Production Underway for Third Season of HBO/Cinemax's Drama STRIKE BACK

By: Caryn Robbins Mar. 14, 2013

Production is underway on the third season of HBO/CINEMAX's Breakout drama series STRIKE BACK, it was announced today by Kary Antholis, president of HBO Miniseries and CineMax Programming. CineMax teams up once again with the Production Company Left Bank Pictures and the British channel Sky for the ten-episode season, which is shooting on location in South Africa and Hungary, and debuts on the network this summer.

Philip Winchester ("Crusoe," "Camelot") and Sullivan Stapleton ("Animal Kingdom," the upcoming "300: Rise of an Empire") reprise their onscreen partnership as counterterrorism operatives Sgt. Michael Stonebridge and Sgt. Damien Scott in the third season.

The returning cast also includes Rhona Mitra ("Underworld: Rise of the Lycans") as Maj. Rachel Dalton, Michelle Lukes ("Alexander") as Sgt. Julia Richmond and Liam Garrigan ("Pillars of the Earth") as Sgt. Liam Baxter.

New cast members includes Robson Green ("Wire in the Blood") as a new member of Section 20, Dougray Scott ("Desperate Housewives") as Rogue operative James Leatherby and Milauna Jackson ("Blood Done Sign My Name") as a key player who crosses paths with the counterterrorism team.

Returning directors are Michael J. Bassett (who also serves as co-executive producer), JulIan Holmes and Paul Wilmshurst; returning writers are Simon Burke, James Dormer, John Simpson and Richard Zajdlic.

In STRIKE BACK's third season, counterterrorism unit Section 20 pursues a deadly terrorist network from Colombia to Beirut to Europe, uncovering deadly plots that reach to the West. As in previous seasons, the production utilizes consultants who work in the field of counterterrorism to add to the authenticity of the series, providing essential background on stories, characters, training and settings.

The second season of the show made its world premiere at Comic-Con in July 2012 and featured the world premiere of two new Bob Dylan songs. The series received an Emmy(R) nomination for Outstanding Main Title Design for its first season, which launched in 2011.

STRIKE BACK was the first original primetime series on CineMax in more than 15 years. The Los Angeles Times described the show as "a buddy movie, a simmering life-or-death bromance between its two male leads," while AOL TV observed, "The heart of the show is the relationship between Scott and Stonebridge," calling them "two peas in a badass pod," and the Huffington Post hailed Stapleton and Winchester as a "dynamic team."

For more on the series, visit facebook.com/cinemax, twitter.com @Cinemax #StrikeBack and youtube.com/Cinemax.

STRIKE BACK is a CineMax Presentation in association with British Sky Broadcasting Limited; a Left Bank Pictures Production. Executive producer is Andy Harries; series producer is Michael Casey; co-executive producers are Michael J. Bassett, James Dormer and Tim Vaughan; producers are Selwyn Roberts and Chris Thom