SAS Rogue Heroes season 2 star wanted to do justice to tragic episode 4 storyline

The episode saw Theo Barklem-Biggs's Reg Seekings staying behind in Termoli while his comrades went off on a mission, and the hardened soldier found himself growing close to a family living there, in particular a mischievous young boy.

However, when the fighting came to Termoli, the worst happened - the family were all killed by a German shell, apart from the boy, who was mortally wounded.

To end his suffering, Reg had to kill the boy himself, leaving him utterly devastated.

RadioTimes.com caught up with Barklem-Biggs about this heart-rending storyline, and how he took to portraying the inner turmoil of Reg.

When asked how season 2 differed from season 1 from his perspective, Barklem-Biggs said: "I think in the first series we tackled the veneer of Seekings, I suppose. We had to introduce him, and for a lot of the characters, and especially for Reg, we kind of shone a light on his inner state a lot more.

Read more:

• SAS Rogue Heroes stars on meeting their characters' real-life relatives
• Peaky Blinders creator teases big plans for SAS Rogue Heroes beyond season 2

"That was a profound difference. And for me that meant, sadly, tucking away from the rest of the lads. Not going full method, but certainly, there was a big weight to carry.

"And I wanted to do justice to Reg's real story – although we’re playing the myth of these men, there were some moments that I think he really was affected by. You see him, he's kind of a guarded shell.

"There's a great interview in Rogue Warriors where you see him speak about this specific scenario, and you see he's a bit of a guarded character, and you see him crack a bit.

"We wanted to kind of go inside him, essentially, and expose that bit you don't see for these lads more generally. So that was the tougher part."

Barklem-Biggs noted that "the cracks" in Reg's mental and emotional state were starting to show right at the beginning of season 2, before he even got to Termoli, brought on by the "genuinely traumatic" Operation Husky, as seen in episode 1.

"He probably was suffering in some sort of way," the actor explained, "but I think that we're met with a much more intense experience for them. They're up close again, in the action, and it's a different type of warfare than I think they're used to."

Barklem-Biggs said he had known about Reg's experiences in Termoli from reading the real-life figure's obituary and from Ben McIntyre's book, but said he was "really excited when I read that they were tackling that story and shining a light on it".

"For me as an actor, that was incredible to hear, and obviously feeling kind of close to Reg, the actual man, I thought that was fantastic that they get to show that real story," he explained.

"I think it's really important, and it's not just a genius stroke from [creator, Steven] Knight.

"I think he genuinely did suffer. In that Rogue Warriors documentary, you can see him kind of crack very slightly talking about Italy.

"But to get to shine a light on what we now call PTSD, to tap into someone that's the most palpably hard in the division amongst Jock [McDiarmid] and maybe Pat Riley, it's an interesting marriage of a palpably hard guy, and this real vulnerability. I think it was important, actually."

SAS Rogue Heroes season 2 is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.