Fans of the Cinemax incarnation of “Strike Back” may not be aware that there was a previous season of “Strike Back” on the UK network Sky1. “Chris Ryan’s Strike Back” debuted on Sky1 in 2010 with Richard Armitage as John Porter and future “Walking Dead” star Andrew Lincoln as the leader of Section 20, Hugh Collinson.
Cinemax has announced that it will finally bring the original “Strike Back” six episode first season to the U.S. on Friday, October 25. The first season will be renamed “Strike Back: Origins.” The story follows John Porter, a former SAS soldier who is reactivated into the service of Section 20 after realizing the link between a deadly hostage situation and a mission he ran in 2003 during the Second Gulf War.
“Strike Back: Origins” also features Toby Stephens, Ewen Bremner, Dhaffer L’Abidine, Shaun Parkes and Alexander Siddig in supporting roles. But don’t expect to see Michael Stonebridge (Phillip Winchester) or Damien Scott (Sullivan Stapleton) in “Strike Back: Origins,” as they were created for the Cinemax version.
Artimage actually reprised his role as Porter for the first episode of Cinemax’s “Strike Back;” in which he was described as a friend of Scott’s who was taken hostage by a terrorist. That cameo is alluded to in Cinemax’s new trailer for “Strike Back: Origins.”
