7 secrets from the set SAS ROGUE HEROES

TV Times goes behind the scenes of Series 2 of BBC1's World War Two epic

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1 SAS ROGUE HEROES LAST ONE SUNDAY, 9PM, BBC1 DRAMA

Rebellious Major Paddy Mayne, portrayed by Jack O'Connell (right), and his comrades have seen plenty of action in the second, six-part series of SAS Rogue Heroes as the Special Air Service spearhead the invasion of Italy, and all stunt sequences featuring firearms are carefully coordinated to keep everyone safe.

'There is no live ammunition on set under any circumstances and all our guns fire blanks,' says producer Stephen Smallwood, in an exclusive interview with TV Times. 'As our cameras film at 25 frames per second, they often miss the muzzle flash [the light emitted from a gun blast], so we have to add that afterwards and also significantly enhance the sound.'

2LANDING PLACE

Recreating the July 1943 night-time Allied invasion of Sicily for Operation Husky was a phenomenal task for producer Stephen and his team.

'Filming the landing craft progressing through the water, with a drowning man hanging off the side, was very challenging,' says Stephen.

'In the end, we built our own landing craft and hired a large water tank at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, where, over three nights, we shot the scene on huge camera cranes, with a stuntman playing the drowning soldier.