Ultimate Force

Dramatic licence has been taken with a capital D (and L) here, despite the consultant on the series being Chris Ryan, formerly of the SAS. It does feel as though the production opted out of reality and instead borrowed heavily from a number of previous action films and series, adding the voguish cliches of multi-ethnic troops, tough-talking female and 'new man' sentiments.

The reviews have almost universally criticised the writing and the on-screen violence. I can't argue with the former, despite being a fan of Rob Heyland since the excellent 'Between the Lines'. Rob: integrate your jokes and make them feasible references for young men in their twenties, please! I'd say the violence is not gratuitously explicit, considering it's a series about the death-or-glory boys, but to show a character able to walk, talk and perform physical tasks after extreme torture is a little unbelievable and, dare I say it, irresponsible.

Notwithstanding, I watched it. As a vehicle for Ross Kemp it is perfect, and the other central cast members are a talented - and yes, very attractive - ensemble of actors. It was also refreshing in a world awash with soaps and so-called relationship dramas to focus on something plot-driven. I've heard a rumour it's been recommissioned, so it would seem that I and a few million others (mostly young men, according to the ratings demographic) aren't wrong. Here's hoping the next series ups the credibility and keeps the pace. After all, Who Dares Wins, eh?

We need a series like this. It does exactly what is says on the tin. Most of the situations are unbelievable but what do you expect from a show about the SAS? The production values are OK and the action is exciting without being silly (compared to made for TV American action movies). There are some stock characters but the script isn't laughable and the actors seem to care about what they are doing. As the new team member Jamie Draven portrays the right amount of innocence and brings a sense of duty to his role; his interactions with the rest of the cast are well thought out; you can see some chemistry between him and Alex Reid and I hope this is fleshed out in the next series. Although billed as such I never found Ross Kemp to be the star of the show and at times we aren't even supposed to like him; I am glad character is written this way and that his obvious mental scars dictate the person he is. This is in stark contrast to badly written imported shows where we are expected to believe that hardened battle veterans who are emotionally scarred and have shattered private lives are really nice guys who never do any thing wrong.

Some episodes are better than others; I actually thought the first episode was fairly weak but the second with the pressure group sniper story was excellent and allowed us to see flashes of how good the series could be.

I only got to see the first episode of the second series which took place on board a ship; the standout fight scene being that in the belly of the ship between Jamie Draven and the legionnaire, it was a tough no nonsense scrap and as exciting as the fight in the Bourne Identity.

Looking forward to the DVD.

The series was actually based on the books by Chris Ryan, who has acted as a story consultant for the whole series, and has actually appeared in a few episodes. Truth be told we don't really know what the SAS do or where they are, but I would guess that Chris Ryan has a pretty good idea!

The first episode was tricky, trying to establish new characters in a series is never easy. But I felt that as the series progressed it settled down into a good solid drama, and I'm very pleased to hear that a second series has been commissioned.

Jamie Draven especially has been one to watch - he is consistently excellent and certainly tones down the 'Kemp Effect' considerably. Actually, far from being a star vehicle for Kemp, the original screenplays were written from the persepctive of Jamie Draven's character, Kemp was shoehorned in as a later addition.

On the whole I think it is an excellent ensemble cast, Tony Curran brings a hard, gritty edge to his character, whilst Elliot Cowan provides a lot of the laughs. I'm certainly looking forward to series 2 with some relish!

If you want to see character development and soapy plots, then I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place. If it's action you're after, then Ultimate Force is for you.

Former Eastenders hardman Ross Kemp plays the tough Sergeant in this show about the notorious Special Air Service, one of the most secretive regiments in the British Army. This is a show about one thing only-action and plenty of it!

The SAS are one of the most elite forces in the world, having seen action in places such as Oman and Iraq during the Gulf War. They are a highly trained regiment who go in, do their job with the minimum of fuss and causing as little damage as possible, and then they leave. This show did a great job portraying the S.A.S. Whilst some of what happened in this show may not be what the S.A.S. gets up to in real life, it is still a fantastic show which portrays the S.A.S. how they deserve to be portrayed-as courageous soldiers. This was a very good show which I hope gets a second series.

Who Dares Wins?

Where to start. As a big fan of the SAS, I've watched countless documentaries, & after finding this immediately knew I had to watch. As a whole it's a decent show worth a watch at least once, however; series 1 & 2 were by far the superior as it lost its way in series 3 & only slightly brought it back for series 4. Series 1 & 2 showed a varied selection of different Operations with the SAS assault scenes filmed perfectly, probably due to the input of Chris Ryan, but series 3 relied heavily on typical action style shootouts with bullets flying everywhere as opposed to the normal SAS precision. Series 4 however went slightly back to the old format of the show, but on a whole not a bad show if you enjoy the SAS or any form of military drama.