The twenty-four recruits (18 men and 6 women) are bussed to a remote military base deep in the Wicklow Mountains. This is where they meet the DS staff for the first time, who give them a short, sharp blast of what they can expect all week. The recruits, who for eight days will have no contact with the outside world, are left in no doubt this will be an experience like no other.
24 hours into the Hell Week course, six of the twenty-four recruits have already been eliminated. Day 3 sees recruits pushed to their absolute limits, as three back to back events, test their fear of heights, freezing temperatures and open water. It is brutal and not everyone will make it to the end of the day.
A blizzard hits the Hell Week camp as the 15 remaining recruits start to show increasing signs of fatigue.
The recruits attempt the most physically demanding event on the course. No woman has ever completed the event so the odds are stacked against the female recruits. The instructors also begin psychological games to see which recruits crack under the increased pressure.
Can the remaining recruits prove to the DS they have what it takes to pass?
Will any of the recruits survive to the end of Special Forces selection?
As the 28 recruits travel to the Hell Week base the vehicle is ambushed and they are dragged off the bus by three of the DS. Welcome to Hell.
The recruits attempt the most physically demanding event on the Ultimate Hell Week course. The DS order recruits out of the billet for the next event, the truck pull. The students must pull a five tonne truck uphill a kilometre to the Hell Week pistol range. Who will conquer each task without sustaining any injuries?
This week, the recruits are tasked with a new challenge – unarmed combat – where each student has to select a person they want to fight.
The Hell Week challenge heats up as thirteen recruits remain on the course. In this episode, the students are tasked with several terrifying events both physically and emotionally draining.
Its interrogation week and some of the recruits are very distressed. This week’s events will see the recruits held captive by the enemy party as well as being buried alive. The next day is the toughest event on the course - a 22km mountain march with weight against the clock.
The remaining recruits are brought to the quarry for a number of tests including the Drown Proofing Event. They are expected to swim through the quarry cave and underwater tunnel.
It's the final and only four recruits remain. To make it through the course, they must pass one of the most physically and psychologically demanding experiences of their lives.
Another new batch of 28 civilian recruits begin the Army training challenge, and they are thrown in at the deep end when their bus is suddenly ambushed by the DS.
Just hours into the course and already three of the 28 recruits have been eliminated. The next phase sees the recruits pushed to their absolute limits with back-to-back events
Two recruits continue to come to the attention of the DS for all the wrong reasons but the next two events will give each of them an opportunity to prove they are worthy of staying
The recruits travel to Mizen Head for the next terrifying event, as each recruit must drop from the iconic Mizen Head bridge and free fall towards the ocean below
The DS continue to pile the pressure onto the remaining recruits in the final challenges, and the recruits are tested to their limits
The series has reached the final, more tactical phase. Of the 28 recruits who started the course, seven candidates now remain
