Strike Back: Legacy, as it is known in the United Kingdom is a ten-part British-American action television serial, and serves as the fifth series of Strike Back. The main cast of the series includes Philip Winchester, Sullivan Stapleton, Robson Green, Michelle Lukes, Milauna Jackson and Michelle Yeoh. The series, which continues the actions of the military intelligence unit Section 20, shows the team initially working to rescue the daughter of the British Ambassador in Thailand, but later the situation escalates when the plot was orchestrated by Office 39, a North Korean crime syndicate working to goad North Korea into conflict with the West.
Production began in early 2014. Midway through, production was halted for six months when Stapleton suffered a head injury; production halted to allow Stapleton's complete recovery as the cast are required to be in peak physical condition. Filming took place across Thailand and Hungary. The series premiered on 3 June 2015 on Sky1 in the United Kingdom, and would later premiere on Cinemax in the United States on 31 July. Strike Back: Legacy received generally positive reviews from television critics. Legacy was originally marketed as the final season of the series, until it was renewed for a sixth series on 8 December 2016.
Cast
Section 20
Philip Winchester as Sergeant Michael Stonebridge, Royal Marines (former Special Boat Service) Sullivan Stapleton as Sergeant Damien Scott, United States Army (former Delta Force) Robson Green as Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Locke, British Army (former Special Air Service), the commanding officer of Section 20 Michelle Lukes as Sergeant Julia Richmond, British Army, Chief Communications Officer for Section 20 Milauna Jackson as Special Agent Kim Martinez, Drug Enforcement Administration (former United States Military Police)
Government Officials
Tim McInnerny as Robin Foster, British Ambassador to Thailand
James Wilby as Charles Ridley, Section 20's superior based in Whitehall
Stephanie Vogt as Christy Bryant, a Central Intelligence Agency officer
Tereza Srbova as Major Nina Pirogova, Russian Federal Security Service
Christian Antidormi as Finn Scott, Damian Scott's estranged teenage son
Antagonists
Michelle Yeoh as Mei Foster / Lieutenant Colonel Li Na, a North Korean sleeper agent working for Office 39 Will Yun Lee as Lieutenant Colonel Kwon, a North Korean soldier and operative for Office 39 Max Beesley as Ray McQueen, a British expatriate gangster in Bangkok Vithaya Pansringarm as Divisional Superintendent Changrok, a corrupt member of the Royal Thai Police Masa Yamaguchi as Shiro, the son of a Yakuza crime lord who overseas operations in South East Asia Michael McElhatton as Christopher Desmond / Oppenheimer, an Irish freelance bombmaker Alex Humes as Ivan Myshkin, a Russian Mafia enforcer hired by Li Na and Kwon Dustin Clare as Faber, a Stillwater mercenary working for the CIA and later Whitehall Leo Gregory as Mason, a Stillwater mercenary working for the CIA and later Whitehall
Philip Winchester and Sullivan Stapleton return as the series protagonists, the "unlikely pair of counterterrorism operatives" Sergeants Michael Stonebridge and Damien Scott, respectively. Robson Green, Michelle Lukes and Milauna Jackson also return as the main characters from the last series, playing Colonel Philip Locke, Sergeant Julia Richmond and Kim Martinez, respectively.
In September 2014, Cinemax released the names of a number of guest stars to appear in the season. Max Beesley was revealed to be playing an expatriate gangster. Tim McInnerny portrays the British Ambassador to Thailand, while Michelle Yeoh plays his wife. Strike Back is the Yeoh's first television role. Meanwhile, Will Yun Lee would appear in the series, as a villainous operative of the "North Korean State Security Department". Lee and Yeoh's participation would give what Variety's Patrick Frater described as "a significant Asian angle to the fourth season". On his Twitter account, Lee described his experience as "one of the craziest, fulfilling shows I got to fire guns, fight and cause destruction in."
Other guest stars included Dustin Clare, James Wilby, Adrian Paul, Joseph Gatt, Christian Antidormi, Michael McElhatton, Leo Gregory, Mark Griffin, Wolf Kahler, Andrew Pleavin, Eliza Bennett, Masa Yamaguchi, and British mixed martial artist Michael Bisping. Stephanie Vogt is set to reprise her role as Christy Bryant from Strike Back: Vengeance. Of the guest cast, particularly Beesley and Yeoh, head of drama for Sky Cameron Roach said "it's fantastic to have Michelle and Max join the cast of Strike Back for its final season, which will be its biggest ever."