Steven Knight Brings Wartime Drama SAS: Rogue Heroes to BBC

From the Creator of Peaky Blinders

Acclaimed screenwriter and showrunner Steven Knight, best known for creating the global hit Peaky Blinders, is bringing another ambitious drama to television screens. This time, Knight has turned his attention from Birmingham gangsters to the battlefields of the Second World War with SAS: Rogue Heroes, a six-part BBC drama that chronicles the extraordinary creation of Britain’s most famous special forces unit.

The series is based on Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book of the same name, which documented the improbable beginnings of the Special Air Service. Knight has described the project as “a dramatized account, inspired by incredible true events” that shaped one of the most daring fighting forces in history.

Action-Packed Trailer Raises Expectations

The BBC released the first official trailer this week, and it has already generated considerable buzz online. The teaser promises high-octane action sequences, wartime intrigue, and a sweeping historical backdrop. Packed with explosions, desert raids, and tense standoffs, the trailer positions SAS: Rogue Heroes as one of the broadcaster’s most cinematic productions in years.

“This is not a conventional war story,” Knight explained in early interviews. “It’s about young men, many reckless and restless, who were determined to take risks and do things differently.”

A Star-Studded Cast

The drama boasts an ensemble cast that brings together some of Britain’s brightest acting talent. Connor Swindells (Sex Education) leads as David Stirling, the eccentric young officer who founded the SAS after being sidelined in a Cairo hospital.

Swindells is joined by Jack O’Connell (Unbroken), Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones), Sofia Boutella (The Mummy), and Dominic West (The Wire). Each plays a pivotal role in telling the story of a unit that broke every rule of modern warfare yet succeeded against extraordinary odds.

BBC producers have teased that the performances bring both grit and vulnerability to a story often overshadowed by military mythology.

A Story Born in Cairo

The drama is set in the early 1940s in Cairo, at a time when the Allies were struggling to hold their ground against Axis forces in North Africa. Stirling, portrayed by Swindells, is introduced as a frustrated and restless officer. After a training exercise goes disastrously wrong, he finds himself hospitalized — but it is here that inspiration strikes.

Convinced that traditional commando units were failing in desert warfare, Stirling devised a radical plan: a small, highly mobile force of soldiers who would strike deep behind enemy lines, sabotaging supply chains and airfields before disappearing back into the desert.

It was a concept that challenged every convention of the time, and it would eventually redefine special operations around the world.

Knight’s Vision

Steven Knight has built a reputation for crafting character-driven dramas that blend historical authenticity with cinematic flair. With Peaky Blinders, he reinvented the gangster saga; with SAS: Rogue Heroes, he appears ready to do the same for the war epic.

“The men who formed the SAS were young, often reckless, but also visionary,” Knight said. “They were not just fighting battles; they were reshaping the way wars were fought.”

Knight’s approach, blending action with psychological depth, is expected to humanize these figures, portraying them not simply as heroes but as flawed, complex individuals operating under extreme pressures.

History Meets Drama

Though dramatized, SAS: Rogue Heroes stays rooted in historical events. The SAS was officially founded in 1941 and quickly earned a reputation for daring raids and unconventional tactics. Macintyre’s book detailed not only the military operations but also the camaraderie, conflicts, and personalities that defined the unit.

By adapting this material, Knight aims to strike a balance between fact and fiction — capturing the spirit of the SAS while providing audiences with a gripping narrative.

A Major BBC Production

Filmed across multiple international locations, including Morocco, the series is one of the BBC’s most ambitious wartime dramas in recent years. Producers have emphasized the scale of the action sequences, promising audiences a visually stunning recreation of desert campaigns.

“SAS: Rogue Heroes is exhilarating, bold, and unapologetically entertaining,” a BBC spokesperson said. “It tells a story of extraordinary courage and ingenuity in some of the darkest days of the war.”

Anticipation Builds

With its pedigree — Knight at the helm, a best-selling source material, and a star-studded cast — SAS: Rogue Heroes is already being tipped as one of the BBC’s must-watch dramas of the year.

Historians, military enthusiasts, and drama fans alike are eagerly awaiting its release, seeing in it the potential to combine authentic history with edge-of-your-seat storytelling.

As the trailer suggests, SAS: Rogue Heroes is not just about battles won and lost but about the renegade spirit of those who dared to defy convention.