With behind-the-scenes insight into the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, North Yorkshire, cameras follow a platoon of fresh-faced infantry recruits as they take on a gruelling six-month training course that will push their limits physically and mentally to see if they have what it takes to fight on the frontline in the British Army.
The five-part series from Label1 (makers of the award-winning BBC series Hospital), will chart the transformation of the young men and women as they leave friends and family behind, swapping nine to five jobs and video games for real-life weapons and an army uniform. Have they got what it takes to operate as close combat warriors? Are they ready for action anywhere in the world? Only the very best will pass.
Amongst the recruits is a 20-year-old whose mother is a pacifist, a 17 year-old former fast-food restaurant worker, a 21-year-old ex-aspiring footballer from Middlesbrough, and an 18-year-old woman who hails from a military family and is eager to follow in the footsteps of her father.
Women have only been permitted to join frontline infantry roles since 2018 and they must meet the same standards as men.
The 45 recruits tackle punishing obstacle courses, handle and fire weapons, undergo rigorous inspections, and crucially, learn how to kill at close quarters using only a bayonet.
Under the watchful eyes of the training team, including Lieutenant Wahab, Sergeant McIntosh and Corporal White, recruits face the reality of what it means to be a frontline soldier, at a time when war is raging in Europe for the first time in a generation.
Some will stay the course as they achieve things they never dreamed themselves capable of, and others will struggle at the first hurdle.
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