Dominic West, Tom Glynn-Carney, Connor Swindells and more star (Picture: BBC/Kudos/Rory Mulvey)
SAS: Rogue Heroes is the powerful new BBC drama lifting the lid on what life was like as a member of the SAS.
Starring Sex Education star Connor Swindells, House of the Dragon’s Tom Glynn-Carney, and The Crown’s Dominic West, the series tells the story of the birth of the SAS amid World War II.
Created by Steven Knight, aka the brains behind Peaky Blinders, the drama is bound to make for emotional viewing, especially with how true-to-life it feels thanks to location and costume.
But, how exactly did SAS: Rogue Heroes become so life like, and where did filming take place?
Well, according to executive producer Karen Wilson, being able to film in Morocco was ‘crucial.’
However, the crew faced barriers in reaching the North African country, due to the Covid pandemic and borders being shut.
The BBC drama shows what life was like as a member of the SAS (Picture: BBC/Kudos/Robert Viglasky)
‘It was crucial for us to get to Morocco, which proved to be one of the biggest challenges,’ she began.
‘On top of Covid and feeling isolated, and all those things, they shut the border so we had to find a way to actually get our team it into the country.
‘In these sorts of situations talking about SAS, I become quite emotional because the team were our heroes. Everybody that got on that plane that went to Morocco knew they were going to be there for several weeks, because we weren’t going to get them out again.’
She added that even a couple of ‘brilliant actors’ who don’t have major roles in the series stayed in Morocco ‘for the whole time’ filming was happening, praising the cast for how they bonded under gruelling circumstances.
‘It made them part of the cast in such a really important way and that speaks to the to the intimacy of the stories that I think have translated to screen as well as they have, because of the relationships that everyone built through the process of making the show.’
The series was filmed in the desert in the North African country of Morocco (Picture: BBC/Kudos/Robert Viglasky)
Karen described the filming process as ‘challenging’ for everyone involved, as things were thrown at them ‘that we hadn’t anticipated.’
However, the obstacles made for a stronger team and, ultimately, a finished product to be proud of.
‘It just made for a tighter team. They were our own heroes that made those stories stronger as a result.’
Alfie Allen, who plays Jock Lewes, also shared his favourite memory following their time in the desert, describing Casablanca as ‘amazing’ and ‘beautiful.’
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‘Me and Jack (O’Connell, who plays Paddy Mayne) actually went riding on some wild horses on the beach, which was, which was great, so that was a great memory.’
He added: ‘Getting out of Casablanca was great because it was just like sensory overload. We’d just been in the desert for two and a half months. So it was it was nice having a Big Mac!’
SAS: Rogue Heroes begins on Sunday night on BBC One.
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The cast were put through their paces.