SAS: Who Dares Wins

In a world today, with far less large scale warfare, but with equally as many problems, it is unclear who is fighting to protect our liberty.

One group that is for sure is the UK Special Forces (comprised by the SAS and the SBS) formed during the Second World War to combat evil from behind enemy lines. It is due to their highly covert nature that their work often goes forgotten, or is unkown as a whole.

'SAS Who Dares Wins' offers the average civilian an insight into the training and selection process behind one of the most elite fighting forces among global militaries.

The show offers 30 men (and women as of Series 4) the chance to become Special Forces soldiers through the completion of an incredibly grueling training course in which the weakest contenders are weaved out in a Darwinian fashion. It is vital to note that these so called 'weak' contenders are far from that; they had to previously pass a series of physical and mental tests to be on the show before facing a great many more tests in the most uncomfortable of environments.

These tests include: a 30 mile run with full kit on weighing over 40lbs, being placed in the middle of nowhere and forced to evade capture for 24 hours, and, perhaps, the toughest of all - the 24 hour kidnap and interrogation. All this whilst deprived of sleep, in an unfamiliar environment and with the constant knowledge that they could be questioned by 'the staff' at any point.

'The staff' must not go unmentioned for they are integral to the shows success. They are formed of a number of ex Special Forces men that constantly berate and criticise the contenders to accentuate the pressure on them and to push them to their absolute limits. It is with their reactions to this pressure that is effectively what makes it breaks their chances of progressing in the selection process.

Although the contenders are referred to by their number tags throughout, they are far more than that; they are complex characters, each drawn from differing backgrounds, different ages and all have had different life experiences. Character is by far the most important theme of this show and it is the contenders as just humans, like you or I, that makes the show so gripping to watch. The journey is rewarding for both the viewer and the actual contenders and at the end, it is marvelously capped off by 'the staff' saying "If we ever see you again, tap us on the shoulder and have a beer with us."

So much more can be said about this excellent show, words alone cannot do this show justice. Instead I personally recommend that you take 5 hours out of your day to watch this show and I can promise you that you will not regret it.

What an epic phrase from an epic leader to summarize what this whole journey has been about. All that suffering the recruits had to endure only to get to that final moment of recognition from the "coaches" that they stopped treating them like recruits and recognize them as peers, wonderful moment to end the season. It is an easy show to watch there are only 5 episodes full of different characters and personalities. At first you think that all those trials are just madness but when the "coaches"start talking about their experiences you start to see there is a reason to that madness. In my opinion it is an awesome reality show there's nothing that compares to it, it is a must watch.

If it makes no difference whether you're a man or a woman, why do they keep going on about it? In fact, it clearly does matter; they can say what they like about equal treatment but, having included women, they obviously don't want to see them all tank. They are noticeably more supportive with the women contestants - I mean, 'recruits' - and more likely to give them a second chance. Women blatantly cheat on the exercises and get away with it. A guy goes without having noticeably failed; a woman stays on although they've said in so many words that she can't do it, or despite being clearly a basket case. The Swedish lady is a totally pointless gimmick - I suppose they felt they also needed a woman on the 'authority' side, but for some reason didn't want to put her in the trainers' team.

It's faintly depressing that now you apparently *cannot* have a series focusing solely on men, and - because it affects the judging - it somewhat compromises the integrity of the show. It was always a little bit iffy, not least because as far as I can make out none of them have actually been in the SAS!

Update 2020: I see that they have now abandoned the boxing challenge, obviously because women can't fight men (some have taken an unpleasant beating in previous series). The obvious thing might have been to have men fight men and women fight women, but that wouldn't have been woke enough would it? So instead the women gang up on the men, who are forbidden by the rules from fighting back. As unintentional, painfully ironic metaphors go, that would take some beating...

Was a great show for first 2/3 years. Ant and the rest of the lads are top drawer. Unfortunately it's been ruined by the twisted victim seeking leftists at channel 4.

Makes you question your own worthiness. such a great watch, inspiring too! They are taken into the jungle, so if you thought the last season was tough enough, now they have to survive constant barrages of training and fear tactics from the former elite SAS staff, who are mesmerizing, themselves, to watch. So many people with so many backgrounds and unexpected dropouts and unexpected strong candidates make you question what you think you know. Forget reality shows, forget game shows, forget settling for average squabbling hissy fits and get down to brass tax with the SAS team on whether you are a balanced human and start questioning your own flaws! ENJOY!