Michelle Lukes plays Sergeant Julia Richmond, one of the newer recruits of Section 20. Lukes describes her character as "exceptionally bright and technically brilliant," with the ability to speak seven languages. Richmond became more active in the field in "Vengeance". Jimi Mistry plays "Project Dawn" villain Latif, the Pakistani terrorist and mastermind behind the eponymous plot. The primary antagonists of "Vengeance" are guns-for-hire Karl Matlock, played by Vincent Regan. and Conrad Knox, a billionaire who is using his humanitarian work as a front to build his own militia, played by Charles Dance. The television series is based on a novel of the same name by Chris Ryan, a former SAS soldier who was known as the only member of his unit, Bravo Two Zero, to evade capture by Iraqi forces during the Gulf War in 1991, and was regarded as the most difficult escape for a British soldier. Ryan became a novelist after leaving the SAS. Andy Harries, the chief executive of his production company, Left Bank Pictures, saw the novel "Strike Back" at an airport while on holiday, but never got around to reading it. Regardless, he still managed to pitch the idea of a series from the novel to Sky's Head of Drama Elaine Pyke, who commissioned it. Harries said of the experience, "I read the back of the book just to remind myself, I remember Elaine saying 'what's the story' and I said 'Don't worry about that, it's really the thrust of the piece.'" The commission became part of Sky's £10 million commitment to producing original dramas based on novels following the network's success in adapting the "Discworld" novels from Terry Pratchett. It was also a part of Sky's attempt to replicate the pace of American-based action series including "24". Chris Ryan became involved in the project by acting as a series consultant and script advisor. Harries also served as a producer on the show. A second series of "Strike Back" was commissioned by Sky in August 2010, for a longer run of 10 episodes. Later, in February 2011, it was announced that Sky entered an international co-production deal with the American television network Cinemax, as the network wanted to introduce a new original drama series. The first episodes of the series was written by "The X-Files" alum Frank Spotnitz. Spotnitz was brought in to start the second series with the purpose to re-imagine the show, as the producers needed it to work in the absence of first series lead Richard Armitage, due to the actor's commitment to "The Hobbit" film series in New Zealand.