25/08/2009

RICHARD ARMITAGE STRIKES BACK: ONE MORE JOHN!


WARNING:Mmm…I’ve tried to resist but I couldn’t! So those of you who are not interested, or can’t understand or even disapprove my “one weakness”, or worse consider me “sole out”- “fixated” - “off my head”, please... DON’T GO ON READING!
What's the matter with me? Nothing. I’m wonderfully OK! Only, I’ve been reading about STRIKE BACK and wanted to share. What about fixation and craziness, then?


"Ay… There’s the rub!"
(W. Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, scene i) ...
RICHARD ARMITAGE’ s present project!
Yes, I know. "Here she goes again!" But... I just wanted to share what I know with those of you who are interested. He’s now in South Africa on the set of a new 6-part TV series due for broadcast on Sky1 and Sky1HD in spring 2010.
Many of Richard’s fans were eagerly waiting for his return in a costume drama but it seems 2010 will be a year in uniform for him. Military uniform. In fact, he will be shooting CHARLIE  next July  and in it he will be an allied British soldier fighting in Italy during WWII ; then, this STRIKE BACK is also a military story based on CHRIS RYAN's best seller. A former SAS soldier turned novelist, Chris Ryan was also the co-creator and technical consultant for ULTIMATE FORCE, one of Richard Armitage's early TV series. The TV series of Strike Back is based on his 2007 novel and is written by Jed Mercurio, whose previous work includes Cardiac Arrest and Bodies. Ryan is an advisor on the series.

So after being ...





-  sweet, loyal, caring, shy JOHN STANDRING in SPARKHOUSE











·broody, charming, unforgettable JOHN THORNTON in NORTH AND SOUTH









handsome, brilliant, effortless, confident – but unfortunately mischievous- JOHN MULLIGAN in MOVING ON



Richard will be JOHN PORTER in this new series!

THIS IS BRIEFLY THE PLOT. Two soldiers: one a celebrated military hero and the other a broken veteran living in the gutters of London. Their paths last crossed nearly twenty years ago. Now, amidst a hostage crisis in the Middle East, their lives are about to collide again. And the Strike Back is about to begin. John Porter ( Richard Armitage ) was involved in a hostage raid in Lebanon in 1989. The raid went disastrously wrong; several Regiment men died. John spared the life of a Lebanese fighter and blames himself for the deaths. Struggling to come to terms with the past, John has hit the bottle and is sleeping rough.Colonel Peregrine Collinson was involved in the same raid. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, it was Peregrine's fault that the mission went wrong. He was awarded a Military Cross and is heralded as a military hero for something he didn't do.After the disastrous raid, the lives of the two men couldn't have been further apart. Until now. A hostage crisis in the Middle East draws the enemies back together again. Who will be the hero this time?

KEY CAST LIST

Richard Armitage as John Porter

Andrew Lincoln as Hugh Collinson







Jodhi May as Layla Thompson







Orla Brady as Katie Dartmouth










Dhafer L’Abidine
as Hakim Al Neseri








Fenar Mohammed Ali
as Hassad


Nicola Stephenson as Diane Porter
 (John's wife)



Laura Greenwood as Alexandra
(John's  daughter)













Toby Stephens (only episodes 5/6)
as Arlington



















David Harewood  as Tshuma
(only episodes 3/4)









23 comments:

Lotta Dahl said...

OH my oh my! Being married to a military man, I obviously LOVE the uniforms! I'd love a costume drama, but I'll take him anyway I can get him! I love Jodhi May too!

Maria Grazia said...

@Jenny Kerr
I too will take him anyway! I'd never read this kind of novels but when it comes to a TV series with RA ... it's a miracle ... HE makes me love everything he does!

Luciana said...

OMG! Maria, I TOTALLY understand you! I'm exactly like you! And that's why I'm so fond of your blog, it has everything I like! I felt as I was the only person in the world that could behave like that! I've never been so fond of an actor like I am of RA, and it makes me really glad that I can find news about him here! Anyway, I've never understood why women had a thing for men in a military uniform, but now I totally get it! So, it seems we'll see him a lot next year! Great! Oh yes, and by know I'm really convinced that his parents should have named him as John Armitage Junior instead of changing it for Richard! The only thing I object is to the daugther. Come on, that girl is almost my age! I don't like to think that RA could be MY father! Although he actually could... Sorry for the big comment, is just that I was really excited about the news!

Luciana said...

Oh yeah, and Andrew Lincoln is amazing too! I love his character in "Love Actually"!

Maria Grazia said...

@Luciana
Guess what? I too noticed Richard was going to interpret the father of an 18-year-old girl in this movie and thought:"Impossible!" Then I tried to count and ... yes, it might be ...he had her daughter at 20, a very young age.
Don't worry about being long! I love your enthusiastic comments! You can't understand how much!
Andrew Lincoln in "Love Actually"? That's where I saw him! I had the impression of having seen him somewhere. I saw him at the cinema! That comedy was so nice!
Good night, L.! It's time to go to bed, for me!It's almost midnight!

Maria Grazia said...

OMG!!! IT'S REALLY TIME TO GO! I WROTE "HER" instead of "HIS"!!!I need some rest!

Luciana said...

Oh I wrote something wrong too! It's now and not know, but anyway... It was all my enthusiasm! But I still can hope, 'cause Emma was 16 years younger than Mr. Knightley and I'm 17 years younger than RA, so... Who knows? Good night then! Here is still 7 p.m. and I have lots of things to do to university! Bye!

Lotta Dahl said...

It's hard for me to "cuddle up" to the name Johna s it was my first husband's name, lol. I forgot to say that I loved him in spark house, he is so cute and innocent in parts it makes my cheeks hurt from smiling. When he was fighting over her I almost fell off the couch trying to get closer to the TV! Like Lucinda, I have NEVER been this interested in any celebrity, even when I was a teeny bopper I could have cared less, more interested in my books. Now that I'm 31 instead of 13 I am hitting my screaming teenager phase with RA I guess. lol

Uninvoked said...

Wow. Well I'm totally in love with my guy, and so naturally there isn't a single person on earth who can compare....but I can see why the obsession. He's quite the looker. ;-)

Maria Grazia said...

@Jenny Kerr, Uninvoked, Luciana
Sorry for answering just now. It's 8.20 a.m. here in Italy. I got up at 6.30, went for my long walk - no school today- and here I am having breakfast with you. First of all, thanks for you comments.Then...
Unbelievable. My story is just like yours! Never had an interest in any actor, singer, vip in my life! Everything started because of my search for interesting texts and Dvds to use in my lessons, I "bumped into" NORTH & SOUTH and...here I am. It's nice to know I'm in very good company! Have a nice day or night wherever you are.Cheers.

Table Talk said...

This is where I have to admit that I watch almost no television and so were it not for the very comprehensive run down you've given me here, I would have to ask 'who is Richard Armitage?' Are we still friends?

Lotta Dahl said...

It's 4am here! I haven't been to bed yet, I've been sewing. hahahah I just wanted to say that I love my husband more than anything too. RA is just a fun passtime. He's real, but he's not real if that makes sense. Of course you never see a bad side to him, although I'm sure he must have a fault SOMEWHERE. lol... so that makes him not real, at least to me. He might be a total slob, he might kick babies or poke dogs with sticks for fun you don't know. LOL...

My husband thinks all of us fawnng all over RA is funny. He calls him "Sweet Peaches" (as in nice butt). lol... when ever Robin hood comes on or he knows it's the night for it he'll say "oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sweeeeeeet peacheeeeeessssssssss!" lol. We all must remember that I don't see my husband more for months at a time. Of the three years we've been married he's been deployed with the Navy for more than 2 of them. RA in a tight leather jerkin is an innocent and fun way to spend my MANY evenings alone. lol

Maria Grazia said...

@Table Talk
Dear Ann, you are forgiven, of course but not excused. I NEVVER watch Tv either, apart for the new in the morning- the shortest I can find in Italian and in English - but I happened to love period drama and collect DVDs...this is how it started. I'd suggest to you to rent and see BBC 4-part adaptation of Gaskell's NORTH & SOUTH, it is extremely well done. I'd suggest you to read the book first as I did, to have a more "expert" look at it. But mind it can be very risky, any age you might be!

Maria Grazia said...

@JennyKerr
Jenny, you are very hardworking! But I can see how much you love sewing from your blog and pics. You don't need to justify yourself with me. I perfectly know what having a loving patient husband we too love means but at the same time I understand what it is to be so innocently but genuinly "interested" in a "dream man" like RA. I don't succeed in finding him any defect for now, apart from it's being TOO TALL! I really appreciate the actor and his human qualities - his interviews!- and , just like you, I don't fancy about meeting him or marrying him or silly stuff like that. I simply enjoy the emotions that his work can give to me. And you know, they are... SUBLIME. Don't worry, we still can discern between real life and fantasy.

Anonymous said...

MissBluestocking:

Oh Richard Armitage! He is soooo gorgeous. I really do have to see him in one of his contemporary films. I keep telling myself I will but have yet to do so.

I wonder what he's really like in real life though. I once went to this film festival with our class. We saw this lady on screen: she was this tough, gangster girl. But when she spoke to us she ended up blowing us away. She was this classy, well-educated, humanitarian.

Maria Grazia said...

@MissBluestocking
I think I've already said this before but I'll repeat it. Hope you don't mind. to discover more of the man you should read and watch his interviews. I don't think he is acting there. Try this one and notice how different he is from his character. It's only few-minute time!
http://www.richardarmitageonline.com/Richard-Armitage-Flash/gmtv-interview.html
Then you MUST see him in the Vicar of Dibley and Spooks!

Anonymous said...

MissBluestocking:

Nope. You haven't told me this before :)

WOW he is so different from what I expected. He seems kind and gentle and....normal. A normal human being with great talent. hehe

Maria Grazia said...

@MissBluestocking
Well, his performances as Richard are the ones I prefer!

Luciana said...

Oh, N&S was the very thing with me too! I think it's because he was SO like the Mr. Thornton I have pictured in my mind when I read the book. And, of course, we are completely normal human beings that just like to see him acting. And wearing leather trousers... Oh, but Jenny, I read an interview of him and I hardly think he might kick babies as he does like them and want to have some of his own. But maybe he does poke dogs with sticks for fun, who knows?

Mulubinba said...

Hi, I'm another viewer of Richard Armitage's work (in Australia). I hope we will see Strike Back in our country - it sounds like a very good role for RA.

Maria Grazia said...

@Mulubinba
Hello to you, down there in the Southern part. So far, so near thanks to this extaordinary man. Let's keep in touch!
As for seeing Richard in Strike Back, I hope I will be able to do it. So far I've seen most of his works but always buying DVDs!

Nat at RA FanBlog said...

Maria,
THANK YOU for correcting me! She is in fact Christine Tremarco. I had watched the show once on YouTube (Americans don't get a lot of British shows) and then looked up the cast online, getting the wrong name by mistake!
I'd rather have someone point out my "oops" than let it go on forever... like how I misspelled Thornton as Thorton in an earlier post and didn't discover it until weeks later. DUH! (Nobody even said anything.)
Anyway, thanks for visiting my blog. I have enjoyed reading through yours and love "meeting" people online. :)
~Natalie

Maria Grazia said...

@R.A. Fanblog
I also love meeting people I can share my interests with. Apart from our RA common interest , it seems we share something else: typing mistakes! I always noticed them after it is too late. Are we forgiven?
P.S. Let's get in touch!