Strike Back is a British action thriller television series based on the 2007 novel of the same name by novelist and former Special Air Service soldier Chris Ryan.

Seven years later, Porter is "reactivated" following the kidnap of journalist Katie Dartmouth (Orla Brady), daughter of a former government minister, by the same terrorists whom he had fought in 2003, including the same boy, As'ad.

Porter succeeds in rescuing Dartmouth and joins Section 20, headed by Hugh Collinson (Andrew Lincoln), who had also taken part in the fateful mission.

Section 20's worldwide search for Latif ends in Budapest, Hungary, where they learn he is implanting explosives inside suicide bombers' bodies, which in turn will release the VX.

The attempted attacks against a World Summit were actually a diversion to capture former Pakistani general Akmal Ramiz (Silas Carson), who Latif fears will make Pakistan more accessible to the west.

In the meantime, Stonebridge seeks revenge on Craig Hanson (Shane Taylor) for murdering his wife and returns to Section 20, while Scott has to contend with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent Christy Bryant (Stephanie Vogt), with whom he used to carry out contract killings.

Stonebridge fulfills his revenge and Knox, fleeing the failed attempt, dies by accidentally shooting himself in a street altercation with the very South Africans he hoped to empower.

In the meantime, Scott and Stonebridge are wanted by the Russian mafia after killing the son of mob boss Arkady Ulyanov (Marcel Iureș) in Colombia.

Scott learns he fathered a child from one of his past relationships, while Stonebridge is infected with a neurotoxin during one of Section 20's missions in Beirut, which affects his combat abilities.

Mei has spent her life trying to advance North Korea's nuclear programme and has used her position to broker a deal with the yakuza to acquire key components for long-range missiles.

Section 20 are unsuccessful in intercepting a shipment of vanadium, leading Scott and Stonebridge to infiltrate North Korea and sabotage their missile production, setting the programme back decades.

Terrorist leader Omair Idrisi (Don Hany) is captured by British special forces, only to be freed by his wife Jane Lowry (Katherine Kelly) during a prisoner transfer on the Syrian-Jordanian border.

The team pursue Lowry into Hungary where they learn that she is trying to locate a rogue Russian biochemist in order to acquire a sample of the nerve agent Novichok.

Idrisi is revealed to have survived the airstrike where he was captured by Octagon, a private military contractor running a secret and illegal extraordinary rendition program.

When Section 20 thwart her plans by destroying the Novichok laboratory, Lowry attacks the black site directly and succeeds in freeing Idrisi.

Lowry infiltrated Idrisi's terrorist cell and convinced Donovan and the British government to fund a symbolic terror attack designed to further her cover.

Brown, MacPherson and Sumarwata all reprise their roles from Retribution and are joined by Jamie Bamber as Section 20's new commanding officer Colonel Alexander Coltrane and Yasemin Kay Allen as Katrina Zarkova, a Russian agent in South-East Asia.

The team cross paths with Katrina Zarkova, the leader of a Russian Alpha Group unit tasked with discreetly locating the bomb which is believed to be in the possession of someone named "Kingfisher".

Kuragin arranges to have them caught by a rogue special forces team, intending to use the incident to instigate a military coup and install a new government that is friendly to Russian interests.

The search leads them to the Philippines, where Kuragin brings down a Cold War-era satellite containing the launch keys to a chemical weapons facility in Azerbaijan.

When an Albanian crime family kidnaps a scientist responsible for the development of a top-secret British bio weapon, the covert special-ops soldiers of Section 20 are sent on a mission to secure the virus and take down its potential black-market buyers.

But what starts as a relatively straightforward mission quickly escalates into a race against the clock to neutralize an even deadlier weapon of mass destruction pursued by a pair of jihadist brothers, whose terrifying ambitions threaten global conflict.

Along the way, Section 20 reunites with rogue Russian operative Katrina Zarkova to form a tenuous alliance that raises questions of friendship, loyalty and duty.

Richard Armitage plays the first series protagonist, SAS Sergeant John Porter, a character who is brought back into service by Section 20 seven years after he resigns from a botched rescue mission.

[15] Colin Salmon appears as civil servant James Middleton,[16] and Orla Brady plays kidnapped Sky war correspondent Katie Dartmouth.

[10] In series two, Amanda Mealing plays Collinson's successor, Colonel Eleanor Grant,[17] described as a "smart, tough military leader who is skilled with a gun and diplomacy, but knows when to break a rule or two.

"[18] Eva Birthistle plays Captain Kate Marshall, a "crack commando" who oversees Section 20's military personnel,[19] and with whom Stonebridge had an extra-marital affair.

[29] Andy Harries, the chief executive of his production company, Left Bank Pictures, saw the novel Strike Back at an airport while on holiday, but never got around to reading it.

[39] Having worked in South Africa several times in the past, Mancub decided to use the country as the filming location for the series, as he felt it could replicate anywhere in the world.

[78] The American release includes audio commentaries from various cast and crew members on five episodes, along with a DVD and digital copy on the Blu-ray edition.