There’s a scene in SAS Rogue Heroes that is so outrageous, it strained the series’ claim to that “those events depicted, which seem most unbelievable… are mostly true.” Based on the brilliant book by historian Ben Macintyre, which I have just started listening to, the series recounts the formation of that famous special forces unit.
The scene I found so implausible takes place in Cairo at the British Army headquarters. David Stirling (Connor Swindells) sneaks in on crutches, evades various guards and finds a general to propose his plan for what would ultimately become the SAS. It just seemed to be too ridiculous to be true. And sure enough, like the crazy history of the SAS itself, it really happened.
Stirling was an undisciplined, layabout of a soldier in real life. Born into an upper-class Scottish family, he had an insanely good idea about how to fight a new way, what would ultimately be labelled guerilla war. After a disastrous attempt to parachute in the desert, the fledgling SAS switched to American-made jeeps and began their long-range sabotage campaign against German airfields in the North African desert.
There’s a lot of driving around in jeeps, lots of shooting, blowing stuff up, and lots of testosterone-d soldiers being, well, over testosterone-d. But they kill Nazis, which is a sentiment nobody can disagree with – in a fictional sense, obviously.
Watch SAS Rogue Heroes on Showmax for R19/week – click here to learn more
SAS Rogue Heroes is a faithful reproduction of the awkward and ungainly way the SAS was formed, in the hurly burly of war and the toughness of a desert. The action is good, but so is the clever way the unit’s origin story is told. The scenes in Cairo, be they in drab military settings or swanky night clubs, have a feel of that era.
Dominic West gives a delightful performance as a British agent, Dudley Wrangel Clarke, who sows disinformation to confuse the Germans. The scenes in Cairo involving him are great. It’s worlds away from his breakout role in The Wire, which shows how good an actor he is.
Stirling’s love interest Eve Mansour (Sofia Boutella) is obviously also a French spy, who works with West’s character too. The other main founders of the SAS are played by Jack O’Connell as Paddy Mayne and Game of Thrones’ Alfie Allen as Jock Lewes.
SAS Rogue Heroes is a well-made, extremely bingeable show about the origins of a crack military unit that invented a new way of fighting. Season 2 has just dropped on Showmax.
