By James Whittington, 6th March 2023
The action-packed drama, He Who Dares is coming to Legend on Saturday the 11th at 9pm. In the movie, six SAS soldiers are sent to rescue the British Prime Minister's daughter, who is being held hostage in a multi-story car park wired to explode if anyone interferes. Directed and co-written by Paul Tanter the movie pushes all the buttons you'd want an action/adventure to press so we chatted to Paul about this adrenaline-pumping movie.
Where did the idea for He Who Dares comes from and did the script take long to get right?
PT: I think Die Hard has been hugely influential on action filmmakers for the past 35 years, to the point it's used in pitches as "It's Die Hard in/on a..." And the concept lends itself very well to indie filmmakers on tight budgets who are maybe trying to set and shoot the majority of their film in one location - the good guy or guys trapped in a place with the bad guys who they have to take on in order to survive. So, the initial kernel was wanting to do something in that genre, but be original with it. Die Hard was all about a huge building reaching up dozens of floors into the sky so we thought "what if we reverse that and set it as deep as you can go underground?" There's only one way in and out, which is blocked, so it's not like they can send in a helicopter to rescue people. It means the characters can't rely on the cavalry - the only ones who can save them are themselves. You really feel that sense of being trapped in there with them, which adds tension. Add to that the stakes of a high-profile target they need to rescue alive and you've got the perfect mix for a tense action-thriller as two highly trained and well-armed sides (the SAS and the terrorists) go at each other with guns, knives, hand to hand combat and a lot of explosives! We were careful with the script to make sure it had plenty of action and then tailored it to the location once we secured one that worked for our needs.
Did you and co-writer James Crow write it with a cast in mind?
PT: Some people we had in mind - mainly Tom Knight as Chris Lowe and Simon as Holt. We'd worked with Tom on White Collar Hooligan 2 and found he has a wonderful leading man quality, so we knew we had to have in the lead of something. This was a perfect fit as he's such an active guy who's great at fighting and stunt work. Simon was in mind when we wrote Holt as he's always so good as the bad guy. There's a charm and humour around the character along with a vicious ruthlessness. I think Simon was channeling a bit of Hans Gruber in the role. For the other roles we cast a mix of people we'd worked with before and some new faces.
Simon Phillips stars and is in most of your productions, is he your good luck charm?
PT: Simon very sensibly did what you see more and more actors do these days, which is refuse to sit and wait for work to come to him, instead going out and creating it as a producer. We've worked on numerous productions - feature films and TV series - since the start of our careers and found he's always great in the supporting roles; either the humorous ones or the morally questionable ones. We're often working on different stuff - I'll be off doing an action film in Ireland while he's shooting a movie with Bruce Willis or a TV series with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the U.S. But if there's a role suitable for him and he's available then I always try to have him in there somewhere as he's always fun to work with.
Did you do much research into the SAS?PT: The main focus of an action film should always be to entertain and excite, and that's the focus with He Who Dares. It's not a documentary and often movies have to embellish reality for the sake of entertainment. So, there wasn't much research and I think 99% of audiences aren't looking for complete accuracy, as long as they are having fun watching. Though if anyone served in the armed forces then I thank you for your service.
Did the cast have to undergo any physical training for their soldier roles?
PT: We were blessed to have a cast of health-conscious gym-goers, so physical fitness was never a problem. Everyone underwent a boot-camp before filming to instill some camaraderie among them and so they were comfortable handling weapons, etc. When it came to the fight side of things we had a great fight coordinator, Jude Poyer, who fastidiously went through the sequences with the actors and was brilliant at teaching complicated stuff quickly and making it look effortless.
Was it all shot on location and what problems arose from this?
PT: Nearly all of the story is set in the underground car park that the Prime Minister's daughter is held in by the kidnappers. Most of it was shot in a fifteen-story underground car park in Barbican in central London. It was winter but once you went two stories down you didn't really notice the cold. The main issue was there was no phone signal and the lift didn't work! So, once we were down there, we tried to stay down there to avoid losing time searching for people who had wandered off for a cigarette.
There's a lot of action sequences in the movie, without giving too much away which one was the hardest to set up?
PT: Safety above all else is paramount, so anything involving moving vehicles is always difficult and requires a lot of planning. There are some car scenes that were hard work but worth it. Anything involving explosions can be time consuming if you need to do more than one take because of the time it takes to reset everything. Even without pyrotechnics, just a dust explosion can take a while to reset, and every minute counts on indie films. As with most action films, there were a lot of moving parts - vehicles, explosions, blood effects, guns, choreographed fights, etc. Each has their own challenges but also their own rewards and when you see the end result you realise the graft and effort was worth it.
How hard is it to choreograph scenes where multiple guns are used and does this add to the pressure as a director?
PT: It's all about planning. I know how the gunfights will look before we shoot and come to set with a shot list and basic storyboard of the action. There's no pressure around the guns themselves as I only use Airsoft replicas - they just fire a puff of air and then we add the muzzle flash and bullet casings being ejected later with VFX. That way there's zero safety concerns and they are also easier to handle and reset, so quicker and easier to work with than actual replicas. I've been using them for years and finally the rest of the industry seems to only just be following suit.
When you get reviews saying "Die Hard mixed with The Raid" you must feel good about your work?
PT: I love The Raid and Die Hard is one of my absolute favourite films of all time, so while the comparison isn't one I would ever make, it is also very flattering. I can see why both films are used as reference - The Raid is about people taking a place a floor at a time. There's certainly a good amount of martial arts and hand to hand combat in He Who Dares, along with plenty of gunfights, explosions and car stunts. I hope people enjoy it as its own film without too many comparisons to others. Although it is set on Christmas Eve like Die Hard too!
How would you describe the movie to the Legend audience?
PT: A thrilling action film that sees an SAS team take on a highly-organised terrorist group who have kidnapped the Prime Minister's daughter and holed up in a fifteen-story underground car park rigged with explosives. The SAS must take the building a floor at a time with no backup and the result is a barnstorming ride of adrenaline featuring vicious fights, bloody shoot out and limb-mangling explosions.
You work in a lot of different genres, is this deliberate?
PT: Definitely. I'm a fan of so many kinds of films that I couldn't restrict myself to working in just one type. I've gone through periods of doing a lot of gangster films, or hooligan films, usually because of demand at the time. But I've directed action, comedy, thrillers, sci-fi, horror and drama and I loved working across them all. As long as I'm excited about the project then that's the main thing. You can't work on something if your heart's not in it. Ultimately, it's about entertaining and telling a story.
You're a creative of many talents, is there one job you enjoy the most?
PT: Outside of actually making films, I really enjoy writing about film and TV. I write for various magazines and publications such as Total Film, Film Stories and Radio Times, writing features, reviews, doing interviews etc. Writing for Total Film has long been an ambition of mine and it's something I hugely enjoy. I also love doing the Talking Bottom podcast where we celebrate the worlds best sitcom, Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson's Bottom. We've done over 50 episodes and got to interview talented creatives and comedy icons like Ed Bye, Paul Jackson, Jon Plowman, Robert Llewellyn, Helen Lederer, Lee Cornes, Roger Sloman, Lisa Maxwell and Kevin McNally. It's been an absolute dream delving into our favourite show, talking to the people who made it. But ultimately, my favourite job has to be directing. It's such a privilege to get to tell stories for a living, work with talented creatives and entertain people.
So, what are you working on at the moment?
PT: I've just produced a short film called Firefly down in Cornwall for the domestic abuse charity My CWA, exploring the issue of domestic abuse within the deaf community. I'm currently finishing off writing the book Talking Bottom: A Guide to the Cult Sitcom for publisher Unbound and an action film I directed in the Philippines called Escaping Paradise has just sold to several territories at the Berlin Film Market, so should have news of a release date very soon. It's about a couple whose honeymoon turns into a nightmare when one of them is kidnapped. Season 2 of my vampire series Age of The Living Dead will be out later in the year and I'm starting prep on a new film soon but it's under wraps until it's announced so I can't say what it is!
Paul Tanter, thank you very much.
PT: Thank you too!
Related show tags: HE WHO DARES MORE FEATURES September contains channel premiers from Travolta, Lundgren and JCVD! Posted on 26th August 2026
There are channel premieres for eight feature films this month, including military thrillers BASIC, starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, SECOND IN COMMAND, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Guy Hamilton’s classic FORCE 10 FROM NAVORONE, the sequel to the 1961 classic The Guns of Navarone, starring Harrison Ford, Robert Shaw and Barbara Bach.
Jean-Claude Van Damme also stars in Sci-Fi action film UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN and another cult action hero hitting our TV screens this month is Steven Seagal, starring in crime thrillers CONTRACT TO KILL and KILLING SALAZAR, both directed by Keoni Waxman.
Other channel premieres include neo-Wester...
Those Duke boys are gonna cause trouble on LEGEND in September! Posted on 26th August 2026
Hazzard County’s most famous cousins are back on British screens. The classic hit action-comedy series The Dukes of Hazzard will receive its channel premiere on action and nostalgic TV channel, LEGEND. Starting on 2nd September 2026, all seven series will be aired at 6pm weeknights.
The Dukes of Hazzard follows the thrilling, high-octane escapades of the fiercely loyal Duke family -cousins Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat), Daisy (Catherine Bach), and wise Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle). Together with their loyal mechanic Cooter Davenport (Ben Jones), they spend their days outwitting Hazzard County's comically corrupt Commissioner Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and his bum...
LEGEND brings out Hackman, Stallone and Willis for August channel premieres Posted on 27th July 2026
Watch out for a sizzling summer line-up on LEGEND this August, headed up the Channel premiere of David Mamet's neo-noir crime thriller HEIST. Starring Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito it remains the highest-grossing film of the writer-director's career in the US. Another stand-out director, Renny Harlin has two Channel premieres – breezy action-heist film THE MISFITS, starring Pierce Brosnan, and DRIVEN, an action sports film set in the world of cart open-wheel racing, written by and starring Sylvester Stallone.
Other Channel premieres include action-thriller TEARS OF THE SUN, starring Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci, John Lyde's B-movie prison thriller RIOT, st...
Interview with Terry Stone star of Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins Posted on 15th July 2026
Brutal Brit flick RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER: ORIGINS has its channel premiere on Friday at 11:10pm so we chatted to Terry Stone about the challenges of playing Tony Tucker and why he thinks this is the best film in the franchise.
LC: In RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER: ORIGINS, Tucker returns home from the Falklands War with severe PTSD. What was that like to emotionally explore?
TS: As an actor it was an interesting thing to play. It took me on a journey so when you see my character laughing a lot in the film it’s like a mask to hide all the shit that's going on in my head. It also explains how you can go from 1 - 10 in violence. Lots of Footsoldier fans didn’t know that Tony Tuck...
Fairbrass, Diesel and Stallone are ready for action this July on Legend Posted on 30th June 2026
In July LEGEND continues with its broadcast of the RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER franchise, this month covering the third, fourth and fifth films in the brutal British gangster saga that has been engaging its millions of fans since 2007.
First up is RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER 3: THE PAT TATE STORY, which charts the violent rise of ruthless Essex gangster Pat Tate (Craig Fairbass). Then comes RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER 4: MARBELLA, where we follow Pat Tate (Craig Fairbrass) to Spain with his henchmen, Tony (Terry Stone) and Craig (Ronald Manookian) to seek vengeance on those who double-crossed him. Finally, in RISE OF THE FOORSOLDIER: ORIGINS, we follow the story of how Pat, Tony and Craig unite to form their o...
Babylon 5 lands on LEGEND from Monday 8 June Posted on 2nd June 2026
LEGEND, the TV destination for fans of action, sci-fi, and thrillers, rides the nostalgia wave with the channel premiere of all five seasons of the classic '90s series BABYLON 5, which will air weeknights at 7pm from Monday 8 June.
The series will kick off with Babylon 5: The Gathering, the test pilot movie, before Season One launches on Tuesday 9 June. The Gathering covers events which take place roughly one year before those of the first-season episode, providing a framework of backstories and personal relationships for some of the series' major characters, which include Captain John Sheridan, (Bruce Boxleitner), Commander Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian), Security Chief M...
Legend brings the heat this June Posted on 27th May 2026
There are ten thrilling channel premieres in June as LEGEND continue to offer a popular mix of nostalgic favourites and modern, star-studded premieres, including Joel Schumacher's gripping legal drama A TIME TO KILL, Jon Amiel's psychological thriller COPYCAT and both RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER and RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER: PART II - the first two films in the brutal British gangster saga that has been engaging its millions of fans since 2007.
Then there is Ted Kotcheff's gritty action-drama UNCOMMON VALOR, starring Gene Hackman, Robert Benton's much-praised revisionist Western BAD COMPANY, starring Jeff Bridges and Barry Brown, an...
A line-up not to be missed this May on LEGEND Posted on 28th April 2026
May on LEGEND sees an action-packed mix of classic and contemporary thrillers, headed by Sergio Leone's brilliant ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, starring Robert De Niro and James Woods on top form, Joel Schumacher's tense legal drama THE CLIENT, starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones, Spike Lee's Neo-noir remake of Park Chan-wook's 2003 South Korean cult masterpiece OLD BOY, and Sydney Pollack's political spy thriller THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, widely regarded as a quintessential example of the 1970s "paranoia" cinema.
Then there is IMMORTALS, Tarsem Singh's epic, visceral retelling of Greek mythology, starring Henry Cavell and Mickey O'Rourke, Andrew Nicol's IN TIME, a dystopian science ficti...
Connery, Caine and Curry are starring in Channel Premieres this April on LEGEND Posted on 29th March 2026
It's action, suspense and high-stakes drama all the way as LEGEND presents eleven star-studded Channel premieres in April, spearheaded by Brian De Palma's brutal crime classic CARLITO'S WAY, starring Al Paciino, high octane action comedy MR. AND MRS. SMITH, starring Bratt Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Spike Lee's critically acclaimed heist thriller INSIDE MAN, and Timor Bekmambetov's all guns-blazing WANTED, starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Terence Stamp.
Then there is the cold war spy thriller BULLET TO BEIJING, starring Michael Caine as a retired Harry Palmer, buddy-cop film MONEY TRAIN, starring Wesley Snipes, and Jennifer Lopez, and two murderous action thrille...
PICK OF THE WEEK
