BAD LADS ARMY: EXTREME part 4

28 July, 2006 by The_Boss

ITV1 Tuesday 1st August 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 Four:Endurance the lads are half way through the training programme and this year’s bad lads are still struggling with the basics.

The theme of this week’s show – Endurance - sorts out the men from the boys. Why endurance? Because Paras are front line soldiers. And when the Para is dropped into battle there is no finish line. They must be prepared to fight on and on…

From holding nine pound 1950’s rifles above their heads to completing a punishing ten mile speed march carrying 40 pounds of kit, the lads are taught endurance the hard way.

But first they are asked by Sgt Rae to dig deep. It takes some serious self-motivation and drive to get through the next phase of the training - something our lads are in short supply of. There are scenes in the classroom as Sgt Rae asks the lads to consider what makes them want to change and who or what is motivating them to succeed.

There’s a personal triumph – of sorts - for Private Coad, probably the baddest lad on camp. Thanks to Sgt Rae’s motivation class he’s turned over a new leaf and he tries his hardest to get the billet looking spick and span. But the more laid back members of the section are having none of it and Coad quickly reverts to type. Things threaten to turn ugly and Coad is forced to cool down in the camp in jail.

Private Jimson’s standard of personal hygiene gets him into hot water. Overweight and lazy, his failure to wash properly results in a case of trench foot. Capt. Dodds points out: “This must be the first case of trench foot in a barracks since the First World War”. He’s not the only one to fall prey to an unusual ailment. The morning of the recruits’ big exercise a long line of sickies appear outside the medic’s office. Fearing what they have in store on the morning’s march, the malingers are out in force.

The episode culminates in the ‘Day from Hell’ which begins with the legendary Para speed march or TAB (Tactical Advance to Battle). As expected it’s really tough and the hot weather adds to the lads’ pain. At the end, one of the lads has an attack of heat and mental exhaustion and has to be restrained by three army staff because he is determined to keep going. Others pull out and face the wrath of Cpl Murray who thinks they lack moral fibre. When one of the boys starts crying Murray screams in his face “Paratroopers don’t cry”.

The programme finishes with a stand off between the two toughest lads - the ones who can endure the most. It is Herculean Darren McDonald versus, surprisingly, serial quitter Gavin Woodhouse. They are both made to stand to attention holding 40 pound buckets of sand. The last man standing is the winner.


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.