NARRATOR: Selection for the SAS is a test like no other.
ANT: These celebrities are going to have the shock of their life.
This is not a game.
(HELICOPTER)
17 celebrity recruits...
Fight back!
...have volunteered to put their glamourous lives behind.
Your effort is like a fart in a blizzard!
When the chips are down and I'm doubting myself,
have I still got it?
There's no winner,
it's simply whether you have what it takes or not.
They're put through the most gruelling stages of SAS selection.
Are you OK? Yes Staff!
Chief Instructor, Ant Middleton...
...and his team of Directing Staff will make no exceptions.
Get up!
We're going to find out who they really are...
Go!
Brake, brake!
(WOMAN SCREAMING)
You gotta save that life, let's go!
Help!
The pressure of a life and death hostage rescue.
One hesitation...
One mistake...
...is going to cost you your life.
What the fuck have you just done?
Go!
And a harrowing drownproofing.
The thought of not being able to come up for air
just terrifies me.
You have to deal with that extreme panic.
If you don't, you're gonna die.
Get down!
(CLIMACTIC MUSIC)
(MILITARY DRUMS)
Today marks the halfway point
of the formidable SAS selection course.
And only 10 celebrity recruits remain.
MERRICK: Wonder what's on for today?
CANDICE: Something cold?
Being chucked out of a helicopter into the snow,
and you have to swim through the snow,
seal crawl across the gravel,
until you have taken off your own genitalia and nipples.
(LAUGHING)
Get the fuck out here!
Two minutes, let's go!
Move, move!
Move, get up here, you people, get up!
Come on, move it!
We're waiting for you people!
In the special forces,
we are trained to deal under extreme pressure.
That's where we thrive, that's where we make our best decisions.
And that's were looking for,
to see if you can take on information
in a high-pressure situation.
We have to process that information, and execute what needs to be done.
That's it, just huddle up.
As a special forces operator, it's all about decision-making.
You cannot afford to fuck up.
If you mess up on the battlefield, it will cost a life.
That life, that you save or that you take,
you have to live with the decision.
The pressure of that on your shoulders,
for a lifetime, is a fucking heavy burden to carry.
Everything we do is to see if you've got the mindset
to deal with what you witness, the decisions that you make,
and what you have to live with.
It doesn't get much more serious than this.
No mistakes.
The recruits are about to face an extreme pressure test
that simulates one of the Special Forces'
most dangerous and confrontational assignments.
A hostage rescue.
They will be handed an assault rifle, and rushed into a briefing session,
where they'll be shown a photo of a hostage,
along with a map showing the location of the captive.
It's crucial that recruits identify the hostage as having a beard.
If they focus on the red hat, the results will be deadly.
Let's go Number Six, sit on your bergen, face that way.
The first recruit to attempt the run
is Number Six, "Honey Badger" Nick Cummins.
Move let's go, let's go!
Move, let's go, hurry up!
That's your weapon, OK? There's around in the chamber,
the safety catch is on, it's good to go!
Get in there, get briefed!
Eyes on that!
At 1600 hours yesterday,
the hostage was taken from his residence
and believed to be in this location.
Here.
Enemy forces are on the ground,
believed to be guarding the hostage.
You have now about 30 seconds to appreciate the map,
and ID the hostage. Good luck.
(WOMAN SCREAMING)
You haven't got 30 seconds, let's go!
You've got to save that life! Let's go!
Time is critical, and before Number Six can even blink,
he's rushing into a room where the DS have set up a distraction.
They went that way! Help!
(WOMAN SCREAMING)
(INTENSE MUSIC)
As he enters the final room,
the DS have set up their ultimate test.
The hostage's hat has been removed,
and has instead been placed on the kidnappers.
(WOMAN SCREAMING)
Hey!
(GUNSHOTS)
Stop!
How many people did you just shoot?
Two, and they're here.
Where is the hostage, now?
Hostage is sitting down on the left.
Describe the hostage to me. Red, red hat.
Beard? No beard?
Beard, yes. Tattoo?
Look over my shoulder again, what do you see?
Where is your hostage?
He's got a, he's got a beard.
So, that's the hostage there.
They switched hats.
Fucking bang.
Got it?
You're dead. You know why?
Fixated on one thing, tunnel vision.
Red fucking hat.
That's what let you down, that's what just got you killed,
that's what now leaves us to go tell your parents, doesn't it?
Yes Staff. Got it?
Out.
With me, come on, let's go!
Having shot the hostage instead of the kidnapper,
Number Six, Nick, has failed the task.
Recruit Number Five, rally car champion Molly Taylor,
is no stranger to focusing under pressure...
Sit on your bergen, sit.
...and is next to attempt the hostage rescue.
Motor sport is about being able to concentrate
under pressure and under stress.
Go, go, go, move, move!
So, when it's 50 degrees inside the car,
you've been going all day, you don't want to slow down,
you don't want to make a mistake at a critical point.
Get over there and get briefed, quickly!
So you need to be mentally fit, to concentrate.
But, during the SAS course,
the nerves are going to be such a different type, I think.
So, it's I guess going to be managing the nerves,
so you can still perform under pressure.
(WOMAN SCREAMING)
They're going to kill the hostage, let's go!
Let's go, let's move it!
Go, hurry up!
Help me!
They went that way!
Inside, come on!
Come on!
(GUNSHOTS)
Stop!
Who did you just shoot?
The enemy. Where's the hostage?
There. That's our hostage, there.
Sitting down?
Oh, no.
What was the distinguishing mark about the hostage?
The beard. The beard.
But you have straightaway gravitated towards a red hat, didn't you?
You also, what has he got? He's got a gun.
What you think he did? Shot me.
Give me that weapon, OK, go through that door, go.
Two recruits, two failures.
Both would have been killed in the line of duty.
Let's go move, move, move.
Number Three, Jackson Warne, is next in the firing line.
Let's go we haven't got fucking time!
Let's go!
One thing I am really good at is awareness.
Because, every time me and dad would go on holidays,
we would always spot out the photographers,
hiding in the bushes, or their cars.
They went that way!
Being able to block that out, and not letting it affect you,
and not taking it personally, is a big thing.
(GUNSHOTS)
Stop!
Shot that one, shot that one.
Yes, Staff.
Correct, well done. Where's the hostage?
They're there, Staff.
That was fucking good.
Give me the weapon.
Out you go, move!
Number Three has now set the bar for the other recruits.
Come on let's go, let's move, let's move!
Let's go, we haven't got fucking time!
Pressure is like a boiling kettle.
Your purpose was to save the life of the hostage.
That's right.
OK, you have just taken the life of the hostage.
It's how it's managed that's really important.
(GUNSHOTS)
Stop! Stop!
You've fucking shot everything from right to left!
It is absolutely crucial
that you can adapt on the spot within seconds.
Let's fucking go! They're going to kill her!
(GUN CLICKING)
Stop!
What the fuck have you just done?
What have you not done?
There was a gun pointing at me, so I shot.
You shot? I never heard you fucking shoot!
I couldn't... Then you didn't shoot, did you?
I went to shoot...
Don't fucking argue with me, you went to rat shit again!
Consequently, I'll go and tell your fucking husband, she's dead.
Disappear.
I remember when I was in Afghanistan on a big operation,
going into a compound, and we were met with a huge firefight.
There were multiple enemy combatants running everywhere.
And we done what needed to be done.
(GUNSHOTS)
There's multiple bodies.
Bloodshed everywhere.
The adrenaline was here, the aggression was here.
Let's fucking go, they're going to kill her!
And I remember getting up, close to another door,
kicking that door down, going into the room,
and it was a room full of children and women.
(GUNSHOTS)
My first thought process was, take your finger off the trigger.
You came in the room,
blazing like you're having a fucking bad day.
And I'd gone from this code red aggression, kill,
to caring for these children.
Think about your actions.
You've just killed three people.
Yes, Staff.
So I'm going to fucking leave that with you
to think about that decision you just did.
Yes, Staff. Away you go.
You haven't got a couple of minutes to figure it out.
You've got a couple of seconds.
One hesitation, one mistake, it's going to cost you your life.
Go!
The pressure doesn't let up.
Do not be knocking on the Grim Reaper's door
down at the bottom of that tank.
FOXY: You want something to go wrong, just add water.
Until you do this correctly, you will keep on going!
MERRICK: This will be the most difficult thing
I have ever done in my life.
NARRATOR: In a remote location...
Let's move, let's move!
...the DS are putting the recruits
through a perilous Hostage Rescue operation.
Testing their focus under pressure,
to see who can identify the hostage in a life and death situation.
Remember, decision making.
Take or save life.
Let's go, move, move, go!
Up next to face the task is Number Seven, Erin McNaught.
I'm doing this course because,
in the past I've always been scared of failure,
to the point where I won't even attempt something
that I think I might fail at.
Enemy forces are on the ground, believed to be guarding the hostage.
I've held myself back, because I was always crippled by fear.
(WOMAN SCREAMING) There isn't time, let's go!
Let's go, let's go, now, let's go, let's fucking go!
Let's fucking go, we haven't got time!
As Number Seven runs into the first room,
she needs to look past the first distraction the DS have set up.
They went that way!
The ultimate test is to see if Number Seven can quickly identify
that the DS have removed the hostage's hat...
...and have put it on the kidnapper.
Stop!
(DRAMATIC STING)
Give me the weapon.
Give me the weapon, OK.
Where was the hostage? To the left.
That's the hostage, there? Yes, Staff.
I saw the red cap... Red fucking cap.
What did the hostage have?
Oh, a beard, Staff!
Fucking hell! Fuck.
Yeah! fuck. You fucked up, haven't you?
Yes, Staff.
Because you're not thinking.
You've not got that clarity, and that focus.
Alright?
Think about your actions, think about what you've done.
Yeah. Alright?
Go away.
With me, come on! Let's go!
I feel like my biggest failure in life
has been the fact that I've always been too scared to tackle something,
and I've gotten to the age now,
I'm like, are there things I should've done that I didn't do
because I thought I might fail at them?
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
Move, get here!
So far, only one recruit has passed the test.
Sit on your bergen facing that way, facing that way.
Number Ten, Comedian Merrick Watts, is up next.
There's a lot riding on you, Number Ten.
I want to see you here at the end of the day.
I think the trick for anybody
is you've got to switch things on and switch things off.
As a comedian, you can't be the same person offstage as you are on stage.
You've got a different level of focus.
And the ability to switch between those is important.
Let's go, we haven't got fucking time.
We haven't got time, let's go!
They went that way!
(INTENSE MUSIC)
(GUNSHOTS)
Stop!
Stand up.
Give me the weapon.
OK.
Quickly talk me through,
as you came into that room, what did you do?
I turned and I saw an assailant raising a firearm at me,
from the centre. OK, then what happened?
Then I saw an assailant without a beard, not my hostage target.
Similar, but not the same, raise a weapon at me,
and I took two shots.
You know what?
That was fucking good.
That was calm, collected,
you identified the target appropriately,
you engaged under the rules of engagement.
Well done, good, disappear.
Yes, Staff. With me, come on then!
Of the 10 recruits, only two succeeded.
And back at base, it's playing on their mind.
NICK: Far out.
SABRINA: It comes down to,
would you rather take a life by accident,
or lose yours?
That was the thing, yeah.
ERIN: Like failing that task just now...
...like to be honest,
like this morning, I just was not there this morning.
Yeah.
Of all the recruits,
it was Number Seven, Erin's, lack of focus under pressure
that has the DS worried.
Seven went to rat shit.
I don't think she really knew what to do,
and she just didn't quite get the reactive sense of urgency,
and instinctive decisions we were looking for.
She's slowly deteriorating, I think.
She's slowly crumbling.
There's something holding her back, I don't know what it is.
Well let's get her in, then. See what she's got to say.
GUARD: Number Seven!
(TENSE MUSIC)
Right, why are you here?
I feel that I...
I feel like I've never really pushed myself to my complete potential.
I've never achieved what I think I can achieve,
mentally and physically.
I've had you quite high up the pack,
regarding your capability, and effort put in, attitude.
It's all been quite, quite promising.
Apart from, I feel like, you're slightly slipping away,
I feel like you're slowly reaching your limit.
What's going on in your head right now?
I'm getting more fearful.
You need to get your head in the game.
As soon as you're in that scenario, as soon as you know what's going on.
Yeah, I know. The moment you hesitate,
the moment your mind hesitates, it's like a glitch.
You just like, and then you have to recover your thoughts.
All it is is self-doubt.
And I don't know where that comes from,
because you've been doing quite well. Do you?
To be honest, Staff, I was really cautious kid.
I'm just one of those people that,
I always needed that pat on the back,
I always needed that encouragement.
And, so I did really well in school,
then when I didn't get it, later on in life,
I struggled with succeeding.
It's only, sort of, in more recent years that I've been able to,
you know, draw on my own knowledge,
and my own sense of self-worth to kind of get over that doubt.
So that's taking you back a bit,
where you were at that stage in your life,
where you're unsure? Well, kind of, but at the same time,
I also feel like this is also, I've grown so much already.
I feel like a different person from day one.
We're not saying that you, you're doing really bad,
because you're not, you're doing really well on the course.
But, stop that little bit of hesitation, OK?
Yeah, yeah. OK, whether it's from your life,
whether it's from, you know, whatever you've done.
Because you are a front runner in this course.
Wow.
And you've got the capability to be here at the end.
But, if you hesitate, with what's coming up,
you're not going to do it, and you'll be off the course,
it's as simple as that. Yeah, yeah.
No more hesitation. OK.
I mean that. Understood? Yeah, yeah, Staff.
Guard!
(SIGH)
The thing that excites me the most
about taking on a challenge like this is...
...really seeing how far I can push myself.
I want to see what those limits are, I want to find those limits.
Because I don't feel like I've ever really found them before.
And, you know, if I can find that drive,
from within myself, I think that I'll be able to go all the way.
ERIN: It's actually snowing.
The recruits are subjected to the full force of nature.
Go!
You will experience what it's like to have lungs full of water.
There's layers and layers of pressure applied,
and it's continuous.
Do not fuck this up, there's zero margin for error here!
Underwater activities might be my downfall.
Keep going!
ERIN: Fuck it's so cold out there.
MERRICK: When is the weather going to give us a break?
NICK: Yeah, the weather is fucked.
Every day!
It's out there.
ANT: Get the fuck out here!
Hurry up!
Holy shit.
Come on, hurry up!
Hurry the fuck up!
Go, sprint!
Go on, let's go!
Come on, move it!
NARRATOR: Despite the horrendous weather conditions,
the recruits are being driven to another pressure test.
JAMES: Look at that weather!
The sky is black!
And with temperatures dropping,
for the recruits, things are about to get a lot worse.
Could that be snow? There's a storm coming in.
There's a storm alright. That looks like a big one, hey?
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Come on, let's move! Let's not fuck around!,
Come on then, let's fucking move it!
Have some pride about you!
Take your bergens off, get somewhere where you can hear me.
Hurry up! Start moving quicker!
Cuddle up, keep nice and warm!
Get in a nice huddle!
The recruits won't be warm for long,
as their mental strength is about to be tested,
in an extremely dangerous underwater survival technique
known as drownproofing.
It's fucking snowing.
It's actually snowing.
Is that snow? It's snowing!
It's snowing.
ANT: Shut up, no one said speak!
The SAS is the most elite fighting force in the world,
because we are trained in all environments,
from desert, to jungle, to water.
In those high-pressure situations,
you're expected to operate at the highest level.
Pin your ears back, take your hats off.
What you see here is called drownproofing.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Water is the most brutal environment I have ever operated in.
If you do not know what you are doing,
you will not survive, full stop.
This technique is used
when we enter the water and we find ourselves entangled
or in a shit situation where you must stay calm, cool, and collected.
Your hands will be bound.
When I say go, you will jump in, straight down into the tank,
and as you go down, you expel all of the air from your lungs.
When you get to the bottom, calm down,
and fucking propel yourself up like a fucking dolphin.
If you keep the air in your lungs,
you will start panicking, and you will start floating.
You will experience what it's like to have lungs full of water.
It's cold, it's uncomfortable, it's going to be stressful.
Do not be knocking on the Grim Reaper's door
down at the bottom of that tank.
You have to deal with that panic under extreme pressure.
If you don't, you're going to die.
If you don't want to be here,
you've got the DS here, and you've got your lovely numbers.
You know what to do with them.
With drowning a very real possibility,
DS Foxy is on hand, but only as an absolute last resort.
Number Seven, get your jacket off, put it in your top flap, let's go!
The first recruit to brave the numbingly cold water
is Number Seven, Erin McNaught.
Nothing physical about this, all psychological, OK?
After being warned earlier by the DS about hesitating,
Number Seven is determined to show her resolve.
My biggest fear, physically, is being in an underwater cave,
where there's no air,
the thought of not being able to break the surface,
and come up for air, just terrifies me.
Just stay calm and collected.
Once you hit that water, calm your fucking body down,
calm your mind down, stop flapping around.
When you start flapping around,
you start to fucking breathe heavier,
you start to take water in.
I do feel like underwater-based activities might be my downfall.
When I say go,
you will push yourself right into the centre, OK?
Hold on.
And you will have, make sure when you go down,
big bend of the knees. Standby, go!
(TENSE MUSIC)
In order to descend beneath the icy water,
the recruits have only a split second to take in oxygen
before immediately expelling the air.
If they mistime, they'll breathe water into their lungs,
it'll feel like they're drowning.
The longer the recruits take to compose themselves,
the longer they must remain in the tank.
FOXY: Whoa! You've only just entered.
And, at these temperatures...
...hypothermia becomes a very real threat.
(TENSE MUSIC CLIMAXES)
Good, well done!
Having composed herself in the water...
Outstanding effort, go on, let's go, let's move.
...Number Seven, Erin,
has successfully passed the drownproofing test.
Out of everything we've done, that's the move terrified I've been.
I was so sure I was going to have to VW.
I was that scared.
I want my two boys to see me as a strong mum,
that I can do so much.
But I feel like that's the first task
that I fully committed to.
I have no idea if I'll finish this course.
But I know that it's going to impress them,
when they're older.
And it's a nice thought to know that my boys will see me as,
not just mum, but mum that can also kick ass!
Next to brave the icy water,
is Number 14, AFLW Player Sabrina Frederick.
After the first couple of times,
you'll be fucking, your body will be numb.
It's all about here, all about what goes on up here.
Do you understand that? Yes, Staff.
Let's do this.
Being in the AFL, I'm very used to performing under pressure,
and perform at a high level.
But at the same time,
it can get really, really overwhelming.
It can get too much.
Go!
In times where you're under pressure,
and feeling like your mental strength is being tested,
you've just got to put one foot in front of the other,
and just got to get through, until you've got enough of a break
to reboot and go again.
If you crumble, you're not going to get through it.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
I want to see if I have what it takes,
and if I can really push myself
when I'm pushed to the absolute brink.
OK, that'll do!
That is not nice, is it?
No, it's not. Let's go.
Who's next?
Go!
Drownproofing is all about putting them under pressure,
because we want to see if they can remain calm and collected
in those situations.
Keep going!
It is dangerous.
You know, if you want something to go wrong, just add water.
Go!
You're limited in the space of time that you can breathe,
you've got to control that.
If you treat it with complacency, it will fucking bite you in the ass.
It is always looking for an excuse to kill people.
Go.
I've had some pretty close shaves, nearly drowning.
It's one of the worst things I've ever fucking gone through.
I got entangled in a load of kit,
and not being able to make it to the surface.
It is fucking petrifying.
Keep going!
The physical drain on your body starts to impact on your mind.
You start panicking,
and I had to take that second to just calm myself down,
compose myself, and work out what I needed to do to untangle myself.
Go!
There was a moment where I could have lost my shit.
It's quite a scary situation, when...
...when you don't want to die,
and it looks like you are going to die,
it's quite scary.
Who's next?
Since the beginning, Number Three, Jackson Warne,
has at times struggled with his inner demons.
He'll need to step up if he's to prove himself to the DS.
In very stressful situations, I just go into, sort of, robot mode.
I don't yell, I don't get frustrated,
I sort of just keep to myself.
I just have to block it out, or else, I'll get upset.
Right, you got this. Do not fuck this up.
Alright?
Let's get this fucking done. OK, when you get in,
you're going to have the fucking shock of your life,
do you understand me?
So, on this course, when things do get really tough,
and when you do have to show a lot of grit,
it will be difficult for me.
So get a grip on yourself, it's all up here.
Nothing to do with this, it's all psychological.
Do you understand?
Let's go.
Stand on there, when I say go,
you will push yourself into the centre.
Nice, big jump, a nice, big push.
Let's get aggressive with it.
Go!
(MUSIC STALLS)
Fucking go!
Who's next?
NARRATOR: In near-freezing temperatures,
the recruits are taking on a deadly underwater drownproofing task.
Do not fuck this up.
Staying calm under pressure is key to their survival,
as they repeatedly descend beneath the icy water.
It's all psychological, do you understand?
Struggling with self-doubt,
Number Three, Jackson, is next to face the tank.
Go!
Fucking go!
(TENSE MUSIC)
FOXY: Go on, get down.
Let's go!
Down!
Get down!
The hardest thing for me on this course
is going to be the cold water, the stress,
and how your body reacts to that.
There was one situation where I was in the ocean,
and the waters just kept dunking me, kept dunking me, kept dunking me,
and I couldn't get a catch of breath.
Stop fucking around.
Calm down!
Calm yourself down, Number Three!
I do think there will be moments that will break me,
but I just hope I can hang in there.
Down!
We expect the recruits to keep on going until we say stop.
Down!
It's about applying that pressure, keeping that pressure there,
letting them know that they're not safe.
It's a way of keeping them on the edge.
For the majority of people, they're just not built,
psychologically or physically, for this course.
Get out. Foxy, get him out, get him out.
Get out!
Unable to remain calm under pressure,
Number Three, Jackson, is the first to fail.
Fuck off.
(DOWNBEAT MUSIC)
Hoping he can master the technique,
the last recruit to confront the chilly water
is Number Ten, comedian Merrick Watts.
For 20 years, I worked in radio, and I was phenomenally successful.
Get it right first time!
Big bend of the knees.
I had a number one radio program
getting massive ratings, earning a lot of money.
It was a really, really good time.
And it ended.
Go on, big push into the centre, go! Good!
(TENSE MUSIC)
(CALM MUSIC)
You do something like radio for 20 years nonstop.
You get used to a certain way of doing things,
and then, when you're out of it for a little while,
it's exciting, and it's kind of cool,
it's a release.
Keep going!
But then, all of a sudden,
there was a period where I just didn't have a lot of work.
Deep breath!
There was a moment there where I just went, what's next for me?
Straight back in there! Move!
Who am I? What am I going to do?
I lost my self-confidence, and I lost my strength in myself.
Again, let's go.
That started to slowly manifest into anxiety, and depression.
It starts as a seed.
These things don't just become a tree.
One thing becomes another, becomes another, becomes another.
And if you let it go to big, it's too hard to chop down.
And that's why I'm on this course.
Good effort, Number Ten.
This course is designed to get you to your limits.
Love it, well done, you!
And then it's down to you to get yourself past them.
And that's when you find a new you, you find out who you really are.
You find out what you're capable of.
This course will either destroy you, or it will make you.
You pathetic bunch of fucking creatures.
The pressure is turned up on the recruits.
Communication, teamwork, come on!
Quicker you do this, the sooner the pain finishes.
Hurry the fuck up!
NARRATOR: The recruits are sound asleep,
but for the DS the day is far from over.
Boom, boom.
Today, all about pressure.
How do they cope under pressure,
how did they perform under pressure?
And that's where we thrive, ultimately, is under pressure.
The briefing is to assess which recruits stayed calm in a crisis.
Number 14, throws obviously on the hostage rescue,
but great drownproofing.
She just cracks on. Yeah, she does.
You know, she just gets on with it.
Three had a good hostage rescue, but shocking drownproofing.
He doesn't deserve to be here.
He hasn't put any blood, sweat, or tears into this.
Number Ten, he's keen, he's keen as mustard.
I just hope he don't burn himself out too fucking quick.
I reckon, all he needs to do
is to not take himself too seriously,
because he'll, like you said, he'll burn himself out with that.
I think we should really just start concentrating
on getting rid of those that are way behind the pack.
They need a kick up the ass.
And then, it will eliminate the weak, naturally.
Yeah, because it's not going to get any easier.
Determined to filter out the weak,
the DS will now mercilessly punish the recruits.
You have five minutes to get on the parade square!
The DS know, the more pressure they apply,
the greater the chance someone will crack and quit.
The course is harsh because we're preparing people for war.
Right, listen in, you pathetic bunch of fucking creatures.
There is layers, and layers, and layers of pressure applied,
and it's continuous.
And the reason for that is, in a war zone,
you don't get to choose when it ends.
And you have to be prepared to keep on going,
when all around you is falling apart.
Go!
Come on!
You want to see if someone can embrace pressure.
Because the only way become a better person
is by putting yourself under pressure.
Communication! Teamwork!
Start moving quicker!
You should almost enjoy it.
Fast as you can!
Come on! Come on, let's go!
Get up there!
Come on, Number Three, let's fucking move it!
You want to start putting some effort in!
Let's go, come on little piggies!
Come on, dig in!
Put a bit of effort in, or we'll have you squealing like pigs!
Alright, lunges!
Hurry up, get in position, come on Number Two, go.
It's your choice if you go again! Your choice!
Now you give your armband in.
Right, 10 press-ups. 10 press-ups, go!
Bang it out, let's get it done.
MERRICK: Six, seven, eight, nine, done.
I'm doing this course to completely change myself,
from what I was.
Let's go, let's see some fucking effort.
What's that, Number Ten, come on!
Everybody knows me as just like a happy-go-lucky kind of guy,
it's like, oh yeah, Mez is alright, he's fine!
He's just a clown.
He's always bulletproof.
And to a large degree, that's who I am.
But, I haven't felt that way for a while.
And I want to feel that way again.
I won't keep shouting at you, because I can't be fucked.
I've just added 10 minutes onto the beasting.
And I went, rather than waiting to see
whether or not this goes bad,
maybe I should address it now.
Come on, the quicker you do this, the sooner the pain finishes.
Before it becomes too big a thing, and it becomes harder to tackle.
Come on, keep moving, keep jumping.
Let's go, Number Ten.
Get into the fucking position. Yes, Staff.
And then, this came along, and I thought,
this is exactly what I need.
It's not just about the challenge,
it's about the opportunity to rebuild my strength,
and my confidence.
Go!
Another relentless day has taken its toll
on even the most athletic recruits.
(RECRUITS GROANING)
ERIN: Oh, you alright?
CANDICE: Yeah, I just had jelly legs.
Fuck.
While Number Ten, Merrick,
is feeling the strain of his own self-doubt.
Fucking struggled with that tonight.
What's wrong? Struggled with that one tonight.
I thought you were good.
Oh no, just struggled at the hinge. Just let it go, doesn't matter.
Oh look it was a lot of PT but it was just...
...I struggled to get 100% at it all the time, I don't like that.
You had a good day just let it go.
The one thing that worries me is breaking down.
And that is my greatest fear.
Not being able to go to the very end...
...because I'm broken.
GUARD: Number Ten!
I would just be absolutely gutted.
Because I need this.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Walk across, to your left.
Stop. Sit.
What do you do, Number Ten?
What do I do for a living?
Yes.
I'm a comedian, Staff.
Fuck off.
(LAUGHING) Come on.
NARRATOR: Number Ten, Merrick, has been summoned by the DS,
who are curious about his motives, and his intense persona.
What do you do, Number Ten?
What do I do for a living?
Yes.
I'm a comedian, Staff.
Fuck off.
(LAUGHING) Come on.
You're a comedian?
I'm a comedian, Staff.
You're the most serious bloke I've met.
That doesn't say a lot about my comedy, then, does it?
Tell me a joke.
(SIGHS)
I'm a 46-year-old father of two,
I'm a comedian, and I've signed up to this.
Was that meant to be a joke?
Alright, relax.
You're a comedian. I am.
I would never have guessed that.
Let me tell you why.
What I see is someone very serious.
Not the comedian stuff, because obviously
you haven't come here trying to be a comedian,
or trying to mess around.
Are you still in comedy? Do still do it?
Yeah, I love it!
The fuck are you doing on this course?
I think I came on this course to prove something to myself.
Something personal. But I think...
What is that?
I wanted to, I wanted to see how far I could go.
I wanted to test myself, and I wanted to rebuild myself.
Rebuild yourself? What are you trying to rebuild?
That's not a word that you use just off the bat.
Why do you want to rebuild yourself?
It just got to a point before this came along
where I'd lost some of my confidence.
And for a comedian, and for a performer,
that is a big part of what I do, and my identity.
So, I worked for 20 years in radio nonstop.
And, about three years ago, I left.
So you on the radio, every single day,
doing your shows, and then three years ago,
you say, that stopped?
Yeah.
What did you feel like when that stopped?
I, I didn't really...
...I didn't see it all, I didn't...
...it wasn't an event,
I just started finding myself sleeping more.
Staying in late.
I was lethargic, and tired, and unmotivated.
And not committed to shit.
Because I didn't feel 100%.
And I don't know why.
I honestly don't know where that happened, or what that was.
Do you think that you've lost a bit of your identity,
sense of belonging?
You've done that for so many years, sometimes, as we know,
you take that leap of faith, you can lose your identity.
Lose that sense of belonging.
And then it does become mundane.
It's, you're not getting the buzzes like you used to,
or you're not going back to what you know.
And getting the recognition.
And getting the recognition of, of your peak time, basically.
Is that, is that a part of it? Part of it.
If I do something like this, I believe that I'll be better,
to go back and put this same effort back in.
Better prepared.
Yeah, I get that.
But let me tell you something right now,
it's going to get more brutal.
There's only one way you can go, you need to keep going like that.
If you drop off that, you're going in the wrong direction,
and you won't make it through this course.
Do you understand, Number Ten?
I understand that, Staff.
We've got high hopes for you.
So don't let us down, and don't let yourself down.
Is that understood? I appreciate it.
Guard!
(EERIE MUSIC)
I don't think about quitting.
Is it an option? Of course it's an option.
But I don't think about it.
I think about winning.
GUARD: Walk.
I think about all the sacrifices, all the hard work,
will justify the confidence that I will get from it.
Go back to your accommodation,
don't talk about anything you've just done.
If I go all the way to the end,
complete the course, and win,
that will truly be one of the greater moments of my life.
Captioned by Ai-Media ai-media.tv