SAS Rogue Heroes: Release date and is it based on a true story?

A major new drama series from Peaky Blinders scriptwriter Steven Knight is launching on BBC One and fans are already wondering what is SAS Rogue Heroes release date and is it based on a true story?

Following the news, brand new artwork featuring the cast members Connor Swindells, Alfie Allen and Jack O’Connell has also been released ahead of its TV premiere.

Based on the best-selling book of the same name, SAS Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre, the six-part series stars Connor Swindells, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Allen, Sofia Boutella, and Dominic West, in a dramatised account of how the SAS was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two. O'Connell will be portraying one of the most decorated soldiers in history, leaving audiences asking who was Paddy Mayne, and how did he die? The anticipated SAS Rogue Heroes filmed across multiple locations, and we break down exactly where. 

SAS Rogue Heroes release date

SAS Rogue Heroes will launch at 9pm on Sunday 30 October on BBC One, with all six episodes then available on BBC iPlayer to stream all together. Fans had been waiting since February for a release date, as they took a look at the cast in action in the trailer.

Is SAS Rogue Heroes based on a true story?

Yes, SAS Rogue Heroes is based on a true story - the series will tell the remarkable tale of how the SAS came to exist in North Africa during World War Two. Rich with action and set-pieces, SAS Rogue Heroes is the exhilarating story of renegade men taking monumental risks in extraordinary circumstances. 

Cairo, 1941. David Stirling (Connor Swindells) - an eccentric young officer, hospitalised after a training exercise went wrong - is bored. Convinced that traditional commando units don’t work, he creates a radical plan that flies in the face of all accepted rules of modern warfare. 

He fights for permission to recruit the toughest, boldest and brightest soldiers for a small undercover unit that will create mayhem behind enemy lines. More rebels than soldiers, Stirling’s team are every bit as complicated, flawed and reckless as they are astonishingly brave and heroic.

SAS Rogue Heroes trailer

The SAS Rogue Heroes 60-second trailer was first released back in April 2022, giving fans a taste of what's to come in the dramas adaptation of the book by Ben Macintyre. On its release, fans shared how they couldn't wait for the BBC drama series to air.

One fan put, "I am looking forward to this. I hope this will be historically accurate despite Jack O'Connell being around 6 inches shorter than Mayne..."

Another fan wrote, "The book was a fantastic read and made me feel more proud than ever to be British. I hope this series does justice to all those brave men who served in this legendary unit."

And a third fan added, "Very exited for this, fantastic cast and anything by Steven knight tends to be great."

And a brand new trailer was released in September to further tease the show and give an insight into the characters and the comedy that is entwined in the adapted drama series.

And one fan commented, "I love the 80s sounding metal tune, feels like a revival of retro fun cinema."

The soundtrack of the new trailer is a new version of The Stranglers' hit No More Heroes, here performed by  Skin, the lead singer of Skunk Anansie.

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