Cinemax Action Series STRIKE BACK Returns with New Cast 2/2

New team. Same attitude.The high-intensity CineMax series STRIKE BACK returns for its ten-episode fifth season with a new cast FRIDAY, FEB. 2 (10:00-10:50 p.m. ET/PT). Warren Brown ("Luther," "The Dark Knight Rises"), Daniel MacPherson ("Infini"), Roxanne McKee ("Crossfire," HBO's "Game of Thrones") and Alin Sumarwata ("Burning Man") star.

When fanatical terrorist Omair Idrisi escapes from Syrian authorities with plans to launch an unprecedented attack that could change the face of modern warfare, the ensuing manhunt can only be entrusted to counterterrorism's best and brightest. Enter Section 20 - the elite, multinational, covert special ops team tasked with tracking down Idrisi and his British co-conspirator wife, Jane Lowry.

Their action-packed manhunt will take the unit across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe, from glitterati soirees to underworld cage fights, as they uncover and attempt to dismantle a vast global web of interconnected criminal and terrorist activity.

About the Characters

Lance Corporal Gracie Novin (Alin Sumarwata) is a crack shot and ready-for-anything gearhead who is looking to make the step up. Genuine and honest to the point of bluntness, she's the heart and soul of the team.

Sergeant Samuel Wyatt (Daniel MacPherson) is a barroom philosopher who works best alone. Having been burned in the past, Wyatt has no intention of being dragged into a team situation. But what he wants and what he gets are rarely the same thing.

Captain Natalie Reynolds (Roxanne McKee) comes from a military family, and excels at psychological profiling and identifying weaknesses in others, although she may be blind to her own faults.

Sergeant Thomas "Mac" McAllister (Warren Brown) is a man of his word, physically capable and driven by a desire to avenge the team he's lost. He's easygoing, affable and utterly deadly.

Episodes include:

Episode #41 (season 5, episode 1)

Debut date: FRIDAY, FEB. 2 (10:00-10:50 p.m. ET/PT)

When Omair Idrisi (Don Hany), a ruthless terrorist held prisoner in Syria, escapes following an ambush near the Jordanian border, the secret British anti-terrorist unit Section 20 is resurrected to hunt him down. Equipped with the latest technology, the new S20 team members - Sgt. Samuel Wyatt (Daniel MacPherson), Sgt. Thomas "Mac" McAllister (Warren Brown), Captain Natalie Reynolds (Roxanne McKee) and Lance Corporal Gracie Novin (Alin Sumarwata) - travel to Libya with their sights set on a Saudi prince (Zaqi Ismail) who has ties to Idrisi and his British-born renegade wife, Jane Lowry (Katherine Kelly).

Written by Jack Lothian; directed by MJ Bassett.

Episode #42 (season 5, episode 2)

Debut date: FRIDAY, FEB. 9 (10:00-10:50 p.m.)

In Ajir, Libya, Section 20 endures a gauntlet of gunfire and an urban ambush to extract Morgan Ives (Trevor Eve), the unscrupulous American arms dealer who was double-crossed by Idrisi (Don Hany). Driving through hostile terrain, the team is forced to seek medical treatment at a Libyan nationalist compound presided over by General Farid (Selva Rasalingam), who has bad memories of both Mac (Warren Brown) and Wyatt (Daniel MacPherson). Eventually engaging Idrisi and his henchmen in a remote bunker, S20 finds its conventional firefight trumped by an imminent air strike ordered by Wyatt's C.O., Colonel Parker (Corey Johnson).

Written by Jack Lothian; directed by MJ Bassett.

Episode #43 (season 5, episode 3)

Debut date: FRIDAY, FEB. 16 (10:00-10:50 p.m.)

Searching for Jane Lowry (Katherine Kelly) in Budapest, Colonel Adeena Donovan (Nina Sosanya) and Section 20 discover she has ties to Magyar Ultra, a white-nationalist gang led by Rosa Varga (Kelly Gough) and her volatile brother, Josef (Mark Strepan), and has enlisted the faction to kidnap a Russian chemical-weapons expert, Dr. Kareem Markov (Daniel Cerqueira). Infiltrating the gang by posing as an MMA fighter, Mac (Warren Brown) is faced with tough choices to prevent his cover from being blown

Written by Jack Lothian, James Payne and Steve Bailie; directed by Brendan Maher.

Episode #44 (season 5, episode 4)

Debut date: FRIDAY, FEB. 23 (10:00-10:50 p.m.)

With Mac (Warren Brown) and Dr. Markov (Daniel Cerqueira) held captive in a remote Magyar Ultra survivalist camp outside of Budapest, Section 20 rushes through the forest in a desperate attempt to save their comrade and capture the Russian chemist before Lowry (Katherine Kelly) can get her hands on him.

Written by Jack Lothian & James Payne; directed by Brendan Maher.

STRIKE BACK's real-life confidential consultants, who work in the field of counterterrorism, return for the new season, which was shot on location in Jordan, Croatia and Hungary. Their expertise is a resource for story, terminology, procedure, accuracy and regional issues, providing insight into the highly secretive world of "black ops." They also train the cast, who do many of their own stunts, in battle tactics, weaponry and combat.

This new season marks CINEMAX's fifth, but UK co-producer Sky's sixth, season with the STRIKE BACK franchise. CineMax began airing the series with Sky's second season, and in 2013, presented Sky's first season of the show as "Strike Back: Origins."

STRIKE BACK is a CineMax Presentation in association with Sky; a Left Bank Pictures Production. Season five episodes are directed by MJ Bassett (episodes 1, 2, 5, 9, and 10), Brendan Maher (episodes 3 and 4), Debs Paterson (episode 6) and Bill Eagles (episodes 7 and 8). Andy Harries, Sharon Hughff, Jack Lothian and MJ Bassett are executive producers. Bill Shepherd is series producer and Nuala O'Leary is producer.

For more on the series, visit facebook.com/cinemax, medium.com/hbo-cinemax-pr, twitter.com/Cinemax #StrikeBack and youtube.com/Cinemax.

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