Strike Back

Strike Back follows John Porter, a former British Special Forces soldier pulled back into service by Section 20, a secretive branch of the intelligence service. Tasked with high-risk covert missions across continents, Porter must balance brutal tactical operations with the moral toll those missions bring. The series moves quickly from close quarters firefights to tense interrogations and political manoeuvring, and it focuses on teamwork, trust, and survival under extreme pressure. Each episode mixes mission-focused action with glimpses of the operatives' personal lives, keeping twists and endings out of view while building steady momentum. Porter and his colleagues are tested by shifting loyalties and murky orders as the team tracks terrorists, war criminals, and illicit arms networks.

Created by Jed Mercurio and Marigo Kehoe, the 2010 series stars Warren Brown, Daniel MacPherson, Alin Sumarwata, and Jamie Bamber, and it reimagines the novel-based concept for modern television audiences, blending serialized arcs with standalone missions, across multiple seasons.

It never became a mainstream awards juggernaut, so there are no big Oscar or Emmy wins attached. Still, the show earned steady recognition for its stunt work and production values among critics and genre fans, even if trophies were limited. Industry coverage frequently highlighted stunt teams and technical departments.

The series helped push gritty, tactical action back into TV schedules, influencing later military and espionage dramas. Its kinetic set pieces and emphasis on realistic tradecraft became talking points among viewers and stunt professionals. Online forums and fan communities often debate tactics and favorite sequences, and inspired later streaming imitators.

Audience scores sit at 7.404/10 from 381 votes, showing steady approval for the action and pacing. Critics notably praised the energy and choreography but sometimes found character work and political nuance uneven. Themes include loyalty, the ethics of covert warfare, sacrifice, and the cost of duty.