'Each episode gets 10% more crazy' - why we're Obsessed With... SAS Rogue Heroes
The origins of the Special Air Service (SAS) are highly classified and shrouded in mystery.
So of course, everyone knows about them.
Written by Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One’s explosive SAS Rogue Heroes charts the operation’s tumultuous early days, as characterised by Ben McIntyre’s same-named book after he was granted exclusive access to military archives.
Companion podcast Obsessed With… goes behind the frontline to unpick the history, with 6 Degrees' Spencer Matthews, comedian Pierre Novellie and military historian Lucy Betteridge-Dyson excavating the cast of characters.
“If you’re interested in the SAS, watch this – there’s some really good stuff in here,” Lucy concludes. “I really enjoyed the show.
“The most amazing thing is that most of it actually happened!”
David Stirling
The SAS’ original frontman, Stirling is a charismatic but under-performing officer whose father had some serious military stripes.
He’s our “hero” - but how fairly is he represented? Given Stirling’s accounts have helped shape what we know about the SAS, Lucy stresses it’s pretty accurate.
“The key thing they show is he hates authority,” she explains, “and he’s got that natural confidence that comes with having money."
Lucy unpicks Stirling’s chequered career before World War Two – a failed artist in Paris, an unsuccessful attempt to climb Mount Everest and a cowboy in the United States.
“He was often in trouble but became an officer partly because his dad was so respected and could pull some strings,” she says.
Actor Connor Swindells tells the podcast he was not doing his own interpretation of the character – instead saying he wanted to “step into Stirling’s spirit and allow that to shine through.”
As he puts it, Stirling was an “egotistical, self-serving and reckless soldier” and that was “what the SAS needed”.
Jock Lewes
Stirling’s partner in establishing the SAS, Lewes seriously hated Nazis – and Lucy reveals he had a personal score to settle with them.
“Lewes came from an aristocratic family with a big military history,” she explains. “He was motivated by honour, doing a good job and making something of himself.
“He was actually quite taken by the Nazis, was going to marry a German girl and then Kristellnacht happened [in 1938] with a wave of violent anti-Jewish attacks.
"The Nazis showed their cards and he was shocked. He felt taken in by the ruse fascism would be a great thing, left his girlfriend - and he wanted revenge.”
Robert 'Paddy' Mayne
When it comes to SAS icons, no one beats Mayne, whose exploits and ferocity were unsurpassed.
“I loved him,” asserts Spencer. “He’s the most rogue, the most exciting.”
“He's such an iconic soldier,” Lucy agrees. “He’s always the one who looks cool and is a historical crush of mine.
“He was an incredibly complex character and we’ll probably never get to the bottom of what was true and what wasn’t. He played rugby, was very athletic, was from a family of wealthy landowners and was educated and a lover of literature.
“He was a loose cannon, incredibly violent, incredibly strong and yet very complex emotionally.”
Dudley Clarke
A “fake news” military strategist who created the SAS as a fictional unit to disseminate misinformation about their operations to the enemy during WW2.
We meet Clarke in episode two and, as Spencer puts it, “his eccentricity is palpable” as he emerges dressed head-to-toe in drag.
“He was head of strategic intelligence in the Middle East and really good at what he did,” Lucy says. “The schemes he developed distracted the enemy from what was really going on.
“He was tricking the Italians into defending against things that would never happen so he was pleased when the real SAS emerged as it gave credence to his plans.
“Nobody batted an eyelid at what he did in his down time.”
As for the sultry and mysterious Eve Mansour, through whose eyes we first meet Clarke and who falls for Stirling?
“She’s meant to represent the role of French intelligence,” Lucy says, “and they are very important but she’s a made-up character. For me, I just want the hard historic facts!”
The verdict
“It does a really good job of representing these characters,” Lucy concludes. “It’s exaggerated at times but this isn’t a documentary. It’s all about entertainment value – and it’s really entertaining.
“It’s also got that Peaky Blinders twist. The characters come in and go BOOM on screen.”
Spencer summarises the series: "Each episode follows the same rule - everyone is 10% more crazy than the last."
The final word goes to creator Knight, as paraphrased by Novellie, about a real event that was actually left out of the series.
“Knight said he didn’t put in because it was too crazy,” Novellie revealed. “He thought he couldn’t do that because people wouldn’t believe it happened!"
