The Great Bathgate Arctic Adventure follows ten pupils from Bathgate Academy as they become part of an expedition to Greenland led by The Polar Academy founder Craig Mathieson. We join the teenagers during each step of their daunting, exhilarating but ultimately life-changing journey.

Programme 1 begins in May 2018 when a shortlist of 20 pupils head north from Bathgate and into the unfamiliar territory of Glenmore Lodge in the Cairngorms. There are anxiety and tears when they are put through their paces in the selection process - tackling not only their physical but emotional fears as they capsize in canoes, hike in the hills and face their dread of public speaking. However, we share in their exhilaration as they discover that their capabilities extend far beyond.

The group return to Bathgate where Craig, and fellow guide Mollie Hughes announce who will be going to Greenland. And it wasn’t necessarily the physically fittest that made it on to the expedition team but those Craig describes as “invisible” within the education system and would benefit the most.

As spring turns to summer we follow the group as they conquer big, and small, milestones during a training programme that pushes them to new limits as they learn to drag tyres, cook outdoors, pitch tents and camp under the stars. We also get to know the team as individuals as they open up about their own personal stories and the difficulties that they have faced growing up.

As autumn approaches we discover the issues surfacing around team-building, physical fitness and their fear of the unknown as they anticipate what they are about to embark upon. And, the Polar journey is put into jeopardy for one pupil as an accident on the football pitch casts doubt over their future on the team. Show less