Steven Knight Was Forced To “Tone Down” Real-Life Events For SAS Rogue Heroes

Steven Knight, creator and writer of Peaky Blinders, has returned with another talk-worthy BBC series titled SAS Rogue Heroes. The six-part drama uncovers how the covert Specialist Air Services were formed during World War II. With an all-star cast led by Sex Education’s Connor Swindells, Skins’ Jack O’Connell, and Game Of Thrones’ Alfie Allen, it’s no wonder the premiere episode, which aired on BBC One on October 30, left fans reeling. The wartime series is an adaptation of Ben Macintyre’s popular novel of the same name. His account was the first authorised history of the SAS, and it holds great value.

While writing his book, Macintyre gained access to never-seen-before footage, confidential files and interviews with the founding members of the specialist service. All this intel helped the author create a heavily detailed account of the events, which in turn allowed Knight to shape a powerful retelling for the screen.

The narrative focuses on David Sterling (Swindells), Jock Lewes (Allen), and Paddy Mayne (O’Connell), who believe the traditional commando units are insufficient to tackle the war, and vow to do something about it. In an interview with NME, Knight explained that he met with 102-year-old Mike Sadler, the only officer alive today to get his “seal of approval” on the facts.

“He told me a story about David Stirling going into a bar and asking some people: ‘Can we use the snooker table?’ When they said ‘no, we’re on it for the rest of the night’, Stirling took out a real hand-grenade and threw it on the table. That [story] ended up in the show,” explained Knight.

Such was the attention to detail, Knight also revealed that the cast members underwent formation drills, weaponry training, and even a written test that the real-life officers had to pass. Yet Knight told The Telegraph that some of the accounts of the SAS were so unbelievable (despite being true) that he had to “tone them down” for the series.

SAS Rogue Heroes is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer.