BAD LADS ARMY: EXTREME part 3

21 July, 2006 by The_Boss

ITV1 Tuesday 25th 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 Three:Survival the lads embark on survival training. As paras they must learn how to survive out in the wilderness at any cost.

Lesson one: how to keep clean out in the field? Without the luxuries of running water the lads use mess tins of ice cold water to wash each others’ ‘difficult to reach’ bits. Lesson two: how to eat. Sgt Rae gives a lesson on foraging for food and presets the lads with a delightful selection of worms and insects for the boys to learn about and then eat. They are taught to disembowel locust and how to munch meal worms. The lads are understandably alarmed as Sgt Rae insists they all get stuck in and swallow. It is the ultimate mind over matter task and many boys gag and squirm.

Today is the bad lads’ first Sunday and their first church parade. The church parade is always an emotional experience for the recruits. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the week and think about their sinful lives back home. Private Bourne is overwhelmed and weeps for his late father whom he knows he has failed.

That evening the platoon spend the night sleeping beneath the stars and learn how to make shelter, fire and survive with just their basic military kit. It’s cold and the air is thick with mosquitoes – it’s no surprise that several of the lads are fed up. They have endured a week of the tough training and this sleep out is the final straw. Privates Jensen, Smedley and Woodforth decide there are many other places they’d rather be, so they make a run for it. They have no idea of the severity of their crime – desertion is the ultimate military sin. They are tracked down and caught and pay a mighty high price for their misendevour. The beasting of all beastings takes by place by moonlight in the HQ square.

Pegasus Platoon must now compete in sections in a survival challenge in order to win the Pegasus Cup. The recruits must navigate their way across miles of wilderness picking up supplies on the way to a final checkpoint. There they must build a shelter, make fire and brew a cup of tea for Captain Dodds. Blue section led by Private Bruce Angland get hopelessly lost. Private Bruce Angland is less than popular with his section and he soon throws in the towel and refuses to rejoin his comrades. Cpl Nauyokas attempts to build a bridge between them but is it too little too late?


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

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.