Episode 6 Special Forces - Ultimate Hell Week

This programme contains strong language and contains some scenes

which some viewers may find upsetting.

Our recruits so far, they've carried huge loads,

they've swam in freezing water,

they're run up and down mountains,

but the final's going to be the toughest test of all.

But it would be - it's courtesy of the British.

Ten days ago, 29 of the toughest amateur athletes in the country

arrived here, in the Welsh mountains.

With help from former soldiers

of five of the world's toughest special forces,

they came to take part in the ultimate military boot camp.

Get up!

The former operatives who've taken them to hell so far

have been the US Navy SEALs...

We were brought up to weed out the weak.

-Up!

-Five!

-Down!

..Israel's Yamam...

-Are we quitting?

-No.

-Can we survive it, yes or no?

-Yes, sir.

..NAVSOG from the Philippines...

Back to zero!

-..the Australian SAS...

-You got the determination?

-Sir.

The will to want to continue? Yes, sir. You sure?

Guys, guys, guys, guys.

..and Russia's Spetsnaz.

-Oh, shit.

-You are bleeding!

-DOGS BARK

-You are dying!

Go. Go!

'I'm Freddie Flintoff.

'As an elite sportsman,

'I know that it takes grit and determination to be the best.'

That's it!

'I've been with our raw recruits at every punishing step...'

-Keep going, then. Use it.

-Come on, mate.

-Keep going, pal.

'..as they attempt to push themselves

'beyond the physical and psychological limits.'

Now only six remain, in the final...

of Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week.

After ten days of living under strict military control,

our six finalists are woken at dawn.

Penultimate day of Ultimate Hell Week.

Hoo-ya!

As they prepare for the arrival of the last special-forces veteran,

each recruit has the winning post in their sights

after two weeks of nonstop physical and mental endurance.

You've got to the final six - how pleased are you?

So frigging phenomenally pleased.

-Yeah.

-It's been so, so hard.

It's a race, I'm going to race it as hard as I can.

And I think we've all realised, we've got our physical limits

and it's just our mental limits

which are the ones that are allowing us to go further now

than we thought possible before we came on this show, probably.

You know, I've made it to the final, I'm more than happy with that,

but just still going to push as hard as I can for the next little bit,

-just see what happens.

-Have you been pushed beyond your limits?

-Oh, yeah.

Most people get up every day and live the same life, you know,

and they don't do anything different,

they don't challenge themselves.

And I think how can you possibly know who you really are

unless you've been pushed to way beyond your limits?

You are shit.

How much have you got left?

There are parts of me that I can dig into

that hopefully will allow me to have enough left to get through.

But I suspect they're going to be by far the hardest 48 hours

of the whole thing.

I just want to be able to survive

what is about to happen

and to be able to do my best and to be able to give it my all

and just see how far I can possibly push myself.

I'd love to win it, I'd love to win it.

Every challenge I've been given, I've not worried about the time,

I've just made sure that I ain't gave up

and just plodded along like a little tortoise

and got there in the end, you know? Soldiered through.

It's pride now, innit? You give up now,

you might as well give up on the first day,

or not even have turned up.

So for me it's all about just getting myself through the hurt locker, through the pain,

through all the different emotions, and just keep going.

Argh!

Having got to this point,

you must now be thinking that you want to win this?

I'm going to do my hardest. That's it, full stop.

I'm not going to think of anything, I'm just going to do my hardest.

I'd love to see a before-and-after shot of all of us,

if you count up all the scars,

the almost-wounds we've got,

seeing my lips and I'm cracking up.

Yeah, it's taken a lot out of me.

You've made it to the final. How pleased are you?

I'm over the moon. I am really, really pleased.

But kind of woke up this morning with the same anxiety

as when we first come.

What's going to get you through, then?

Just a bit of grit and determination, I think.

It's just the thought that I don't want to give up,

I don't want to quit something.

We've got to get people over this.

So those are our finalists.

It's all set up to be a cracking climax

to Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week.

Candidates!

They're about to face the next 48 hours

under the command of a former member of the SAS...

Your positions.

..the elite unit of the British Army,

often referred to as The Regiment.

-Right, good morning.

-ALL:

-Good morning, Sir.

My name's Bob Podesta.

I spent 27 years in the British Army.

25 of those years was in The Regiment.

OK? I was one of the youngest men ever to join, at the age of 19.

The British Special Forces have a worldwide reputation.

They are the best in the world.

Shrouded by secrecy, the Special Air Service,

known simply as the SAS,

was first formed as a top-secret unit in 1941.

Believed to undertake a number of roles,

including counterterrorism and direct action,

they first gained worldwide recognition in 1980

after rescuing 19 hostages

during a siege at the Iranian embassy in London.

With little verifiable public information

existing on The Regiment,

the members are recruited from the UK Armed Forces

and in order to be selected

candidates have to pass a process

that is held twice a year on the Brecon Beacons,

which has a 90% failure rate.

A successful Special Forces recruit

would need the will to live, the will to get to somewhere,

no matter what the difficulties are.

The endurance and the mental attributes

of getting to a place to carry out his mission.

I do believe up to now

that you've had ten days of training by other special-forces experts.

I don't care about that training.

Your selection starts from now.

I'll be watching you from here on.

And what I'm going to do now

is to put you on the normal British Army BFT,

or the Battle Fitness Test,

and this involves a 1.5-mile speed march

and a 1.5-mile free run back.

And remember, it's up to me whether you pass or fail this,

so do your best.

-Do you understand?

-ALL: Yes, sir.

Right, guys. Take off your jackets.

Fall in two-deep, facing that way, ready to march out.

Quick march.

Left, left. Left, right, left.

For the next 48 hours,

our recruits will be under intense psychological pressure.

They will face three main challenges synonymous with SAS selection.

First, escape and evade.

Then resistance to interrogation.

Before ending with the long drag, the final endurance challenge.

But first, Bob wants to see

how close the last ten days have brought the finalists

to becoming real special-forces soldiers.

Joining me throughout the course of the final

is psychologist John Leach,

who specialises in military survival.

It'll be up to him, our military directing staff

and, of course, Bob,

who will decide on our eventual winner.

How does what the SAS look for

differ from what some of the other special forces

have been trying to find?

Double march.

You find with the Special Air Service Regiment,

the approach is much more understated

than you'll find in a lot of the other countries.

Left, right, left, right, left, right, left.

People that turn up

to start selection with the British Special Forces,

they're expected to be fit,

they're expected to be self-disciplined.

Good.

So we're not going to see the shouting and screaming?

You shouldn't see the shouting and screaming, that's not going to work.

If you need to shout and scream at people in the British forces,

then they're not the type of person you want in special units anyway.

Go!

'Immediately after the group march

'it's time for the second half of the BFT...'

-They've started at a cracking pace.

-Yeah.

'..the individual 1.5-mile run.'

The reason for this is, if you were in battle

and you were running across a field in front of the enemy,

you've got to be able to get stuck into them afterwards.

So if this was in the military,

if you don't get back in a certain time, you're gone.

Straight away, you'd be out?

Well, you wouldn't be out, but they'd give you a warning

and then they'd make you do the test again.

I'm very surprised that the girls are keeping up with the men.

'The recruits don't know it,

'but the times will determine who is paired with who

'during the next phase of the competition.'

Go through the gate for the finish.

'First to arrive back at base is Brassington...'

8:59.

'..in a time of just under nine minutes.'

Bent. Time is 9:36.

'Miller, beaten by Murphy in the Spetsnaz obstacle race,

'is the first of the two remaining women to cross the line.'

9:42.

9:48.

Finish is here, Murphy. Remember your time.

10:09.

All in.

'Gatenby is the last to return.'

10:15...

16, 17,

18, 19.

Right, guys, well done.

But I don't think it's quite good enough.

When I did this run, I used to do it in eight minutes.

The first person that came in just now did it in 8:59.

So, what I'm going to do is to give you another chance

and let you do it all over again.

-Do you understand?

-ALL: Yes, sir.

'Once more, Brassington is first over the line...'

Time is now 9:17.

'..but in a slower time. '

Bent coming in.

9:52.

Miller coming in.

9:59.

Gatenby coming in.

'Only Gatenby improves on his time.'

10:09.

Curnyn coming in.

10:18.

Murphy coming in,

10:46.

The recruits regroup

to find out if they've reached an acceptable standard.

The idea of this run

is for you to be able to run this three miles into battle

and be able to fight at the end of it.

ALL: Yes, sir.

The times that you're showing here

are sort of the times that the average soldier

who is over 40 years old

would be doing in the army. Do you understand?

-ALL: Yes, sir.

-Off you go.

-Thank you, Sir.

-Thank you.

Having made it to the final,

and with no-one posting a satisfactory time,

all six recruits have failed to impress

the new special-forces veteran.

So it's still all to play for.

Everyone will need to up their performance

if they want to stay in the competition.

We might have made it to the final,

but still we're little shits, in his eyes.

It was on stones, in boots...

when we're a bit tired.

Let's be honest.

All he's looking for is mental grit.

He wants to know what kind of mettle you've got.

I don't think the SAS are really ones for positive feedback.

They just want you to do your hardest,

and even your hardest isn't hard enough.

The next phase is escape and evade.

This is based on a real operational life-or-death situation

that is the bread and butter of Special Forces units.

The SAS requires soldiers

who have the spirit and mental resilience

to survive behind enemy lines.

Based on the times from the Battle Fitness Test,

the fastest and slowest recruits

will be paired together for the challenge.

And the twos are going to be...

Brassington and Gatenby,

Bent and Murphy,

and Miller and Curnyn.

So you'll be running together on the exercise.

You'll all be taken to an area in the black mountains,

and remember, there is an enemy watching you,

they're going to try and capture you.

They're from the Parachute Regiment, they're pretty expert.

My advice to you is keep off the high ground,

where the enemy are likely to watch.

Before I go, I would like to take everybody's watches off them.

If you pass me all your watches over here now.

OK, what's going to happen now

is you're going to be issued with Second World War-type greatcoats.

OK. Sizes there. One each.

Have a look. Check it out.

First, on official SAS selection for this exercise,

these coasts are donned by our recruits,

in order to make them identifiable out in the field.

Wow, I think I pull this off, mate.

In their pairs, the recruits leave for the mountains.

Hide-and-seek with the SAS.

I'm petrified.

It's been quite nerve-racking today,

cos it feels like...

all the rest has been like dog work,

and real hard labour,

but this is a bit different from that.

Nervous. A bit of anxiety floating about.

We'll do all right. We'll give it our best, won't we?

-All we can do is 100%.

-Yeah.

En route, each team have been given coordinates

to navigate to their three separate target locations.

They have four hours to reach their destination.

One hour after they're dropped off,

the enemy forces will be released to chase them down.

THEY DISCUSS

Afternoon. Hi. So you guys are chasing them, are you?

Yeah.

So what sort of chance have our recruits got of evading you?

They've got lots of nice streams they can hide in.

Eventually they're going to have to hit high ground and these big hills.

I'd say their only chance is to try and go wide

and then come up in the hedgerows, almost.

But that's going to take them all day.

A lot of people will be drawn to the tracks,

because they'll think they'll be able to move faster and possibly evade us that way.

'Also added to this challenge is a far more sinister element.'

You're not looking quite as friendly as the rest of your hunter team.

What's your role in this?

We're part of the interrogation team, which will, erm...

We'll be aiming to get as much information

out of these guys as possible.

So this is going to be how it happens for real?

It would be, yeah. These guys are trying to win.

Then next thing you know, all hell breaks loose on them.

They're then going to be transported back

to the interrogation, or the holding centre,

and that's when the interrogators will really go to work on them.

Unaware of the fate that awaits them,

the recruits begin to navigate from the three separate starting points.

Brassington and Gatenby immediately feel exposed.

-The only thing I'm worried about is they did say stay off the high ground.

-The high ground, yeah.

And technically this is high ground, innit?

Yeah, but I'm thinking we've just started,

so we've got a bit of a lead on them,

so if we just smash this first one out

and then we're going to be coming,

then we've got a bit of a head start and then we'll start detouring.

Smash this first bit out, with good paths, and then start going. Yeah.

Miller and Curnyn start out in grassland.

Ideally, I still think this is probably

one of the better paths to go.

At least that way we're in the trees and out of sight.

And hopefully, from a distance, our colours should blend in

with what's around us.

And it's not on a main path.

Cos I believe being on a main path

is a little bit more of a tactical advantage to the enemy,

to ambush us.

Team one, you're going to head to this location here,

team two is going to head up to this choke point here...

'Led by Bob, the hunter force leave to pursue the escapees.'

Is everybody happy with that? OK, in your vehicles, let's go.

With the hunter force now hot on their heels,

Bent and Murphy are forced to take it slow.

After ten days of intense competition,

Murphy's feet have taken a battering...

The bottom of my heel is the worst,

I think from just the constant pounding with the extra weight.

-Painful when I press into it?

-Yeah.

..so the strategy is to find the most economical route.

Go that way?

Yeah, let's try and avoid that big one. We're here.

We're going to hopefully come up somewhere up here, to the saddle.

-Not the first fork, the second fork.

-Yeah.

And then we're heading in this direction.

And we would prefer to do this,

than do all that extra mileage, so...

-Good?

-Yeah.

Rock and roll. Let's go.

Why are these escape-and-evade exercises

so important to the special forces?

Escape and evasion training is important,

not just as special forces,

but to anyone who is likely to find themselves compromised

in enemy territory,

such as air crew, for example.

And it's a survival practice, if you like,

to think of it that way.

After two hours on the mountains, the hunter force is closing in.

What have you seen?

Moving along the ridge.

Going that way.

I'm just checking the back. Brassington's running up forward.

When he's scoped it out and made sure it's clear, he's giving me the hand signal.

The recruits have been spotted.

Yeah. Let's go.

And now must evade capture.

-Are they coming down that bank?

-They're coming down, yeah.

The chase is on.

-What have you spotted?

-Two people.

Couple of people on top of the valley.

They've just seen that we've spotted them

and they've got down in the bottom of the valley there, hiding.

They're starting to move fast now.

They're going to have to come down, go up.

-By that time, we could be anywhere.

-Let's just try and get out of view.

We've just been seen.

Uh-oh, uh-oh.

Let's go. Let's run.

Bent and Murphy are seized on open moorland.

Get down, get down!

You, put your fuckin' head down. Down!

Once captured, it's time to see that mental resilience Bob is looking for.

The recruits are permitted to answer only four questions.

Their name,

date of birth,

blood group and religion.

Outside of that, they must respond to any further questioning

with the phrase "I cannot answer that question."

-Who are you?

-Danielle Murphy.

-What?!

-Danielle Murphy.

-Anything else?

-I can't answer that question.

-Ohhhh.

'In enemy hands, the real test begins.

'Our finalists must remain alert for interrogation.'

Is there a danger once you're caught, you just give in?

When at that point, your defences should,

come up and that's when the mind really needs to kick in?

Yes, you need to switch on very quickly.

They mentally freeze for a while.

They become placid. In a number of cases people will just become apathetic.

They'll become malleable to the capture team.

I'm over here! What the fuck you looking at over there?

-What are you doing walking out here, girl?

-I can't answer that question.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WALKING OUT HERE WITH HIM?

YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING TO FUCKING PROVE!

What they've got to do is make an assessment of the nature

of the capture and what they're in

and get their mental functioning back as quickly as they can.

Look at me!

-Which bit don't you understand?

-I can't answer that question.

I tell you what, we'll give you a nice little

way you can prove exactly who you are and what you are.

On your knees.

Hurry the fuck up!

-Who are you, poppet?

-Danny Bent.

I am over here, what are you looking for down there? Lost something?

Drop something down there? Well?!

-I can't answer that question, sir.

-You just fucking did, you halfwit.

'In addition to the four permitted responses, the capture

'team are also trying to elicit signs of non-verbal communication

'from which they could extract information from the recruits.'

-What have you been doing out here?

-I can't answer that question, sir.

-Which one?

-I can't answer that question, sir.

What are you shaking your fucking head at me for?

You already are, you don't fucking get this, do you?

You already answered every fucking question cos you've been

shaking your head from left to right and up

and down like a cocking, dogging dog...haven't ya?!

Come on, monkey boy, do this little bit more. Come on.

That's a good start, innit?

HE LAUGHS

Are you ready to play?

'Whilst escorted off the mountain for interrogation,

'Curnyn and Miller are next to be apprehended.'

Grab them.

Kneel.

'It's Brassington and Gatenby who evaded capture the longest.

'Their expedition finally over after three hours, 23 minutes.'

Get up.

They've all been captured, they've been brought down, bagged and

now they're been loaded up to be taken back and interrogated.

It's 14 hours into our version of SAS training

and the recruits are on their way to the next phase,

where they'll have their ability to resist interrogation tested.

This replicates the very real experience that a Special Forces

soldier may face if caught behind enemy lines.

It's essential they're able to withstand cross examination

and do not reveal any operational information.

As a recognisable face and voice to the recruits,

Bob will play no part in this exercise.

Everything about this phase will be uncomfortable and unfamiliar.

Who are these guys who have taken over?

The people who have taken over this phase,

they are an organisation comprising former military personnel

who are all trained and qualified and experienced in

instructing conduct under capture

and resistance to interrogation training.

For our recruits, what are they going to be experiencing?

What they're going through is a controlled exposure to the

sort of thing they would be expected to get if they were taken for real.

Psychologically, our civilian recruits have not faced

anything like this over the past ten days.

For all of the six finalists,

this will be an evaluation of their mental endurance.

They can withdraw at any point of the exercise by saying the phrase,

"no play".

-OK, what's your name?

-Claire Miller.

Claire Miller? Is that right?

OK, Claire, we need some information from you.

'In the monitoring room, the recruits will be judged on every response.'

I've been outside and I have come in here, this is like the nerve centre.

You're monitoring everything that's going on.

We've got a control room,

the monitors up there with cameras in all the rooms.

-Ultimately this is a very serious situation.

-What's the process?

They start off in this holding room, which is like a barn,

and they get checked.

-It's like a check-in, isn't it? They get checked in.

-Yes.

What's the next step?

We take them out of there and process them

during an admin phase.

During the admin phase, they are actually still being interrogated.

We're trying to see if they slip up.

-Look at me.

-Open your eyes, get used to the light. Can you see OK?

I can't answer the question, sir.

-What's your name?

-Danny Bent.

-Danny...?

-Danny Bent.

-Danny Bent.

-Is that your full name?

-Danny Bent.

What's your occupation, Danny?

I cannot answer that question, ma'am.

'They have got four pieces of information they can give us.'

That is their name, date of birth, religion and blood group.

-When were you born?

-20th of the first, '79

-So how old are you?

I can't answer that question, ma'am.

You've just given me your date of birth.

What they're doing is basically only giving the information or

answering, "I cannot answer that question, sir" or "ma'am,"

depending who they're talking to.

If the recruit answers a question which isn't one of the big four,

they'll fail and not advance to the next stage.

The first thing I want you to do is empty your pockets on your jacket.

If you've anything in your pockets, give it to me.

They're getting searched for any information or for weapons.

One map. Anything else in your pockets?

What we're trying to do is almost trick them

'into what we want them not to do and that is to sign, speak,

to say thank you or please because ultimately these are polite people.

-Water bottle?

-Do you want any water now?

Do you want some water?

-Erm, water.

-You'd like some water?

-Yes?

-I could.

'Curnyn has immediately let his guard slip.'

Take your shirt off and pass it to me.

They then get stripped down to underwear.

With the military this would be completely stripped down.

Shirt. Open your mouth wide.

Head back slightly.

We'll put them into paper suits and from there on

we can move forward with the various ploys or approaches that

we're going to do to see if we can try to extract information from them.

Give me your hat thing,

take it off your head. Take your hat thing off your head.

Listen, OK, certain things need to be done here, you understand?

I can't answer that question.

To do that, you've to do some things that we say. So take your hat off.

Are you going to take your hat off or not?

-I can't answer that question, sir.

-I'm not going to do it for you.

It's your hat. Take your hat off.

Good. Well done. Give it to me.

Don't drop it on the floor.

Gatenby's refusal to comply is noted.

Obviously, this is an exercise.

If they show that aggression or that attitude and behaviour in

real life, it could be detrimental to them or their colleagues.

Get yourself undressed, down to your underwear.

Do you understand that?

Come on, then, start taking your clothes off.

Come on, let's have your coat.

No play. No play. I'm finished.

OK, wait. Wait there.

'Murphy has refused to comply with the order.'

-You have to have this on to go back out...

-'The psychological demands

'seem to have taken their toll.'

-No?

-I'm not doing it.

-OK.

You understand, you called "no play",

you've withdrawn from the exercise.

That's the end of the process for you.

I don't feel mentally strong enough to go through the whole

night of interrogation. I don't like being humiliated.

I don't like being belittled.

If I am not comfortable with something, I'm not going to do it.

I didn't feel comfortable with what they were asking me.

I've given everything to last ten days

and I'm proud of what I have achieved.

So that's it for me.

The exit of Murphy leaves only five recruits to fight it out.

With the admin phase over,

the recruits are subjected to sensory deprivation.

Routinely manoeuvred into stress positions at timed intervals.

Disorientating white noise is blasted at them.

This is like no other challenge they've faced before.

Having been awake for 22 hours, interrogation is set to intensify.

Let's go back in it, hit them on the confrontation now.

Whispering in one ear, whisper in the other. Shout at them.

What do you think of that? Let's have a look at these faces.

Let's have the feedback off of what we see what they're saying, yeah?

The non-verbal communications is what we're going to get off of them.

In actual SAS selection,

these sessions take course of a matter of days rather than hours.

OK, take your goggles off.

Claire, look at me when I'm talking to you.

-What's your nationality?

-I can't answer that question, ma'am.

-Where are you from?

-I can't answer that question, ma'am.

-What date of birth?

-Sixth of February 1984.

-So how old are you?

-I can't answer that question, ma'am.

You're freezing, do you want me to get a blanket for you?

-I can't answer that question.

-Stand the fuck up.

Look up. Found something up there to look at, have you?

I'M OVER HERE!

Claire, get your fucking grid looking at me.

You can take the piss out of this soft fuck as much as you want.

You can sit there rubbing yourself

and rocking like some silly little fuck.

But I am proper and I do mean proper, Claire, so fucking help me.

Stop taking the piss.

Your fantasy world is going to stop and you're going to take a big

fucking jump, RIGHT DOWN THE FUCKING HOLE!

Look at me. LOOK THE FUCK AT ME!

Think about it. Decision time.

As the only remaining woman left in the competition,

Miller holds her nerve well.

Under the spotlight next is Brassington

who will also have to battle food

and sleep deprivation to remain strong under questioning.

They're having a confrontation session,

they might give away further information by not answering,

"I can't answer that question".

We're looking at their body language, eye movement.

-What's your date of birth?

-11th of the fourth, '85.

OK. Right. Wait there.

Female interrogators often act friendly and try to get

the subject chatting by flirting or using a softer side to questioning.

Huw, I have got a small gift in the shape of...

and it is small, I am afraid,

extra creamy chocolate.

Now, then...would you like a bit?

I can't answer that, ma'am.

Help yourself. Huw.

Help yourself.

Do you want some chocolate?

-I can't answer that, ma'am.

-No, no, no.

-OK.

-STAND UP!

STAND THE FUCK UP!

That was a simple question and a command, even you can do that.

Oi, Jessica, I'm over here. There you go, that wasn't so fucking hard.

You've got a fucking Welsh accent. Are you slow, wizz head?!

-Which means what? What does that mean?

-I can't answer...

You're fucking Welsh!

-I can't answer that, sir.

-ZZZ... You can't even fucking speak.

Have you been on the piss?

-I can't answer that, sir.

-MIMICS ACCENT: Oh, can't you, then, lad?

Right. No more play time now. It's time you fucked off...

Get your fucking hands down by your side.

What's up? The nasty big man been shouting at you?

I can't answer that, sir.

If only you had the slightest clue how much you're answering and how much you're saying.

Didn't they teach you anything at school, communication?

Communi-fucking-cation. Only 15-20%, depending which book you read, is verbal.

The rest is non-fucking-verbal.

You can't keep a grip of your fucking face, can you?

Because you're telling a complete fucking story with your face.

But you don't get that, either, do you?

A lot of the exercises over the past few days have been physically,

mentally tiring but this is extra, it's a bit humiliating.

They're going through the process,

simulating what would happen for real. That's part of it.

You're learning about yourself and how you handle this cultural and

social humiliation and degradation, really, more than anything else.

The final approach to break the recruits is to use

their hunger against them with the food ploy.

The strength of mind is targeted to see who would be selfish or share.

How are you keeping?

You know... life is about helping yourselves and helping each other.

You've just got to get on with it.

Don't you?

I can't answer that question, sir.

-Break, boss wants you now.

-For fuck's sake.

I'll back in a minute, all right?

Don't go away.

One of the instructors has left their mug of soup in the middle,

we've left the blindfold off of two of them.

We teach - have some but share it around.

'Ohhh, gotcha!'

Gotcha!

Who was that, Chris?

They shared it with the second person who didn't have a blindfold on.

But there was no reason why they couldn't communicate and

actually let everybody have some. There were no guards to reprimand them.

Everybody would've got some of the soup.

Get back in there quick.

Actually, what we can then do is use that to exploit those individuals as

to why he didn't share the soup with the rest of the team.

Take your blindfolds off.

Now, I bet you're wondering...

why's he stood there? Huh?

Why is he stood in front of you?

You're stood there with the big, full tummy, aren't you?

If there's one thing that pickles my piss it's selfishness.

You know that, don't you?

Doing your own thing, not looking after those around you.

Look right in this boy's eyes now.

He had an opportunity, just like you, wee man.

Steaming-hot, piping cup of soup.

I tell you, it's lovely. What did you do with that soup, son?

-I'm afraid I can't answer that question, sir.

-You're afraid?

I fucking do suggest you probably are afraid.

Oi! Shameful one.

Where is there a time and place for selfishness?

I'm afraid I can't answer that question, sir.

You're afraid again, are you?

What are you afraid of?

Afraid of four young people who tried to do a good fucking job

and get by as best they can?

You get an opportunity to help those people and what do you do?

Go on, son, I have to hear this. What do you do?

Decisions to be made, choices we've to stand by and live.

It's going to haunt you for the rest of your stinking little life.

Goggles off, sit.

Credibility wise, we've proven a point there.

The all know and the guy with the beard was looking at number

five with fucking daggers.

OK. We're done, then.

After enduring eight hours of interrogation,

our recruits sense of time and reality has been broken down,

leaving them mentally and physically fatigued.

The group as a whole have actually been very good.

One of them has been almost flawless.

A couple of them have let themselves down on what

we call non-verbal communications.

It's how they stare or give an aggressive pose to the instructor.

It might be they nod or shake their head. It might be they indicate

with their hands or eyes

and that's what we're looking for in an exercise like this.

If this were a real incident, they would get punished for those

actions which would be detrimental to them and their team.

So they're putting everybody at risk.

I was worried that I would either breakdown or say something

I shouldn't have done. I don't think I did, I think I held pretty dead face.

That was horrible. Cold and wet. It went on forever.

I didn't think it was going to end.

The constant disorientation and the constant fighting cold.

It's...really hard to get it together.

I wouldn't have signed up for that. That's just not...

The physical challenge of this whole task that was horrible.

That's probably the worst thing I've done throughout this whole process.

As the final day of Ultimate Hell Week begins,

the five recruits return to base having had no sleep for 26 hours.

Good morning, how was your night? You smiling still?

-Eight hours with a bag on your head.

-Weird, really weird.

Constant disorientation, you know, just really odd.

-How did you find that?

-Erm... Never done anything like that before.

-No?

-No.

What about you, Brassington?

-I didn't like it, not one bit.

-What was the worst bit?

The holding positions. My back was giving me...

Definitely one of the most difficult things I've ever done.

-I was so close to chucking it last night.

-Were you?

Oh, yeah, I was just like, "I can't handle this much more."

-I just wanted to make the last one.

-So knackered!

-I'll leave you to it.

-See you in a bit.

What a change in mood to the previous meals we've witnessed.

-Boo-ya!

-Boo-ya!

Absolutely shocked at the state of those five.

They're completely shattered, both physically and mentally, and now

it's going to be intriguing to see who cracked under interrogation.

-Good morning.

-Good morning, sir.

I've just come in from a debrief from the interrogators...

..and one of your members, Murphy,

she didn't even begin, so she's gone.

The interrogators, however, were very impressed by all of you.

You managed to resist interrogation

even better than a lot of soldiers would have done.

However, two of you failed to receive an acceptable standard.

The interrogators were worried that one of you had a bad attitude

and was on the edge of aggression.

And, in the real world, that could have got you harmed or killed.

So, Gatenby, you're going home.

I'm relieved that it's over now

because I don't think my body could take much more of it.

I'm aching, I've got cuts and bruises all over me

but, at the same time, you know,

when I wake up tomorrow and go back to my normal life,

I'm going to miss it.

The interrogators also found that one of you was giving away

too much information.

So, for that reason, Curnyn, you're also going home.

I have to admit, I am at my limits now.

I don't know if I'd have the energy to get that final trial done.

So I can accept that.

The rest of you, you've got one challenge left, OK?

And it's the big one.

Final challenge is an endurance march across the Brecon Beacons...

..which is synonymous to The Regiment. Off you go.

The last exercise for our three finalists is a 12km endurance run

with questions to test their mental agility

following the gruelling night of interrogation.

This is a typical SAS selection-type exercise, isn't it?

It's based on the SAS selection exercise. Of course, for real,

the lads would be doing it over much longer distances, for many hours,

during the day and during the night, carrying heavier weights.

But this is going to be a test for them.

It will be a test for them, yes, there's no doubt about that.

Having consistently won previous races similar to this...

Keep it up, Brassington. Well done.

..Brassington must be deemed the frontrunner here.

However, you cannot rule out Bent,

who beat him on the NAVSOG run six days ago.

As for Miller, she's yet to beat either of them

on an individual challenge.

Get on it.

One of the reasons given for women not being in

the British Special Forces is because of the amount

they have to carry,

so is Miller going to be at a disadvantage?

There is this conventional view that women cannot meet the standards,

cannot carry the weights, cannot do the distances that a man can do.

This is something that Miller is now going to put to the test.

-Three, two, one, go. Good luck.

-Thank you.

Starting at ten-minute intervals, Miller...

Off you go.

..Bent and Brassington must navigate between checkpoints,

where their mental alertness will be tested.

They must correctly answer questions on military practice

that they've learned throughout Ultimate Hell Week.

In failing to do so, they will incur time penalties on the run.

What was the second line of the song that Gorillas taught you?

We fight all the way.

We fight all the way.

We will fight all the way...

..to...

-We fight all the way.

-We fight all the way.

-To live another day.

-To live another day.

-Huh!

-Huh!

To live another day.

To live another day.

To stay another day.

No, that's the wrong answer,

I will have to hold you for five minutes now.

OK.

That's a major blow for Brassington.

His progress is halted as Miller and Bent proceed.

For Miller, she's the last women standing in the competition.

A feat that has surpassed all her expectations

when she began this journey.

I guess at the beginning I didn't really know what to expect or

how I thought I'd get on.

I just wanted to show that females can at least keep up with the guys.

To be one out of three at the end in the final three, yeah, I think

it's nice to show that a female can be here.

Front and centre, move. Move!

When the Navy Seals announced my name was going to be the leader,

I was very nervous.

-You screw this up, it falls on you.

-Yes, sir!

I sort of felt like I wanted to keep a low profile to begin with,

because if you're put as leader, the potential to mess things up

and potentially be dropped really early on is higher.

Get in the water.

It was tough and great at the same time

to know that you could get through that.

Jason, the Australian SAS drill sergeant said...

Miller, probably one of the toughest females I've ever seen.

That's, I think, the complement of this series, for me.

One of the things I've most struggled with

is carrying heavy weight.

Where you had to carry the bag in your arms

rather than on your back, I ended up not placing too well

and feeling like I might well be out of the process.

Fight him off, roadkill, go!

Krav Maga was definitely a low point for me.

Murphy definitely wasn't just standing there, letting me hit her.

She was swinging at me big time.

One of my biggest fears coming in

was that I would have a sort of mental breakdown

or that I just wouldn't have the willpower to keep going.

At no point during this process have I thought I want to leave.

I've stayed completely strong throughout

and I'm proud of myself for that.

At the second checkpoint, Bent progresses without hesitation.

-What is the name of the martial art taught by the Yaman...

-Krav Maga.

Right from day one, he stood out from the rest of the recruits.

Turned up in flowery shoes, flowery shirt.

Flowers, turn the other way.

I've turned from happy hugger into mean machine.

Don't mess.

Some of you may think you know what hell looks like,

you have no fucking idea.

Ultimate Hell Week has been ultimate hell.

Legs up, 45 degrees.

One of the things was getting us into stress positions

and I am definitely not one of the best press-up people in this group.

My abs aren't the strongest.

By the end of it, my body was shaking so much

that my feet were actually coming off the ground.

I don't even know what that shaking means but

I was in some sort of complete agony.

My proudest moment was winning the race

with the Filipino special forces.

I got back and I thought I was going to be cheered in as I go

because I'd won it and I get there and he says...

I need you to give me 100 burpees.

-And I just thought, "Oh, God."

-Start.

It was my glory moment

and I think that was the first time that people looked up like,

"Whoa, hold on a minute, he can actually do something."

I've learnt that you can just take on anything

and it's not just the physicality, it's the mental strength.

It means that the next one you think, "Well, I overcame

"the last one, I can probably overcome this one as well."

And it just kind of slowly triggers

and, by the end of it, you feel like you've run through a wall.

It's really, really amazing.

It's made me wonder whether I could actually join the special forces

because, the people we've met, they feel like they're superheroes.

I mean, these people have been through what we've been through

times 100.

I guess that's how it works in war.

They have a bit longer than us guys but they slowly,

slowly build it so that, when that wartime comes, they're ready for it.

I definitely came here with that idea of winning.

We've got one event left.

It could make or break who wins the show.

If I win it, it's going to be absolutely amazing.

Under the watchful gaze of Bob,

a former member of the SAS, Miller completes her endurance run.

But, of course, has no idea of her time or how the others are doing.

He said whoever came in first would all sit outside the parade ground,

sit on our bag until everyone came in.

I've never pushed myself that hard in my life.

Approaching the second checkpoint is Brassington who, after

incurring an earlier penalty, can't afford to lose any further time.

All the way in, all the way in.

While you're doing that, just listen to me, OK?

What is the name of the martial art taught by

Yamam special-force expert Itay Gill?

Fight him, stab him, stab him!

Erm, it is...

Er...

Hold on a minute, let me think.

-Erm.

-Martial art, have a think, what's the name of the martial art?

HE MUTTERS

OK, five minutes' penalty from now.

With no response given, he's timed out

and incurs another five-minute penalty.

Meanwhile, Bent finishes his run and joins Miller outside camp.

200 burpees.

MILLER CHUCKLES

BENT GROANS

Ah!

Your back?

-Brassington resumes his race.

-Go.

He's been the fastest runner in the competition during the last

11 days, so he's every chance of making up the lost time.

This experience, without a shadow of a doubt, has been

the hardest thing I've ever done.

Any challenge I approach exactly the same way, like I've always done.

Flat-out and with snot all over my face,

I've got one way of doing it and that is giving everything I've got.

I pushed my body through new boundaries

but boundaries are always up here, you know?

Once you break one, it's no longer there any more.

You know you can do it.

I've hit so many of those, it's unbelievable.

My proudest moment during the process has been the obstacle course

with the Spetsnaz.

You had to swim through a river,

we were going under electric wire.

They was playing mind games as well at the same time.

He said it was one lap, you did one lap all-out and he said...

Brassington, everything you did, repeat one more time.

"Just one more lap. Go."

And you had to go again, it was torture

but winning it was fantastic.

My lowest moment throughout this whole process was

during the Australian SAS,

we were building boxes and trying to get a stretcher over the river.

I got it in the face and, hopefully, no proper damage.

My tooth's all right, my nose is buggered anyway.

It's just my lip that's had the worst of the damage.

The reason I keep going is I don't want to be the guy that just

drops out and says, "I don't want to do this any more."

I just give it all and, thankfully, it's got me to last day

and I'm very proud of that.

THEY LAUGH AND SHOUT

It defies the logic that I've set up in my head regarding this

whole event that there be a winner because, with regard to

there being a victor today, I'd prefer that all three

of us passed that finish line together

and we all go away as winners.

OK, guys, well done. These are the timings of your endurance run today.

Brassington,

two hours, 48 minutes and 40 seconds.

Bent,

two hours, 29 minutes and 30 seconds.

And, Miller,

two hours, 22 minutes and 45 seconds.

Remember, it's not the fastest time that we're after.

What I'm going to do now is I'm going to go away

and speak to the people that know you best, OK? The DS staff,

these are the people that have lived and worked with you for the past 12 days.

I'm going to have a chat with them and, together, we're going to

decide who is going to walk off this parade ground as the winner.

Dismissed.

Bob, you've had the final. Have you been impressed by them?

I've been very impressed by them.

They remind me of when I was on my special-forces training.

They all wanted to win.

The motivation was there, the stamina was there

and I'm very impressed with them.

Luke and Lee, you've worked with the recruits

all the way through this experience.

What's your assessment of them?

We've not been running on any separate standards for females

and males, so the fact that Miller's still here at the end is fantastic.

Yeah, I think we've got the right three at the end.

Very strong individual spirit in the competitive

component of getting through but you also saw the team spirit,

particularly the small-group spirit coming out.

Are you surprised at how Miller's performed?

Because, in the special forces, there's not too many women.

I'm very surprised but after I've seen her...over the past two days,

she has definitely changed my mind on certain things, that's for sure.

Bent, when he turned up,

I don't think anybody expected what we was getting.

He had flowers in his shoes, he had a funny vest on and a cap

and he's still here. Has he exceeded your expectations?

Yeah, never judge a book by its cover, as they say.

I did. For sure, I did.

But I'm glad he's here because, throughout this whole series,

you know, he has been improving himself as well

and he's showed us all that he

deserves to be where he is now, for sure.

He's not the sort of person that you would think

would be in the special forces, you know, looking at his beard

and this kind of thing, you know, but he's done really well.

He's come through.

What strengths have you seen in Brassington?

It's his ability to crack on even when he's been injured.

He took quite a hefty hit to the mouth with the log.

He just cracked on.

And throughout this whole evolution, he's been improving

and improving and showing that grit and determination

to see it through.

From what I've seen of him, I can't see any flaws in him at all.

He's very fit, very aggressive, from what I can see.

He's just the sort of person that you'd want in the special forces.

And then if I was to ask you all to pick a top recruit, who would it be?

-The Machine, for me.

-Yeah.

-Easy, easy.

-All day long, all day long.

There's only one thing left to do, and that's go and tell them.

Let's go see them.

Time to find out the identity of the Machine.

At ease. I'm your new drill sergeant.

I'm from the People's Republic of Preston.

-I'm not here to drill you.

-Good news.

When we started this, this parade ground was full

and now there's just three of you left.

You must feel a massive sense of achievement of what's happened.

But, however, you do know there's going to have to be a winner.

And they described this person as a leader from the start.

Someone who's shown guts, determination,

and strength beyond their size.

The winner of Special Forces Ultimate Hell Week...

..is Miller.

Congratulations, Miller.

Special Forces Ultimate Hell Week was utter hell.

She absolutely deserved it. She nailed everything from day one.

Yeah, I guess I've survived and conquered it.

Yeah, it's been amazing.

Thank you very much. Cheers.

That thing must weigh half her weight

and she ran an unbelievable time, so hats off to her.

A worthy winner has emerged from TV's most extreme boot camp...

..in what has been Special Forces Ultimate Hell Week.