local resistance fighters. Mayne's unit were then involved in operations deep behind enemy lines as the Allies prepared for D-Day in the summer 1944.
SAS Rogue Heroes season 2 cast
The show's two leading stars, Connor Swindells (Sex Education, Vigil) and Jack O'Connell (Lady Chatterley's Lover) who play Captain David Stirling and Lt Paddy Mayne, will return for a second series.
Gwilym Lee (The Great, Bohemian Rhapsody) joins SAS Rogue Heroes for series two to play Bill Stirling, David Stirling’s brother and founder of the 2 SAS regiment, while Con O’Neill (Happy Valley, Our Flag Means Death) will play General Montgomery.
Yet Alfie Allen won't be back, after Jock Lewes' heartbreaking death in the first season :'-(
Other cast members set to return include...
* Dominic West as Dudley Clarke
* Sofia Boutella as Eve Mansour
* Tom Glynn-Carney as Sergeant Mike Sadler
* Theo Barklem-Biggs as Sergeant Reg Seekings
* Jacob Ifan as Sergeant Pat Riley
* Bobby Schofield as Sergeant Dave Kershaw
* Corin Silva as Jim Almonds
* Stuart Campbell as Bill Fraser
* Jacob McCarthy as Johnny Cooper
They will serve alongside new recruits Mark Rowley (The Last Kingdom, The North Water) and Jack Barton (Heartstopper, War of the Worlds), who will play SAS members Jock McDiarmid and John Tonkin respectively.
Further new cast members for series two include Paolo De Vita (Anonymous, La Grande Guerra del Salento), Anna Manuelli (Blocco 181, Pezzi unici), Edward Bennett (Industry, Save Me Too) and Matteo Franco.
Will there be a SAS Rogue Heroes season 3?
The show's creator Steven Knight says he originally intended the drama to run for three seasons, with the first series only covered the first part of Ben Macintyre's book, upon which the show is based.
“We're gonna go another three,” Knight told LadBible. “We're gonna to take it to after the end of the Second World War and then see what happens, because the story just keeps it going… and it just gets more and more incredible.”
With Captain Stirling eventually being imprisoned in Colditz Castle and tasked with setting up the Colditz British Intelligence Unit, future series might include elements of another of Macintyre's books, Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle.
While there, Stirling is thought to have met Captain Julius Morris Green, a Scottish prisoner of war who worked as a spy for MI9 during his time at the prisoner camp.
“We might break away and do Colditz as well — [Julius] Green meets [David] Stirling," added Knight.
However some believe the third episode may concentrate on Paddy Mayne's exploits deep behind enemy lines, as his SAS unit completed key operations in the months leading up to D-Day in June 1944.
SAS Rogue Heroes season 2 trailer
With filming yet to begin, there's no trailer for this one yet, but we'll be sure to post it here as soon as it lands.
SAS Rogue Heroes season 1 is available to watch on the BBC iPlayer in the UK
