Introduction

Homeland is an American spy thriller television series developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.

The series stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a Central Intelligence Agency officer with bipolar disorder, and Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a US Marine Corps Scout Sniper. Mathison had come to believe that Brody, who was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, was “turned” by the enemy and poses a threat to the United States. The series focuses on a storyline that evolves from this premise, together with Mathison’s ongoing covert work.

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• Originally aired in Israel in 2010 as Prisoners of War, aka Hatufim.
• In Russia it was adapted into the TV series Rodina in 2015.
• In India it was officially adapted as a finite 110 episode television series P.O.W. – Bandi Yuddh Ke by Nikhil Advani in 2016 and 2017 with Hatufim creator Gideon Raff consulting for the series.

Outline

• Season 01 (2011):
  • Carrie Mathison, a Central Intelligence Agency operations officer, conducts an unauthorised operation in Iraq and is reassigned to the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center in Langley, Virginia.
  • Nicholas Brody, a US Marine Sergeant who had been reported as missing in action since 2003, is rescued from a compound belonging to terrorist Abu Nazir.
  • Brody is heralded as a war hero, but Carrie comes to suspect that he is planning a terrorist attack against the United States.

• Season 02 (2012):
  • While on leave from the CIA, Carrie is recruited for an intelligence gathering mission in Beirut.
  • Brody strengthens his position as a potential running mate for Vice President Walden, while still under the command of Abu Nazir.

• Season 03 (2013):
  • In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Langley, Brody has fled the country while Carrie strives to clear his name.
  • An initiative by CIA director Saul Berenson targets Iranian intelligence officer Majid Javadi (who financed the Langley bombing).

• Season 04 (2014):
  • Carrie is working as a CIA station chief in Kabul, Afghanistan and later in Islamabad, Pakistan.
  • She oversees a botched drone strike on the suspected location of terrorist mastermind Haissan Haqqani, which causes strife within the CIA and provokes the extremely dangerous terrorist.
  • Carrie recruits a young asset in an attempt to track down Haqqani. Information provided to the Pakistanis by a disgruntled embassy American leads to disastrous results.

• Season 05 (2015):
  • Two years after the events of season 4, Carrie is no longer an intelligence officer and is now working as head of security for a private charitable foundation and its billionaire owner in Berlin, Germany.

• Season 06 (2017):
  • Several months after the previous season, Carrie is back in the United States, living in Brooklyn, New York. She now works at a foundation that provides aid to Muslims living in the United States.
  • The season features the election of the first female president and occurs between election day and inauguration day.

• Season 07 (2018):
  • Carrie has left her job in the White House and moved back to D.C. to live with her sister Maggie.
  • She takes on the Keane administration to secure the release of the 200 members of the intelligence community who were arrested under President Keane’s orders the previous season.

• Season 08 (2020):
  • Saul, now National Security Advisor to President Warner, is sent to Afghanistan to engage the Taliban in peace negotiations.
  • He needs help from Carrie, who is recovering from her confinement in a Russian prison.

Cast

• Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA case officer assigned to the Counter-terrorism Centre. She has bipolar disorder and believes Brody to be a terrorist when he returns to the United States. After leaving the CIA, Carrie becomes a private citizen, living in Berlin and later, New York.
• Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a Congressman and retired US Marine Gunnery Sergeant (formerly Sergeant) who is rescued by Delta Force after being held by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war for eight years (starring seasons 1–3, guest season 4).
• Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson, Carrie’s mentor and the CIA’s Middle East Division Chief and Acting Director of the CIA during season 3.
• Morena Baccarin as Jessica Brody, Brody’s wife. Assuming her husband is dead, she has a relationship with Mike. She struggles to adjust when Brody returns after such a long absence (seasons 1–3).
• David Harewood as David Estes, the director of the CIA’s Counter-terrorism Centre and Carrie’s boss. The two have a tumultuous relationship due to her aggressive way of working and the suggestion of a past sexual relationship between them (seasons 1–2).
• Diego Klattenhoff as Mike Faber, a US Marine Major (formerly Captain in season 1). Brody’s best friend who, assuming Brody is dead, begins a relationship with Jessica (starring seasons 1–2, guest season 3).
• Jackson Pace as Chris Brody, Brody’s son (seasons 1–3).
• Morgan Saylor as Dana Brody, Brody’s daughter (seasons 1–3).
• Jamey Sheridan as William Walden, Vice President of the United States and a former director of the CIA (recurring season 1, starring season 2).
• David Marciano as Virgil Piotrowski, a freelance surveillance expert and former CIA employee whom Carrie enlists for the surveillance of Brody (recurring seasons 1 and 3, starring season 2).
• Navid Negahban as Abu Nazir, a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda (recurring season 1, starring season 2, guest season 3).
• Rupert Friend as Peter Quinn, a CIA operative and assassin (recurring season 2, starring seasons 3–6).
• Sarita Choudhury as Mira Berenson, Saul’s wife (recurring seasons 1 and 4, guest seasons 2 and 6, starring season 3).
• Tracy Letts as Senator Andrew Lockhart, who later assumes the role of Director of the CIA (seasons 3–4).
• F. Murray Abraham as Dar Adal, a black ops specialist (recurring seasons 2 and 4, starring seasons 3 and 5–6, guest season 7).
• Nazanin Boniadi as Fara Sherazi, a Muslim CIA analyst (recurring season 3, starring season 4).
• Laila Robins as Martha Boyd, the US Ambassador to Pakistan (season 4).
• Sebastian Koch as Otto Düring, a German philanthropist and Carrie’s boss (starring season 5, guest season 6).
• Miranda Otto as Alison Carr, the current Berlin Chief of Station, working directly for Saul Berenson (season 5).
• Alexander Fehling as Jonas Hollander, legal counsel for the Düring Foundation and Carrie’s boyfriend (season 5).
• Sarah Sokolovic as Laura Sutton, an American journalist in Berlin, who works for the Düring Foundation (season 5).
• Elizabeth Marvel as Elizabeth Keane, a junior senator from New York, elected President of United States (seasons 6–7).
• Maury Sterling as Max Piotrowski, Virgil’s brother and a freelance surveillance expert who often works with Carrie (recurring seasons 1–4 and 6, starring seasons 7–8).
• Linus Roache as David Wellington, White House Chief of Staff to President Keane (guest season 6, starring seasons 7–8).
• Jake Weber as Brett O’Keefe, a right-wing media personality (recurring season 6, starring season 7).
• Morgan Spector as Dante Allen, an old friend of Carrie’s who is looking into the hundreds of people President Keane has detained (season 7).
• Costa Ronin as Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Gromov, a Russian GRU Senior Operations Officer (recurring season 7, starring season 8).
• Nimrat Kaur as Tasneem Qureishi, a member of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (recurring season 4, starring season 8).
• Numan Acar as Haissam Haqqani, a high-priority target and Taliban leader (recurring season 4, starring season 8).

Trivia

• The series has received generally positive reviews, with its first two seasons gaining near universal praise.
• It has won several awards, including the 2011 and 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama for its first two seasons, and the 2012 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for its first season.
• Danes has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series twice (from five nominations) and Lewis has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series once (from two nominations).
• Supporting cast members Mandy Patinkin, Morena Baccarin, Rupert Friend and F. Murray Abraham have also received Emmy acting nominations.

Homeland Series

• Series 01 (2011).
• Series 02 (2012).
• Series 03 (2013).
• Series 04 (2014).
• Series 05 (2015).
• Series 06 (2017).
• Series 07 (2018).
• Series 08 (2020).

Production & Filming Details

• Developer(s): Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.
• Producer(s): Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff, Michael Cuesta, Avi Nir, Ran Telem, Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Chip Johannessen, Meredith Stiehm, Lesli Linka Glatter, Patrick Harbinson, Michael Klick, Claire Danes, Ron Nyswaner, Debora Cahn, Lauren White, Katie O’Hara, Charlotte Stoudt, Mandy Patinkin, and Sunday Stevens.
• Music: Sean Callery.
• Cinematography: Nelson Cragg, Chris Manley, David Klein, Giorgio Scali, and Peter Levy.
• Editor(s): Joe Hobeck, Terry Kelley, Jordan Goldman, David Latham, Garret Donnelly, Michael Ruscio, Harvey Rosenstock, Philip Carr Neel, Sarah Zeitlin, and Victoria Grimsley.
• Production: Teakwood Lane Productions, Cherry Pie Productions, Keshet Broadcasting, Fox 21 (2011–14), Fox 21 Television Studios (2015–2020), Showtime Networks, and Studio Babelsberg.
• Distributor(s): 20th Television.
• Release Date: 02 October 2011 to 26 April 2020.
• Running Time: 46-48 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.