Chris Ryan’s Strike Back (Sky 1, 9pm)

SPOOKS and Robin Hood star Richard Armitage says that the man he plays in Sky 1’s new action drama, Strike Back, is an action hero. Then he adds: “But I’ve tried to make him as un-action hero like as possible.”

And the reason? “Because that’s an easy role to play and we’ve all seen the hero running out of a burning building carrying a child. I’ve tried to inject his character with something else that’s unique to his experience.”

At the start of the six-part series – based on Chris Ryan’s book – John Porter is in the SAS, on a mission before the invasion of Iraq.

He’s been through the ranks and is described by Armitage as a “kind of killing machine” whose flaw is compassion. He’s forced to resign after allowing his heart to rule his head in the heat of battle and becomes a not-too-successful security guard.

Seven years later, when a Middle East correspondent (played by Mistresses star Orla Brady) is kidnapped outside Basra, Porter tells M16 that he’s just the chap to rescue her.

“I try to create a biography for every character I play” says Armitage, who made his name on TV in the classic drama North and South.

“In the book, but not in the script, Porter has a problem with alcohol, so I’ve used that much earlier in his life. I wanted Porter’s father to be military, and this period of delinquency comes from Porter being absent when his father died. So, his route into the military was to do with atonement for his father’s death and honouring his memory.”

The actor underwent SAS training to prepare for the action scenes. He reckons he’s done a fair bit of combat on screen in the past and used handguns on Spooks, but Strike Back required a lot more.

“We had two weeks of intensive arms and tactical training with three guys who are all ex-SAS. They were around on set too and they had eyes like hawks. If we weren’t doing something exactly right they’d immediately jump on us,” he says.

He doesn’t deny there was an element of “boys with toys” about filming. When you first pick up a gun and pull off some rounds, you can’t help but grin, he says.

“And when you see a guest artist come in, they’re the same,” he says.

“Shaun Parkes, who plays Felix Masuku, had the biggest smile on his face when they handed him a gun. And it’s really embarrassing because you’re smiling when you’re pretending to kill. But it isn’t the killing you’re smiling at – it’s the feeling of this machine in your hand that has this capability. It’s power.”

HE always wants to get involved in stunts and this series brought out the competitive edge in him, particularly with co-star Andrew Lincoln, who plays a military intelligence officer.

“If he’s going to jump a foot, I’ll jump a foot and a half,” says Armitage.

“There’s a big cliff jump in episode three which I really wanted to do, but wasn’t allowed because it was too dangerous – it was about 30 metres down.

“I would have been scared to do it, but if I’d stood on the edge of the cliff and they’d said, ‘three, two, one, action,’ I would have jumped. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without a camera there though.”

Filming took place in South Africa where, he says, they saw some amazing places. When they were in Pretoria, the production had two units and one was supposed to be Harare and the other was Iraq. “So we’d be on one unit and say, ‘I’m just going to Harare, I’ll be back in Iraq in 20 minutes’,” he recalls.

He sees the project as an ambitious one for TV because, essentially, they’re making three features films on a TV budget and schedule. “American television has been making series like this for a while now and it’s great that we’re being brave and stepping into that area,” he says.