SAS Rogue Heroes, BBC1 review — the elite unit behind second world war adventures

The recruitment process for the SAS doesn’t seem to have been quite as rigorous in the elite military unit’s early days as it is now. Are you a natural born killer? You’re in. A troublemaker, an impudent wit, an anti-rationalist, a womaniser? Grab a gun.

At least that’s the telegenic version of events presented in SAS Rogue Heroes: the BBC’s fictionalisation of Ben Macintyre’s history of the formation of the Special Air Service during the north African campaign of 1941. Developed by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, the six-part series offers yet another ultra-stylised, slightly laddish but diverting story about a group of mercurial young men who play by their own rules.

Dismayed by the perceived ineptitude of the bumbling old boys at the top of the British army, three restive soldiers begin to organise an independent paratroop detachment of rebels with a cause — namely to venture beyond enemy lines and outfox General Rommel before he can seize control of Egypt. What they lack in resources, expertise and discipline they more than make up for in weapons-grade self-belief in their destiny. “I will win this war,” one of them howls into the desert wind, just moments after snapping his legs on a practice parachute drop.

He’s David Stirling (Connor Swindells). An irreverent, aviator-wearing lieutenant, weighed down by the legacy of his esteemed father, he’s the plummier, tipsier British answer to Top Gun’s Maverick. Joining Stirling’s effort to demonstrate his value are the serious-minded Jock Lewes (Alfie Allen) and Paddy Mayne (Jack O’Connell), an agent of chaos with a poet’s heart.

Each character here feels born of a writer’s imagination rather than lifted from history — not least the sole woman, a French-Algerian spy (Sofia Boutella), who is given little to do beyond flirtatious sparring. Still, the show’s semi-mythic atmosphere — amplified by an anachronistic rock soundtrack, freeze-frames and exchanges that feel heavily (if well) scripted — seems apt for this specific tale. As the droll, cross-dressing colonel Dudley Clarke (Dominic West) puts it, “reality is the enemy of the heroic soldier.”

The series will undoubtedly further fuel our nostalgic nation’s propensity for turning the second world war into the stuff of legend. It might elicit eye-rolls for its use of brash gimmicks. But the show’s spirit of adventure proves hard to resist, and there have been few scenes on TV this year as jolting and immersive as the mission sequence which opens the third episode.

Ultimately, SAS Rogue Heroes has the makings of another hit for Knight and the BBC. Don’t be surprised to see men trading in their Blinders flat caps for military berets before too long.

★★★★☆

On BBC1 from October 30 at 9pm; all episodes then available on iPlayer

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