page_title: Strike Back: Project Dawn
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Strike Back: Project Dawn / Production / Development
caption_attribution_description: Frank Spontiz
context_page_description: Strike Back: Project Dawn, as it is known in the United Kingdom is a ten-part British-American action television serial and is the second series of Strike Back. However, the only cast member to return from the first series was Richard Armitage in the first episode. The main cast for the series includes Philip Winchester, Sullivan Stapleton, Amanda Mealing, Eva Birthistle, Michelle Lukes and Rhashan Stone. The series follows the actions of Section 20, a secret branch of the British Secret Intelligence Service, particularly two of its officers, Michael Stonebridge and former American Delta Force operative Damian Scott. Section 20 leads a worldwide manhunt to find and capture Pakistani terrorist Latif, who is plotting an operation of his known as "Project Dawn".
  Sky announced Strike Back would be returning for a third series after the first aired. They entered a co-production deal with the American premium cable network Cinemax, who wanted to introduce new original drama series to the network. In order to prepare for their roles several main cast members spent a month training with former officers of the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service.
context_section_description: Strike Back began as a six-part series from Sky1, based on a book of the same name from former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier turned novelist Chris Ryan. It transmitted two episodes weekly from 5 to 19 May 2010. The first two episodes more than tripled Sky1's audience share in its timeslot in the past three months. On August 2010, Sky1 controller Stuart Murphy commissioned a second series to consist of a longer run of ten episodes. Left Bank Pictures continued their role as the production company. In February 2011, it was announced that Sky entered a co-production deal with the American television network Cinemax, as the network wanted to introduce new drama series. Strike Back became one of two television projects to be produced by British and American networks in 2011, the other being Torchwood: Miracle Day, which was produced between the BBC and Starz.
  Frank Spotnitz, Richard Zajdlic, Tony Saint and Simon Burke were contracted as the series writers, while Alex Holmes, Bill Eagles, Paul Wilmshurst and Daniel Percival serve as the series directors. Andy Harries and Elaine Pyke were the show's executive producers, with Percival and Spotnitz working as Co-Executive Producers. In addition, Michael Casey, Trevor Hopkins and Sue De Beauvoir were the series producers, with Bill Shepard serving as co-producer. Spotnitz wrote the first episodes. He was approached to write for the series because the producers needed somebody to reimagine the show as Armitage was committed to The Hobbit in New Zealand, by introducing two new leads. Spotnitz described the process; "We had this great format, this great world of 'Strike Back' and then we had to imagine who were the new characters who were going to drive the show in the second year." Before Project Dawn was even announced, the crew were scouting for locations in South Africa, where the first series was shot, as well as investigating other parts of the world including the United States, South America, and Europe.
caption: Frank Spotnitz wrote the first four episodes of Strike Back: Project Dawn.
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