The first episode sees the recruits arrive at an isolated barracks in Wales, and being introduced to the directing staff of Foxy, Ollie and Colin, all under the watchful eye of chief instructor Ant. The recruits' first task is an unexpected one: writing an essay about themselves. Then they face an eight-mile combat fitness test while their essays are dissected for an insight into their character.
Following a brutal first stage, only 20 of the original 30 civilians remain and the directing staff ratchet the intensity up a notch, applying pressure to isolate and expose individuals who they think are not up to it. The remaining recruits must choose their weakest colleagues, who then lead the next exercise. And there's the 'Sickener': a series of physical challenges that won't end until five recruits give up.
Chief instructor Ant and his team play mind games on the 12 remaining recruits to see if they have the mental strength to keep going, or if anyone will voluntarily withdraw from the process. They speak to each recruit individually, giving them negative feedback on their performance so far and questioning whether they have what it takes to make it to the end. Those who can keep their resolve face one of the most intimidating tasks on Special Forces selection, diving backwards off a cliff into the freezing sea 12 metres below.
The directing staff have to whittle the group down to six from 11 and have a surprising trick up their sleeve that they think will cause some participants to instantly withdraw before the final stage. Those who make it through the cull are faced with their biggest challenge so far - an escape and evasion mission designed to prepare recruits for avoiding capture behind enemy lines. They are divided into two teams and dropped off at dusk, having to cover miles of rough terrain overnight in order to hit their first rendezvous point in nine hours.
The remaining recruits each face the final, notoriously gruelling stage of selection alone: 24 hours of intense interrogation without losing composure or revealing details of their mission. Between interrogations, they are locked in a cell and hooded in stress positions and are subjected to repetitive music at random intervals to maintain a state of severe fatigue. Less than 10 per cent of candidates make it through this process in the real world. Will any of the civilians make it to the end and prove they have the characteristics needed to succeed in the special forces?
The recruits face a terrifying bridge leap before they can find their base. The jungle environment, altitude and insects take their toll, and the DS give special attention to two volatile individuals.
Chief Instructor Ant and his elite team test whether the remaining recruits can control their aggression, with a brutal game of murderball and the fearsome non-stop 'sickener' exercises.
The remaining recruits' trustworthiness is tested, as the directing staff sow distrust among them and ask them to identify their least trustworthy teammates, before a forward abseil trust exercise.
The directing staff apply pressure to the last eight recruits, exposing hidden personality traits before sending them into a gruelling 12-hour jungle mission high in the Andes.
In the final episode, the remaining recruits undergo the most psychologically demanding 24 hours of the course: the resistance to interrogation phase, as they are abducted and intensely interrogated.
Reality show in which people are put through SAS recruitment tests to see whether they can match up to the pressures the elite regiment faces. This time, the show comes from Morocco's Atlas Mountains, and chief Instructor Ant Middleton and his Directing Staff have comes up with an intensified course for the 25 volunteers.
The remaining recruits are put through rounds of gruelling training by special forces instructors in Morocco's Atlas Mountains. They must abseil more than 200 feet from the top of the El Mansour Dam, and undertake a gruelling mountain climb in high temperatures while each carrying 40 pounds on their back. They are also forced to accept their own personal weaknesses and find ways to turn them to their advantage, as the instructors will be looking for those who are able to find strength in adversity.
The recruits are divided into two teams for a series of challenges designed to test both their ability to bond as a group and their drive to compete against each other. They must undertake a time trial run across the Sahara Desert, transport equipment across treacherous sand dunes, and cross a remote river valley at night while being tracked by guards with dogs.
The remaining recruits are challenged to dive backwards and blindfolded into a reservoir from a gangplank 10 metres up, before moving on to the most psychologically demanding stage of training - resisting interrogation. A simulated capture puts the friendship between two of the group to the test, as they are pushed towards betraying one another.
The SAS training challenge reaches its final stage, with only seven of the 25 recruits still standing. Those who have made it this far face the most gruelling test of their physical and mental resilience so far, with the instructors pitting them against each other until only one remains.
25 men and women are sent to the spectacular and punishing Andes mountains in central Chile to see if they have what it takes to make it in the SAS.
The remaining recruits face gruelling challenges designed to test their mental and physical strength, from a 200 foot forward abseil to the infamous boxing task, where female recruits will have the opportunity to fight their male counterparts.
The remaining recruits endure the fifth and sixth days of their training, which involve trekking through heavy snow and camping out in a blizzard 3000 metres above sea level. All the time, the instructors are piling on the psychological pressure to expose weaknesses that will prevent trainees from completing the course.
The recruits must put all their trust in the hands of a partner, as they are teamed up in pairs. The recruits face a fee-falling abseil into a rocky gorge, with their partner responsible for breaking their fall, and a plunge into freezing water.
Four men and five women remain in the competition, but the training staff are determined to throw everything at them in a final effort to expose any weaknesses before next week's final challenge. The recruits must cross a 200-metre gorge and swim beneath the ice on a frozen lake, before they are pursued by hunters with dogs through a perilous valley at night.
The four men and four women who have made it to the final stage face their most gruelling challenge yet - a test of their ability to resist interrogation. They are subjected to stress positions, white noise, and relentless grilling, and must prove they have the mental and physical resilience to be worthy of SAS selection. Last in the series.
Led by Ant Middleton, 25 men and women - including an ex-SAS operator working as a mole - face the latest intense course, beginning with a swim to a remote Scottish island.
The recruits must control their aggression, as they're trained with guns and take part in hand-to-hand combat, exploring loss, loyalty and self-control. The instructors are looking for those who have can turn personal adversity into strength.
The remaining recruits are split into teams before taking on the intense close-combat murderball and surf immersion - a notorious water beasting that simulates water torture. After six days, the first cull takes place.
The recruits' grit is tested much further as Jay's undercover status is revealed. He launches a brutal beasting to expose the weakest in the group, who will be culled.
The recruits are stalked across the Scottish Highlands by a military-trained hunter force before facing extreme interrogation on limited sleep and rations, designed to grind down recruits.
The last six recruits face deep interrogation and a day of sickeners, including `drownproofing' - simulated drowning. Only the physically and mentally elite will make it through.
21 new recruits embark upon a recreation of the brutal SAS selection process, starting with an ambush, a hijack and a 100-foot abseil, which proves to be the toughest course to date.
The recruits face a forward abseil and an arduous beasting by the DS. There's also an extreme water immersion exercise and a team event in a dark network of disused tunnels.
The recruits must master their emotions under extreme pressure - from a scary backwards dive at night to an illusion jump. There is a further shock as the mole in their midst is revealed.
The recruits work in pairs as they tackle the threat of chemical warfare and execute a fast-paced extraction in near-freezing water. Then, it's time for brutal hand-to-hand combat.
The recruits are on the run across the punishing landscape, pursued by a military-trained hunter force, in a game of cat and mouse where only the strongest will make it through
The remaining recruits face the final stages which consist of an interrogation and a brutal sickener. They must prove that they have both the mental and physical strength to complete the process.
The reality show returns with its toughest training course yet, against the backdrop of the Jordanian desert. The initial 21 recruits are sent on an intense journey to their base through searing heat.
The recruits pair up for a 50-foot freefall off a cliff. They take a brutal beasting in the desert and face a split-second call on whether to shoot in a combat scenario.
It's a busy day, as the recruits take on a seven-metre backwards dive and face an elimination sickener on a major sand dune. After hand-to-hand combat in murderball, they're ambushed driving back.
The remaining recruits are tested on their ability to trust each other through a series of tasks ranging from hand to hand combat to a terrifying 200 metre abseil.
Sarah and stripper Reece lead teams into a beasting and then a brutal race under fire. Calls from home unsettle some, opening old wounds around bullying, infidelity, and self-esteem.
In the series finale, the last recruits are subjected to different kinds of punishing interrogation techniques. In the most feared phase of the course, who is tough enough to pass?
The recruits scale the 'Trainasium' then tackle a 200-foot abseil headlong into a waterfall. And a disciplinary matter means everyone has to pay.
The recruits compete in extreme hand-to-hand combat. A breach of camp discipline leads to a group 'beasting'. And a recruit gets seriously stranded at the top of a huge waterfall.
The recruits must take down an armed gunman in a market place crowded with civilians. There's a brutal game of murderball. And a descent into a dark bat-infested jungle cave.
In the jungle, the recruits face a fierce test with a hostage rescue mission and a punishing head-to-head ammunition race. Do any of them have what it takes to be a leader?
The recruits take on an extraction mission used in the Vietnam War. On a survival task, they're up against it as they're chased by hunters behind enemy lines.
In the series finale, the recruits face extreme interrogation after being ambushed by a hunter team. Do the last seven stay strong and prove magnificent, or not?
