This programme contains strong language
and stories of abuse which some viewers might find distressing.
During these uncertain times,
what we're looking for is those that have the courage...
Stand up.
...to take the leap into the unknown.
Follow the DS, let's go! Get a move on, move it!
In this series, an elite team of ex Special Forces soldiers...
Get up, number 21!
...are putting 21 men and women...
Come on, they're gonna kill the hostage!
GUNFIRE
HE SCREAMS
...through the most gruelling stages of SAS selection.
SHE SCREAMS
Whatever's happening in the world, we need to switch on...
...because the enemy are not gonna stop
if you're scared or exhausted,
you need to know that you've got the inner strength to keep fighting.
Each task based on a real process...
SHE SCREAMS What was that?!
...the recruits must go beyond the physical...
Get in there now! ..to come face to face...
ALL: Kill, Staff!
...with their true self.
G0, go! go!
In the Special Forces, you swear an oath to your comrades.
You're willing to give the ultimate sacrifice,
to see them live another day.
No other test asks as much...
Holly, wake up.
...or means as much...
...to the few who make it through.
You're about to be in a whole world of pain.
In the Special Forces,
we experience emotions at the top end of the scale.
DOOR OPENS Get a move on! Move it!
Get up!
Get up, get out of your beds! Get up.
Whether it's fear...
Faster, faster.
...anger... Move it!
"Losing people on the battlefield...
Move! Move!
...it's very hard to keep your feelings under control.
Therefore, we think about what we do, we think about how we feel,
before we take on a task, and that's how we conquer it.
Single file, get into single file.
It's not through brute strength and muscle,
it's thinking about your emotions,
and how to get a grip of them to get the job done.
Listen in to the chief instructor.
It's the third phase of the course, and only 16 recruits remain.
Welcome to the backwards dive.
Pay attention to everything that I tell you.
If you get this wrong, in cold water like this,
you're gonna go one way, and one way only.
Down.
Then I'm gonna have to dive in to save your sorry arses.
Harness your fear, and execute what needs to be done.
Is that understood? ALL: Yes, Staff.
I will bring you up to the platform.
I will tell you to turn around.
You will put your heels over the edge of the board,
and when I say go,
you will simply put your hands over your chest and fall backwards.
Do not breathe under that water, compose yourself,
hold your breath, execute what needs to be done.
Number 14.
First to face the dive is number 14, Jamie,
the oldest recruit left on the course.
I'm not a 21-year-old gazelle anymore,
I'm a 40-year-old.
Put your heels over the edge.
Legs together.
However, mentally, I would pit myself against anyone.
What are you doing with a buoyancy aid?
Oh, it's not a buoyancy aid.
Stand by.
Go.
Excellent.
Next!
Next to face the dive is the undercover mole,
number five, Anthony.
Come here, number five.
Have a look where you're going.
I'm there to blend in, I don't want to stand out
as having prior experience.
Long way down.
Turn around. Step over one.
On my command only, you go. ls that understood, number five?
Staff.
And if people on the inside think that I am the mole,
then I'm gonna have to implement a plan
to move people's attention away from myself.
Stand by.
Go.
00ft!
If you do it incorrectly, that's what happens.
Let's go, number 15.
Falling into the unknown is petrifying.
Stand by.
Look at me.
Go.
In the SBS, I had to parachute into the Indian Ocean.
Stand by!
I couldn't see my landing, cos it was pitch black.
Go!
I hit that water and it felt like concrete.
All I want you to do is fall back when I say go.
I can just remember my parachute was above me...
Trust me, and trust yourself.
...as I was trying to catch my breath, my canopy was in my face,
it almost suffocated me.
SHE GROANS You've got this.
The first thing that entered my mind was fear.
I can remember, the only way
you're gonna get out of this is if you stay calm.
SHE GRUNTS
Good, good, good, good.
Stand by. Stay rigid. Go.
SHE EXHALES NERVOUSLY Go, go, go, go.
Good.
The was the best one, number seven, well done.
Well done, number seven.
Thank you, Staff.
Yes, Staff.
Number 20, Hannah, is next to face the dive.
Falling is just a really terrifying thought.
You're completely out of control,
and I'm a person
who really likes to be in control.
Go, number 20.
Don't punch yourself, compose yourself,
that's what I want you to do.
You're no good battered and bruised, are you? No, Staff.
I have a busyjob, I work as a lawyer in the City,
and coupled with two children, who are very small, you know,
life is definitely a juggling act.
Have a look over there,
that's where your fear is, not up here.
So, stop shaking like a shitting dog. Staff.
And, for me, just keeping going, is the only option.
Number 20, turn around.
SHE DRAWS BREATH
Turn around.
Get a grip of your body...
...through your mind. My mind, Staff.
Do not fuck this up.
Get your heels over the edge.
Number 20.
Yes, Staff.
I'm not gonna fuck around up here.
Nice and rigid.
Go. Go. Go!
SHE WHIMPERS Go!
If you don't enter that water,
the only way you're gonna be out of here is by giving me that number.
It's your choice, I suggest you go that way, not that way.
Compose yourself, let's get this done.
Stand by.
Go.
Whoa!
You taking the piss? Absolute fucking shambles!
Face your fears.
Yes, Staff.
Day five of the course, nothing physical this morning,
all psychological, but now I'm gonna start mixing the two.
It's gonna be a cold, wet, fucking miserable day.
You're gonna start feeling the pain.
I said to you in the beginning,
the only one who can fail this course is yourself.
Get that into your heads.
Go, move it.
Hurry up, move.
I can't believe I fucked it up. At least we did it.
Well done, Hannah. Fuck!
I think I just over-rotated.
Disappointed with number 20.
I think she might be trying too hard, I don't know,
I can't quite put my finger on her.
Yeah, I don't know.
Of all of them, she's confused me the most.
It's fine, you've done all you can do, right?
You went for it.
Stick in a little bit, you've got plenty of time.
You OK? You'll be all right.
Number 20!
Let's go.
Following her poor performance on the backwards dive,
the DS call in number 20, Hannah.
How do you think you did today?
We all have good days, we all have bad days, right?
Tell us all about yourself, how old are you?
Married?
Why?
We're here to listen.
So you're trying to, sort of, find out what his mindset was like,
by doing this... ..is that what it is?
So who are you doing this for?
For you, or are you doing it for someone else?
Just think about that.
What you're doing, to me, you're dragging a load of shit behind you
because of what's in your head.
Right now, you're not delivering,
you're on the verge of using whatever's going on in your head,
back home, as an excuse to fucking follow him.
Be you, do it for you, and get to where you wanna be.
Put the personal stuff aside.
You need to engage in this, put in a fucking good effort,
the longer you stay here, the longer you keep digging deep,
the more chance you've got
of understanding the journey that he's on.
And come out fucking sparking.
Then do it.
Guard.
This is about you, and no-one else.
Right, fuck off, go.
Are you all right?
If you need a hug, just give me a shout.
Yeah?
Look at your fucking quads! Quads are huge.
Fucking hell! LAUGHTER
HE LAUGHS
I've never done legs,
it's just that I've played football all my life, you know what I mean?
THEY LAUGH
I swear!
ANT: Everyone outside now! Move it!
Come on then, let's go!
I'm going to keep harping on about this,
I'm gonna drill it into your heads.
Control your mind, you can control a situation.
Controlling your minds to commit to whatever's in front of you.
You know the score, when I say go, disappear into the vehicles.
Go. Move. Go. Let's go, let's go, let's go.
Let's g0!
The recruits are being taken to the northernmost tip of Skye.
FOXY: Get your helmets on, then get your harnesses on.
In my time in Special Forces, we had to learn,
and I've had to show, super human levels of control,
because whether you're kicking in doors
with the enemy on the other side,
or you're tackling objects at very high height,
you have to control your emotions
and you have to trust the people that are around you.
OK, 20, go. You all right?
Probably the biggest leap you'll ever do in your life.
Number 20, Hannah, is first to go.
Don't let me down.
Come down into this gully here,
step down onto here, watch your footing.
All right, listen to me.
Big old leap of faith, this.
The illusion jump tests people's bottle.
It's made to look like the distance is greater than it actually is,
so it is all about committing.
Sometimes you've just got to take your balls in your hand and do it.
You will leap from this platform that we're on,
to that landing point there.
And you're gonna concentrate on that hand hold there
where you can see the chief instructor's hand.
You're gonna control all your fear...
...and you're gonna commit. HBPPY?
Right, step forward.
Ready?
Let's go.
You happy with that? Good.
Pretty good effort.
Next.
All right, step underneath that line, through here.
You are gonna launch yourself from this platform,
with a huge amount of commitment. All right?
Next to go is number 15, Alan.
All right, let's have a look at this fucking fall, shall we?
I dunno what that looks like to you,
but it's actually probably further than you think.
I should imagine your depth perception is slightly out.
Right, a big amount of commitment, come on.
Good effort, moving in the right direction you are, number 15.
Keep heading there, especially with fucking one eye.
Ar-ar-ar-ar!
BOTH CHUCKLE
Let's go.
There are some situations you'll face in the SF world,
that you just have to leap before you think.
Come on then, let's go.
Hold onto me, hold on.
SHE SNORTS
I remember a situation in the Middle East,
where I literally had to leap between two buildings,
not only keeping an eye on an enemy,
looking for someone trying to kill me,
but thinking if I got this wrong,
I was gonna fall about 60 feet to my death.
You happy? Good effort, well done.
Good to go?
What you're gonna do right now...
...is a little bit more dangerous because of the rain.
Number 14, Jamie, is next.
The aim is nothing that can't be done.
But don't get it fucking wrong.
ANT WHISTLES OMINOUSLY
Big commitment now, let's make it happen.
Right, you're on your own.
Get on with it.
Good. Good effort, well done.
If you commit 50%, guess where you're ending up.
In the drink.
Down this gully here, straight to me.
Next to go, is undercover mole, number five, Anthony.
Get down here then.
HE LAUGHS
Nice one, mate.
Right, a quick one, mate. Anything that I need to know?
Who?
No. Who would you have, at the moment?
If you had to had to, like, drag a two...
15.
Yeah?
A mole is a great asset.
16?
It shows us what these people
are really like when the DS aren't there.
Was he getting a bit cocky, is he?
Right, mate, you'd better shoot off.
One straight line in front of me! Go! Move, move, let's go!
Let's go, faster, move it!
Come on, move!
To the DS, get to the DS. Go. Start crawling.
We've done something psychological, guess what?
You know what's coming, we're doing something physical.
You're on a commitment phase, now this is all about the body.
Let's g0!
Catch him, catch him!
Mind, body, body, mind!
Go. Let's move. Move, move, let's go.
Let's go! On me!
Soaked to the skin, the recruits
will now race three kilometres back to the vehicles.
Don't walk, keep moving.
Move. Let's go!
Give this fucking hell! Let's go!
At the back is number two, john, and second from last, number 14, Jamie.
I believe that you see who you truly are,
when you are stripped back to that core of your being,
and I'm ready to find out what that is.
Every single one of you are fighting for a place on this course.
Move!
Jamie, can I pass?
What are you doing at the rear?
After everything you've done up to now,
you've gone and fucked it all up.
What are you doing at the rear? It's gone, sir. Fucking complacent.
That's what you're getting, complacent. Staff.
Fucking massively let yourself down. Yes, Staff.
You were on a fucking rise, now you're on a dip. Yes, Staff.
Thanks, Staff.
Yes, Staff.
Do not start to dip because I will fuck you off, do you understand?
Fuck off.
Just because we've had an easy morning, do not take the piss!
It's a couple of K run!
Do not get complacent on my course!
Hm?
HE BREAKS WIND
HE CHUCKLES
I did this, and fucking pissed
right down the back of me trousers, didn't I, yesterday?
HE LAUGHS
BOTH LAUGH Yeah!
You bastards!
How many kids you got?
Oh, wow.
You pushed yourself to the limit there,
but come on, we'll get out of this.
It just makes you appreciate everything, all, every...
Like, from food... ..a little dog...
A lot of you have got kids, like, it's mad, innit?
All I want really, is who's standing out, and who's not.
Anyone who's highlighted themselves today, Foxy?
Two was shining through.
Number two's starting to come into himself.
I've noticed something about him,
that he's got a smile on his face, he's starting to embrace the course.
Yeah. She's got fear, but I do like her,
she's got character, she's coming through it.
Yeah, I agree.
She's digging, she's going for it.
Now, as long as she doesn't go down, I'll be happy.
Number 15, he's coming into his own.
He's starting to go from the middle of the group,
to the top tier of the group.
I'm starting to really like his attitude,
he's actually becoming a valuable member of the course,
I think he's definitely up there.
Thought he had a good day until that run back,
and then he was at the back of the pack.
But he's been quite good, throw him a bone,
because there is something there.
That's what's so frustrating, I think, only he can ignite it,
but we can try and create that spark.
Tonight, I think we need to drag number 14 in,
see if he turns it around, and then it's over to him then, isn't it?
Everyone happy? Yeah. Great day today.
14!
How do you think you're doing on this course?
OK until today, Staff.
I'd agree with that.
Yes, Staff.
I left school and I played football for five years, Staff.
I played for Stoke City.
Unfortunately, I never broke into the first team.
Why, just weren't good enough?
Yeah, you can blame all you want
different things that happened along that path,
but my mind was too full of other things.
What other things?
When I was 11-ish, I was a pretty good footballer at that age,
I was getting a lot of interest, and I ended up playing for a local team,
and they had a particularly good coach.
Unfortunately the coach turned out to be a prolific paedophile.
And for two-ish plus years I was a victim of that...erm...
...and, eh...so I vehemently denied it, due to embarrassment,
and, erm...l did that for 25 years.
And, uh, itjust fucked me up, really.
Another victim went to the national press. We had the same abuser.
And I tweeted him and said, "Mate, good on you for being brave."
And he remembered me.
HE SOBS
And I had a ten-minute conversation,
that's the first time I'd spoken to anybody who understands it.
And that was it, that allowed me...
If he's got the strength to go on national TV,
I had to stand next to him and do it,
with the rest of the boys that came out.
So I did. Good. And it's the best thing I ever did.
I felt, when I said it once,
I thought I had to stand on the top of a fucking mountain
and shout about it.
Thank you, Staff.
It's sort of amazing.
I don't see a victim,
I see someone that's extremely brave, that's extremely keen.
What you've done is courage.
To be honest with yourself
frees you as an individual, doesn't it? Yes, Staff.
And that's how we fucking defeat them, with success.
Yes, Staff.
This will be your turning point,
because you are very, very capable of doing that.
Guard.
I've got to carry the last 25 years with me.
Yes, Staff.
And there are days that I wake up, and it's a challenge.
It ingrains itself in everything.
I just wish I'd had the strength of character
to have raised my hand and been the one that actually got him arrested,
because somebody else had that strength and did it,
and saved the rest of us.
Well, I won't be keeping these fucking boxers
for sexy time when I gets in.
SHE LAUGHS
I'm gonna be having three or four baths and showers a day,
just making the most of it.
I'm gonna have a hot bath, with a fucking whisky,
it's gonna go straight down my throat, because, like,
what we're doing when we get back,
we're going out for a meal and we're gonna fucking enjoy life.
HE LAUGHS
I'm actually not as bad as I thought I was.
HE SIGHS
I've got that much stuff in me,
Brufen, paracetamol, Berocca, Dioralyte.
Make your way to the parade square.
Halfway through the course,
this is when they realise what they've got themselves into.
Does anyone not want to be here?
If you do not want to be here, dress forward,
give me your number and go over into the medical room.
We constantly ask the recruits to give us their armband
because this is where we see who can take charge of themselves,
who can use their emotions to push themselves through,
to get to the end of the course.
Are you absolutely sure? 100%.
Good man.
Number 15, Alan, is the sixth recruit to leave the course.
I'm sometimes surprised when certain recruits VW,
but you have to let them go,
because if they decide the course is too much for them,
then it's gonna be too much for them on the battlefield.
Suck it up, embrace it, the moment you learn to embrace it,
you will see what you're capable of.
Go. Move.
Yeah, I can't believe that, that came out of nowhere.
He seemed like a fighter, he wasn't gonna give up.
Just goes to show, you just never know what's going on.
I think I've VW'd five times in my head!
For the next task, the recruits will undertake
one of the most violent and confrontational tasks on the course.
The red man.
Right now, it's about controlling the body.
Being physical, aggression, control.
You do whatever you need to do to get out of that fucking situation.
I wanna see, when it comes down to the crunch,
have you got that killer instinct in you, to get the job done?
I wanna see you go into that code red aggression,
but controlled, because when you get through that door,
you have a job to do, and you better fucking perform, I tell you.
When I say go, you'll disappear into that building,
take your bergens off, and stay in there.
Is that understood? ALL: Yes, Staff.
Do you have any volunteers?
What the recruits don't know
is that they are volunteering for the role of the red man.
Number five.
Stand by. Go! Move! Move! Let's go!
The red man is designed
to push those aggression levels into the stratosphere.
To put you in that clouded mindset of kill, kill, kill.
ALL: Kill, Staff!
See if the recruits can activate that beast mode.
ALL: Kill, Staff.
ALL: Kill them, Staff!
But the moment I say stop, can you flick that switch?
You need to be able to control your aggression.
One by one each recruit will face the red man,
undercover mole, Anthony.
Right, listen to me number five, you attack, OK?
You g0, you 9°, Y0“ 9°-
When you hear the word stop, you will stop.
Is that understood?
Ready. Let' s do it, yeah.
First up is number 20, Hannah.
Remember, physical... Staff. ..physical, physical.
Any aggression you wanna get out, you get it out now.
Now is the time to leave it right here in that fucking building.
Do you understand me? Staff.
Grab my shoulder, we're gonna keep low.
As soon as I move out of the way, deal with what's in front of you.
You keep going until I say stop. Do you understand me? Let's go.
You gotta keep low, keep low, keep low.
Keep low, keep low.
Once I've set myself a goal,
I won't give up on that goal until I've done it.
Keep low. Deal with it, deal with it!
If I have to fight a man, I have to fight a man.
And, you know, I say bring it on.
Come on number 20, go.
Good! To the body again! Good.
That's it, everything you've got, let's go!
STOP!
Stand up, let's go, let's go.
Make your way over to the DS.
Fucking hell, you're in a bad mood, aren't you?
What did you beat him up for? He was only going to fucking help you.
You OK? Yes, Staff.
Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.
Get in there, let's go, let's go!
SHE SCREAMS
Everything we do on selection
is designed to prepare us to go to war.
BOTH GRUNT AND SHOUT
We want you to go into the deepest, darkest corners of your mind...
SHE ROARS
...and then we ask them to switch it off...
STOP!
"Like that. CLICKS FINGERS
Good, number two.
STOP!
Head over to the DS, go!
Yeah, I've done something here, Staff.
Yeah, something's gone.
OK, all right, OK.
OK. All right.
Fuck's sake.
Listen, you pushed yourself until you've injured yourself.
Well done. Yes, Staff.
Number two, john, is medically withdrawn,
becoming the seventh recruit to leave the course.
Sorry about this, mate.
Activate beast mode... Yes, Staff.
...and give me every single ounce that you've got.
Yes, Staff. Hold onto my shoulder.
Keep low, keep low, keep low.
Next to face the red man is number 14, Jamie.
I can take an awful lot of shit.
Deal with it, go.
But it doesn't mean that the emotion doesn't burn deep inside me.
But I now have the second half of my life.
I feel like I've got 25 years to make up of who I truly am.
Deal with him, go, go.
Deal with him, good, good.
Body punches to the body.
All your aggression, all your anger that you've got.
He's down.
Give it everything that you've got,
and you've got a lot in there, go on, go!
STOP!
Stand up.
Head over to the DS. Yes, Staff. Go.
Thanks, Staff.
Come on, 14, bit of pent-up aggression there. Yes, Staff.
You all right? Yeah, fine Staff.
Look at me. All right? Yes, Staff.
No injuries? No, Staff.
Yeah, well done. Thank you, Staff.
How come he used you as a crash dummy?
I could just hear, "Urgh! Urgh! Urgh!"
HE LAUGHS
The experience was so good.
If I could tell you, you'd understand.
Big shout out to Anthony as well.
Yeah, big shout out to Anthony as well!
Yay! THEY LAUGH
Are you sore, mate?
HE LAUGHS
ANT: Everyone outside now! Move it!
In the Special Forces,
we're brutally honest with each other and ourselves.
Integrity is a key component of what makes us.
And there's one person amongst this group
that has been working for us.
They've been telling us everything about each and every one of you.
What he's told us about you lot...
...is very fucking interesting.
Number five...
...Anthony Stazicker...
...spent 13 years in the military.
Three years in the Royal Marines,
ten years in the Special Forces.
He will now be part of our team
because he belongs here with us, not with you.
Now we have even more experience on our team.
MOFG eyes, ITIOFG GETS on YOU.
When I say go, you'll disappear into the accommodation
until told otherwise.
Go. Move! Move! Move!
Great job, man. Great job.
THEY LAUGH
Fuck!
Be interesting to watch him switch now.
It's gonna be weird. It's gonna be weird.
Mate, good to have you on the team, brother.
Do not let your oppos down.
As a Special Forces operator, you have to work as a team.
Stand by... Fight!
No mercy!
We have each other's lives in our hands.
Get in there now!
Subtitles by Red Bee Media