In this first episode, the 29 recruits meet Ray and Woodie, two former members of the US Navy Seals, who are about to put them through a beasting or 'breakout' - four hours of PT amidst continuous cold water hosing. And that's just the start. And so begins two days of hell at the hands of our battle-hardened Navy Seals. Who of our 29 recruits will survive and who will be sent home?
The remaining recruits are under the command of former Israeli YAMAM operative Itay Gil.
For the 18 remaining recruits, Ultimate Hell Week is about to enter an even tougher circle of challenge and torment. Lieutenant Dante Membrere is a serving officer in NAVSOG, the elite special forces of the Philippines. The unit is one of the most feared fighting forces in the Far East. Fresh from tormenting real recruits in the Philippines, he will be looking to find the weak link in the group, or virus as he calls it. Dante will push the recruits through 48 punishing hours where they must prove they can cut it as a NAVSOG recruit, from carrying 180kg logs as they race to save a casualty, to NAVSOG's version of the Ironman. Those who can navigate their way out of the mountains will face Dante's sickener, an endurance test that will push every one of them past their limits.
On arriving in South Africa, the recruits are ambushed by a local special forces expert.
With the first 48 hours of physical tests complete under the South African Special Forces, the 18 remaining and already exhausted recruits wake up to their next special forces expert, Rafal Nowakowski a former lieutenant of Polish GROM. For the next two days, Rafal tests the recruits' physical and psychological strength, as well as their ability to think clearly under pressure and during extreme physical exhaustion.
The sixteen remaining recruits face some of the toughest physical challenges yet, under the eyes of former Master Sergeant Terry Schappert of the Green Berets.
The fourteen remaining recruits are now halfway through but are about to face their toughest expert yet, Ken. Reggie Yates brings the contestants to South Korea to train under an officer from the country's Underwater Demolition Team. The recruits face a series of gruelling challenges, including dragging truck tyres up hills, carrying boats on their heads and facing the unusual exercise known as the Thinking Man Position.
The remaining recruits arrive in France following the previous episode's shocking results, and are placed under the command of Tana and Toto, former members of an elite police tactical unit of the French Police. While the previous stages have presented the contestants with physical challenges, this section places them under psychological pressure and assesses their grasp of strategy.
The seven remaining contestants arrive in Australia for the final challenge, where they undergo training with the Special Air Service Regiment - but must first undergo a gruelling exercise to see if they are physically prepared for what is to come. Those that make it through this stage face tactical interrogation and an endurance race wearing weighted rucksacks. Last in the series.