Original subtitles

This programme contains strong language throughout

Selection for the SAS is cloaked in secrecy.

No-one knows what it is we do.

We're the thinking soldier.

And the truth about what it takes might surprise you.

EXPLOSIONS

An elite team of ex-Special Forces soldiers

is putting 30 civilians through the key stages of selection...

At the end of the day, would I have this guy next to me in a war zone?

Right, right, right!

..each task taken from the real process.

Let's get the dogs out.

BARKING

Physical fitness is no more than a starting point.

The true test is of the mind...

Fear of inadequacy.

The only thing I'm really afraid of is rejection.

I don't really believe that there's such a thing as

a completely weak person or a completely strong person.

..as each recruit is stripped back to their core.

There might be strong characters...

Fully submerged, under.

..but once we start unchipping their armour,

we find out exactly who they are.

I feel like a boy in a man's world.

No other test asks as much...

Well done.

..or means as much...

I'm still alive!

..to the few who make it through.

I know this works, show me that this works.

Aaargh!

Within the Special Forces world,

the bond that we have is sort of a brotherhood.

But we've all been through the same selection process.

We've also been to the same conflict zones and we've fought side by side.

My life is in someone else's hands

and someone else's life is in my hands.

Just having them by your side,

stacking up against a door, ready to go in,

just having one of the guys squeeze your shoulder

and knowing that they're there behind you.

'It just calms all your nerves.

'It forms something that you would never experience with anyone else.'

It forms a bond that is unbreakable.

11 recruits are left on the selection course.

For the last five days, they've been tested to see if any of them

have the characteristics of a Special Forces operator.

I'm fucking dying. Yeah. I'm scared, man.

They're pushing us, pushing us to the max, all right.

Just keep going. We just have to fucking take it.

But you know what that means - pain.

Just fucking torture, just takes such bravery to go one, doesn't it?

Yeah, it's a good effort.

In just a few hours, chief instructor Ant and his directing staff

will decide which recruits they'll take with them

to the last two stages.

A gruelling 72 hours being hunted day and night in the mountains...

..before being subjected to the most notorious part of selection.

Interrogation.

Just six recruits will be selected to work in two teams.

Before making their decision, the DS discuss who might have

the strength of character they're looking for.

OK, guys, we need to make a decision on who we bring forward.

It's the ultimate answer that we always ask at the end of selection.

Which one would you rather have in your team? Let's start with 27.

Anthony Selwyn is a professional dancer.

He's sort of half-broken.

But he seems to be pushing through the pain.

I thought he was gone yesterday.

Doing the confidence test, it just shocked me

that he then just focused,

took a hold of himself and just went for it.

I just don't know if he's got the physical robustness

to get through the next 72 hours.

'When it comes to anything that's a challenge,

'I'll always give it my absolute all.

'And I've surprised people in the past.'

Number eight.

Jon Callaway is a trainee stuntman.

At the start of the course, he stood out for his bad attitude.

Come to the side here.

Why are you fucking tutting? Why are you tutting?

I want a normal answer without attitude.

It's been pleasing to see him progress a bit,

I've seen him mature exponentially from the start of the course.

Attitude-wise, he's come the furthest

from where he first came in the door.

Yeah, I agree with that. I think he's come on this course

as a bit of a laugh and a joke, and now he's seen

how tough and hard it is, he's taken it on as a positive challenge.

Col, Number 26.

Mick is a comedian and reformed alcoholic.

He is by a country mile, for me, the weakest member of the course.

He turned up yesterday for his interview with me and Col,

took his hood off, and it looked like

a fucking JCB had run over his head.

I was like, "What the fuck have you done to your head?"

LAUGHTER

If I manage to get through the eight days,

then I think I'll have

an inner peace...

Well, I hope!

23.

Calvin is 19 and the youngest on the course.

He is one person out of the whole course

that has had some military training.

And there's people that haven't that are shining well above him.

Is that the best you have?

Mentally, he hasn't got the ability to go beyond that breakpoint.

For someone to pass selection,

you really need to have a character that is reliable,

when you're tired, when you're cold and wet,

that isn't going to give up on you at the lowest ebb.

There are two recruits the DS feel

they don't know well enough to judge.

Martial arts fighter Ryan...

and landscape gardener Freddie.

Right, let's see if we can notice him straightaway.

They do some digging on the backgrounds of both.

Whoa!

Safety off, yeah?

GUNFIRE

Whack!

And bring them in for tactical questioning.

Recruit two.

There's something here that I want you to explain to me.

GUNFIRE

LAUGHTER

GUNFIRE

Can you read out that line to me, please?

"M-16, blap blap blap."

This one here. "Ha-ha, I was so stoned."

How do you think drugs affects your capability with weapons?

Well, I think it affects your judgment with everything,

so, yeah, weapons more so cos of the...

Guard!

We're looking for a real mental robustness.

We want an attitude that's good, determined,

willing, obviously,

but being able to show initiative,

have that humility, and it should be a group of leaders

as opposed to a group of followers, as such.

I didn't notice you at first.

I can see by your ears that you're a fighter.

Is that where you get your discipline from? Um...

..I wouldn't say so, Staff.

Do you think you got it from your upbringing? Yes, Staff.

Tell me how you were brought up. What was your upbringing like?

I would say a normal upbringing.

Single parent.

Mum, dad? Mum.

How many brothers have you got? No brothers. Sisters?

Two half-sisters, Staff.

Everyone says you're quiet, everyone.

I'm not very, um...

..um, I'm not the first person to speak

when I'm meeting a new group of people

and that's probably why you didn't notice me, Staff, at the start.

You've got to come out of your shell.

You need to fucking open up.

You need to open up on the confidence front,

you need to open up on a leadership front.

Understood, Staff.

Guard!

Before the DS make their cull,

they have one further trick up their sleeve.

One recruit has avoided any questioning.

Number 15, Ross.

I was eyeing it up, and I was like, "It's just about doable,

"but it's fucking dangerous."

Ross isn't what he seems.

'I passed the Royal Marine Commando training at 17.

'I got loaded onto my sniper course at 18, I became

'one of the youngest snipers in the history of the Royal Marines.

'I served for eight years and I did tours in Afghanistan.'

For five days, he's trained and lived alongside the men,

but he was put there by the directing staff to be their man on the inside.

A mole.

And now, they've a job for him.

What we want you to do, mate,

when I say, does anyone want to voluntarily withdraw themselves

from this course, I want you to just go, you know what I mean?

Hopefully it'll have that domino effect.

I'll try and get in the front row and just fucking hesitate

and fuck it, bang, just go. Yeah.

At this morning's cull, the DS want him to quit

to see what effect it will have on the other recruits.

The mole is a fit guy, so to see someone like that break,

that can definitely plant a seed of doubt amongst the group.

And it's a case of, well, if this guy can't put up with it,

and he's been doing so well on the course,

then I'm not going to be able to do it.

Everyone in the assembly area.

Decision time.

Myself and the team...

..we've come up...

..with the final members that we want to take forward

to the final stage of this course.

It's only going to get harder, physically and mentally, from here.

So if you are struggling...

..you know you are,

now is the time

to step forward and give me your numbers.

If there any members of the course here

who want to voluntarily withdraw themselves, do it now.

As planned, the first to go is Ross, the mole.

Second, physicist Matthew Haymer.

Were you going to do something then?

Did you just step forward there?

I began to, Staff. Pardon? I began to, Staff.

Well, finish off what you were doing.

Third, comedian Mick Dwyer.

With three voluntarily withdrawals, the DS are not finished.

Two more must go.

The numbers that I call out will step forward.

You will hand your armbands to the DS.

And that will be you off the course, is that understood?

ALL: Yes, Staff.

Number 23.

19-year-old Calvin is next to go.

Number 16.

Builder Dan Reynolds...

Thank you for everything, Staffs.

..follows.

I'm gutted, man.

I've about given everything I've got.

And if I had of gone on, fine, I'll go on, but, mate...

The remainder of you will be through to the final stage of this course.

Is that understood? ALL: Yes, Staff.

Away you go.

I'm still alive.

Do I want to be alive?

For the surviving six recruits,

the final stage of the selection course is in sight.

Escape and evasion is designed

to simulate being left behind on the battlefield.

A mission might have gone wrong,

might have had a helicopter crash -

a scenario where you're being hunted by the enemy.

It was the hardest part of selection for me.

It really tested me.

This is where I really thought to myself, do I want to be here?

If any survive the next three days,

they will have made it to the end of the selection course.

All of the recruits are carrying injuries.

Can't believe how swollen that is. That's disgusting. Yeah.

But Freddie's condition is worrying the medics.

The guy that I'm really concerned about is Freddie.

He came in and his main problem was he had a huge swelling

of one of his ankles.

It's started becoming quite infected.

It's tracked around his ankle and he's now got cellulitis.

A bacterial infection has breached Freddie's skin,

which, if untreated, could cause fatal blood poisoning.

We'll have to pull him. He needs IV. He needs IV.

We pull him, simple.

Do you want to tell him? Yeah, bring him in now.

You want to tell him? Yeah, yeah.

Freddie.

Yes? Can you come with me to see the doc, please, mate?

It's fine. Don't worry about it.

Come here and see the doc, please.

Chief instructor.

Sit down.

Due to your feet and to the doctor's recommendations,

we can't let you... This is fine.

It's absolutely fine, chief. It's fine.

Absolutely fine. I can fucking jog on the spot.

Bit of ibuprofen has really sorted it out. I promise to God.

Listen, it's not my call.

It's not my call. I'm not a doctor.

Can't stress to you enough, this is bollocks.

It's absolute bollocks, mate. Really is.

Don't call me mate, please. Staff. I'm sorry, this is...

It is fine. Absolutely fine. Basically, the physiology...

All right, it's cool. I can't do it.

Sit down. I don't want to hear it, though.

It's bollocks. Don't have an attitude.

Don't have an attitude. Listen, you've got this far.

Don't have an attitude with me.

Is that understood? Yes, staff.

A lot of people do come off because of injury.

It's out of your control. There's nothing you can do about it.

We need to get you to hospital as soon as possible

and get that sorted out.

It's absolutely crucial that you take care of your body.

When you're on a battlefield, are we going to be looking after you 24/7?

Are we going to have to run up behind you?

That's not what we're looking for.

Looking for someone who can look after themselves.

Freddie's time on the course is over.

Right, good luck. Thank you, boss. Take care.

With Freddie gone, chief instructor Ant wants the recruits

to be sure they're prepared for what's next.

It's going to be mentally challenging. Mm-hm.

I hope that it doesn't get to you.

Get your mental state up with your physical state. Yes, staff.

We will pick away at it. Yes, staff.

I think I'm fit enough. I definitely think I'm fit enough,

but I've always had this thing in the back of my mind

about being a failure,

and I don't ever want to put myself in a position

where I could fail.

Next three days is going to be fucking hard, OK?

We've seen qualities in you.

This is why you're sitting here.

Because we believe you have what it takes

to get to the end of this course.

I've definitely struggled with self-doubt. Definitely.

I'm my own worst enemy, and I think most people are.

And if I pass on this selection, and it's just, like...

It's proof.

Categorically, you are strong.

Ready, guys? Yes, staff.

The five remaining recruits are driven deep into the mountains

to their drop-off point.

There will be a hunter force which is out of looking for you.

The longer you can evade capture,

the less time you will spend in captivity,

and therefore in interrogation.

Start taking in the ground around you, guys. Look out the windows.

We're getting close now to the drop-off point.

They will need to head west through a series of three rendezvous points

in order to complete their mission.

They've been divided into two units -

Alpha team, Freddie and John...

I believe the woodland point should be our first attack point,

which is situated just over there.

..and Bravo - Ollie, Anthony and Ryan.

Ollie first, yeah? Me middle. Yeah. Keep down.

Each team is followed by an embedded cameraman.

Ahead of them is 30km of wild terrain

which they must cross at night to hit their first RV in nine hours.

Between them and RV 1 is a hunter force.

The recruits believe they're out to physically capture them.

DOG BARKS

But in reality, they're being deployed by the DS

to force the teams off course and see how they react.

If we drop the hunter force down there,

then they'll go up and they'll go up.

DOG BARKS

Ten minutes past 11, boys. Good time.

We basically should just get down to the bottom of this.

Yeah, aim for the river.

And then just basically go down to the right side. So just off peak.

Cos we don't want to be this side.

3km away is Bravo team - Ryan, Ollie and Anthony.

It would be good if we can get to the forest.

Yeah. So we just keep powering on, all right, boys? Yeah, let's go.

They decide to take a direct route to RV 1,

sticking to high ground, but staying below the ridgeline.

One, two, three, four...

DOG BARKS

The DS have already tracked down Bravo team's location.

This hunter, four. Yeah.

Hunter group is very, very close now. Yeah.

These guys are out now.

Almost 6K, so they're getting very, very close together now.

GASP Torch!

WHISPERED: Get down. Get down, get down.

Get down.

Ryan, get down.

DOG BARKS

Being hunted is a horrible experience.

We've got to hurry up, man.

You're deep behind enemy lines,

you've got a hunter force of God knows how many.

You don't know what's after you,

you don't know what they're going to do to you,

and it always plants that seed of doubt as well -

if I get captured, what's going to happen to me?

So just being able to compose yourself under immense pressure.

Ah, fuck.

You OK? Yeah.

To evade the hunter force,

Bravo team is forced down the mountain

and 4km off course.

The DS have told the recruits to avoid roads at all costs...

Tracking control, this is Ollie.

..and plan to ambush them if they use them.

OK, run to the bottom then walk up the top.

Yeah, and once we get up...

With 6km between them and RV 1,

Freddie and John pick a route

which forces them to cross a road.

There's quite a slope here.

What the fuck is this?

Is this a road?

OK, guys, they've crossed the road.

Stand by.

Come on, you little weasels. Where are you?

Put your light out. Light out!

It's a fucking car, mate.

Shit. Get down, get down.

Stay down. Shit.

Stay down. Don't move.

Stand on the higher ground.

Let's get the dogs out.

DOG BARKS

Downhill, downhill.

There have been a few occasions

where I've been operating behind enemy lines,

and it's quite a nerve-racking experience,

knowing that there's enemy forces out there,

in front of you, trying to cut you off.

You know, you've got a lot of people that you've just pissed off.

We've literally poked the hornet's nest, and they sort of come out,

they want revenge for what we've just done.

Eight hours ago,

Bravo team, Ryan, Ollie and Anthony,

were forced off course by the hunter force.

Successful.

They've struggled to get back on track

and it's beginning to take its toll on 24-year-old dancer Anthony.

Anthony, are you all right, man? I haven't heard from you in ages.

What? I haven't like heard any... Yeah, I can't...

I can't like keep my eyes open, basically.

We just need you to just stick with us. I'm doing my absolute...

That's all we... I know you are. We're almost there. Almost there.

I can't actually just keep my eyes open. Sit down.

Take a seat. Take a seat.

I'm just not going to get back up if I go down.

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

No, no, don't give it to me.

What I'm going to do is ask at the checkpoint

if I can hand in my banner and you can just go on without me.

Ant, Ant, Ant, we're a team, right? The reason you're here...

Yeah, but I don't know. I think... Shush. I'm out..

Guys, I'm...

Just listen to me, right...

'Behind enemy lines, in hostile environments,

'uncomfortable situations,'

at one point or another, someone will hit that wall

and then the others should rally round

and get round that guy and help him out

because, you know, a couple of days later, it could be someone else.

Someone else that was there as a support

could be the person that needs support.

'Predominantly, you're there for the guy that's stood either side of you.

'That's what it's all about.'

I'm genuinely thinking...

Mate...

Yeah, but... But what?

You won't collapse, man. You won't collapse.

No.

'I would like to think that I could forego my own ego'

to get something done.

So, if that would require me to be a leader, I would try and be...

I will do that. If it will require me to be the organiser,

I will do that.

Finding out what makes them tick, what makes them work,

and then using that to the greater...

You know, the team's advantage.

Once you guys start setting off at that pace again,

I'm just going to...

I feel like I'm going to collapse again.

I've reached the point where I just want to go home.

You're giving up mentally before your body's

actually physically ready to go. Does that make sense? No.

It's the opposite. But we still walked.

We still walked up this hill and walked down it again

and we're doing it again. You know, we're not falling over.

Mm.

'Nobody wants to be weak. 'People don't want to be scared.

Water's all you really need, yeah?

Mm-hm. Stay hydrated.

'I grew up with my mother in Belfast.

'In the early '90s in Northern Ireland,'

or Ireland or whatever you want to call it,

it was obviously a situation

where there was a lot of tension

and I came from a Catholic background

living in a Protestant area.

All right, next RV point, boys. OK.

'One of my earliest memories is actually having a fight.'

Just remember physically...

Being physically challenged, you know, like?

'Everybody gets picked on, I guess, at some point in their life'

and I guess that kind of set me off, I guess, from a young age.

The more I think about it, the more I think that's maybe why

I'm driven towards doing the things I do now.

It's just the idea that...

I didn't have any older brothers or anything like that

to sort of defend you, so you felt like you had to be physically able

to defend yourself.

Team Alpha, Freddie and John,

have been on the run all night with no sleep.

This is a valley. That's where we are right now.

This is the valley, we just need to... On it somewhere.

Shit.

They've managed to evade the hunter force

but are now lost.

Is it possible that we've gone completely,

like, literally... Like, we're five kilometres away.

'There's times during escape and evasion

'where, if you're close to breaking,'

if you have a slight injury,

if you have any mental doubts,

you'll be found out.

We're going to fucking get run over. We're not going to get run over.

We're just going to plough through and we know where we are now.

Fucking good luck. I'm fucking pissed off.

This is all essential, you know, muddling through.

Mate, we've been marching for 12 hours.

They've got to give us a little bit of credit for that. Fuck off.

Get no credit for that, mate. 12 hours with basically no rations.

We've been lost for fucking hours.

'When the going gets tough,'

it's just about keeping all the positives you can.

Mate, we're dead in two hours.

We're not dead in two hours.

Yeah, we are. Got enough water. Let's go.

Argh, my feet. Mate, come on, let's go. Suck it up.

'I went to university at Cambridge.'

It's a pretty highly pressured place, for sure.

There were loads of times which were sort of highly stressful

but I didn't let the exam pressure get to me too much.

It's just tick something off your list

and then just keep trying to tick things off your list.

It's not about whether you complete it or not,

it's your attitude with attempting to complete it.

So they've come in westwards...

The hunter force track Bravo team, Ryan, Ollie, and Anthony,

to the foot of a valley.

That isn't on the map.

They've been on the run now for 16 hours.

All right. Come on, then. You all right? Mm-hmm. Want a hand?

I know it's hard, man. Thanks.

Let's go.

There's two people over there.

Fuck. We need to go.

Ant, come on, man.

Get back, get back, get back.

Follow.

'I like to think I won't quit.'

I like to think, anything you throw at me, I won't quit.

'Even if you're hurting,

'you've got to put a brave face on all the time, I think.'

I grew up with my stepfather and my mum,

I've got quite a complicated family, and then my two brothers.

There's the junction.

Let's go down there.

My mum,

she had cancer when I was about eight or nine, I think.

Probably the worst memory I have is

when she had to sit me and my middle brother down and tell me, you know,

that she was going to die

and...

You know, it's just one of those...

It's just that...

Something you shouldn't have to hear.

I remember, you know, after it happened

and just walking round the house

and, you know, all that was left was a house full of men,

my stepdad and my brothers,

and I remember just feeling like, you know,

we can't cry about this, we can't really talk about this,

we're just going to, you know, suck it up and be men about it, you know?

It's stupid in hindsight but that's the way it was.

So it meant that, you know, I had to brave it on my own, really,

and it meant I just...

Yeah, had to grow up, really.

WHISPERING: Oi. Share this evenly. Three bites each.

20 hours into the escape and evasion phase, and with the recruits

still out on the run...

..a team of interrogators arrive at base...

..to prepare for their capture.

Once you come off the escape and evasion,

you go straight into the interrogation phase.

You get the complete shock of capture,

and that's when your mind starts to play games on you.

Coming from a civilian background,

these guys have got no idea what the interrogation holds.

We're going to die soon, mate. We've got no food.

Having been thrown eight kilometres off course,

Freddie and Jon are still heading in the wrong direction...

..straight into the path of the DS.

How the fuck can they get it so wrong?

Down on your knees. Face there. Where the fuck have you lot been?

'If you're captured before the allotted time

'at the end of that phase, you would go in the bag.'

Do you want to fucking pull off this course?

They do need to concentrate and really focus,

and that's when it counts, that's when we get to see

whether they're actually people that can operate in really

uncomfortable situations, when they're tired, run down.

I would guarantee nearly all of the recruits will be questioning

why they are on this course and

whether they really want to be there.

Do you want to fucking pull off this course now?

I'm going home. So you want to come off the course? Yeah. OK.

Give me your armband and get the fuck in.

I haven't got an armband.

It's lost. All right, well, get in the vehicle.

'I don't like to be disrespected. I'm proud.

'Everyone has anger issues.

'I'm not angry at an individual or something.'

I'm just angry at me not being enough.

Before he's allowed to walk off the course,

Jon is sent to speak to the chief instructor.

You've obviously been bagged and tagged,

and they obviously got to your head, mate.

That fucking mess up earlier. I was fucking tired. Fucking hell, Jon.

We've, er...

fought your corner.

Foxy's fought your corner.

A lot.

Is this really what you want?

Do you want to go home? That's what I'm saying to you.

Right now...

if you had a choice of getting back out there or going home...

..what would you do?

Would you want to get back out there?

Or is this the end of the road for you?

I still want to go back out there.

You would want to go back out there?

Yes, staff.

Get your kit. You've got five minutes. Get your kit back on.

Look around you, use this time to sort your head out. Yes, staff.

Freddie and Jon are taken to RV2,

where they are joined by Ryan, Anthony and Ollie.

OK, guys, so, you know the co-ordinates.

Two extra guys on your patrol now.

We'll go straight into that field as fast as possible,

make sure the road's all clear before we do it.

And when we're in there...

we're going to move across past these buildings. Everybody clear?

Yeah. Let's crack on.

OK. I was having a tough time last night, but...

..I've sort of got a new lease of life. Tiredness?

Yeah, I think it was sleep dep plus lack of any sort of

nutrition in my body.

Some of the situations you find yourself in

within the special forces are quite intense.

You're back on path, really.

'You see who's there with you, shoulder to shoulder.'

And it does, it creates a bond.

Be safe, Jon. Thanks.

Well done, Jon. Fuck!

Want a hand?

Doesn't matter where each of you is from. You know, that doesn't matter.

It's what you've been through

at that moment in time that brings you together.

'I know I'm determined, I know I'm really fucking stubborn,

'so if you tell me I can't do something,

'then that'll probably make me want to do it more.'

Cheers, mate.

'Best outcome here is that I complete it and I do myself proud.'

Oh, they're cooking food!

They've covered 20km of wild terrain and been on the run

for nearly 24 hours, but they've reached their final RV.

Right, guys, fall in.

I'll just give you a quick brief on how we're going to load up.

So, if you take your kit off first...

I haven't slept in 48 hours! THEY LAUGH

Oh, my back is in bits, man!

Almost there, mate. Ohhh...

First, you three there, you pile into the actual back seats here.

And then, Ollie and Jon, if you pile into the back...

Oh, there's tea and biscuits in here! Oh, my God!

Yeah! Fuck off... There's white tea in this one. Who wants white tea?

Oh, thank you!

Once you've been picked up at the final checkpoint

and you've got that cup of tea and that biscuit,

you'll be surprised how quickly you switch off

and how quickly you become relaxed and you think,

"Right, this is it, we're going back to safety now,"

or, "We're going home".

Anybody any ideas where we are at all?

Well, we just passed a camping site.

EXPLOSION

Fuck!

SHOUTING

The ambush will replicate the shock of capture,

smashed and ambushed and brought back down, crashing, to earth.

Get down!

They're under capture, their adrenaline's going again

and it starts all over again.

'You've been drained mentally, physically.

'Your mind's not with it anyway.

'And you know they're going to put you through

'a whole world of pain.'

Next time...

'I was in Iraq, captured, blindfolded, beaten.'

I may have been special forces, but I wanted to be alive.

Who map-read? You did. Who planned it? You did.

I understand this looks really bad.

He's the one that will fall for the old charm.

I can either be good mummy or bad mummy.

That is this phase complete.

You have passed the course. Well done.

Subtitles by Ericsson