BAD LADS ARMY: EXTREME

03 July, 2006 by The_Boss

ITV1 Tuesday 11 July 2006 9:00pm to 10:00pm

Thirty more lads face an almighty battle to turn their lives around with a dose of 1950s National Service training.

In Bad Lads Army: Extreme, the recruits face the most daunting challenge to date – training to be Paras and a terrifying 3,500 foot solo parachute jump.

The bad boys selected this time around are the toughest, lippiest, baddest bunch yet. With thieves, vandals, fraudsters and ASBOs in their midst, the 18-24 year-olds lined up for the show have notched up over 2000 days in prison, 2,500 hours of community service and over £30,000 in fines.

Their criminal way of life has cost the tax-payer more than £1 million – that’s the equivalent of four extra Bobbies on the beat for every police force in Great Britain.

Tasked with turning the lads around will be Company Sergeant Major Julian Whatley and Platoon Sergeant Alastair Rae who will be supported by fearsome corporals Joe Murray and ‘Nooky’ Richard Nauyokas.

In Episode One: Welcome to Hell the 30 louts arrive on camp and are given a rude shock. From the first moment the military staff are screaming in their faces and the boys are run ragged.

But the gruelling runs and exercise sessions are just a prelude to the lads’ first dose of parachute training - a hair-raising jump from a seven foot platform that causes more than one boy to go weak at the knees, followed by a terrifying leap from the back of a truck snaking over rough ground at 30 mph.

No wonder the boys, used to nothing more strenuous than lifting a pint glass, start to get fed up.

Former male escort Colin Elliot smashes up the cook house and discovers the terrors of the guard house. Self-professed hard man Aiden Chaffe learns that he isn’t so tough after all. And 16-stone Andrew Jimson, a man so large they can’t find a uniform to fit him, struggles with the punishing physical regime but vows that, like his Para Father before him, he will make it through to the end.

This year, the lads must learn to survive for extended periods in the wilds with no tents or blankets, how to catch and kill their own food, withstand brutal interrogations and confront their most intense phobias.

Those who fail to make the grade will be subjected to a range of punishments, the likes of which they have never experienced before. Malingerers will be unceremoniously booted off camp. And if all else fails, the lads will be marched off to the dreaded camp jail where they will be overseen by terrifying Provost Sergeant Tim Weston.

New staff in this series include pretty Provost Sergeant Clerk Susan Tucker, Physical Training Instructor (PTI) Jack Newton, Relief Corporal James Bush and Medical Clerk Jennifer Jane Adams.

The lads are split into two sections – Red and Blue - in the fictional regiment making up the Pegasus Platoon (motto: Fugite fures fures omnes which means "Fly all ye thieves"). Blue Section is led by Corporal Nauyokas, Red Section by Corporal Murray. The climax of the training – and the series – will be the terrifying parachute jump. But with no more than 15 seats on the plane, only one of the Sections will be able jump to glory and redemption in the final episode.

More details click here

BAD LADS ARMY: EXTREME is produced by Twenty Twenty Television for ITV1.

The executive producers are Tim Carter, Claudia Milne and Sue Davidson and the series producer is Duncan Coates.