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Without Limits: Australia

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British and Australian veterans embark on a dramatic journey across Western Australia.

With the support of HRH the Duke of Sussex, British and Australian wounded veterans embark on a dramatic journey across Western Australia to mark the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney.

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Without Limits: Australia: Series 1

Helen Baxendale

Lucy Carter

Ben Crichton

Nicola Comber

Without Limits: Australia: Series 1: Episode 1

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Episode 1

BBC One - Without Limits: Australia, Series 1, Episode 1

British and Australian wounded veterans embark on a journey through Western Australia.

Two-part observational documentary following a team of injured British and Australian veterans as they embark on an extraordinary expedition through Western Australia.

This two-part observational documentary sees a team of injured British and Australian veterans embark on an extraordinary near 1000-mile expedition across Western Australia's remote Kimberley region. 

The group is led by former Parachute Regiment officer Martin Hewitt. Martin was shot in Afghanistan in 2007, which resulted in paralysis of his right arm. In 2011 he joined Prince Harry and a team of wounded veterans on an unsupported trek to the North Pole, as filmed in the BBC's Harry's Arctic Heroes. Before they depart for Australia, Martin introduces the British veterans to the Duke of Sussex, who was seconded to the Australian Army in 2015 and knows the challenges of the Kimberley region.

British veteran Shaun Stocker, 28, from Wrexham in Wales, was a fusilier in the Infantry Regiment, First Battalion, the Royal Welsh. At the age of 19, and just six days before the end of his tour in Afghanistan, Shaun stepped on an IED. He lost both his legs and was blinded, and spent six years at the rehabilitation centre Headley Court. He was fitted with specialist prosthetics and regained 30 per cent vision in one eye. Shaun embodies the spirit of Invictus - from the very start of the expedition, Shaun confounds his teammates with his positive attitude and physical ability.

The other Brit is Keanie Trick, 23, from Devon. After seven years in the Army as an aircraft technician in the REME, Keanie was still awaiting medical discharge at the time of filming (discharged in September 2018). Following injuries to her hip and back, Keanie suffers from chronic pain, and from depression and anxiety. Like so many veterans who are medically discharged, she's readjusting to the loss of her ambition for a career in the military and wants to gain enough confidence to look forward to a new life on civvy street. But Keanie finds the start of the expedition in Australia challenging - emotions run high as she doubts her physical ability.

The British veterans join up with their Aussie teammates in Broome on the coast of Western Australia. Dean West, 46, from Brisbane was a corporal in the Australian Army. Having initially appeared to be the joker of the group, Dean reveals his terrifying backstory. In 1993 he was involved in a serious vehicle accident on a training mission in Malaysia. Five of his fellow soldiers died, including his best friend. As well as spinal and brain injuries, Dean has battled severe depression and alcohol abuse. Twenty-five years after the accident he still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Matt Tolson, 34, from Caboolture, Queensland, was a private in the Australian Army. He suffers from severe pain from damage to his back and knees, but even more disabling is his acute PTSD resulting from being exposed to traumatic events while peacekeeping in Timor Leste. Matt travels with his PTSD service dog, a black Labrador called Hades, who helps him cope with the symptoms of PTSD.

The team's route follows the Gibb River Road, an old stock route of mostly unpaved road that cuts through the stunning Kimberley region. Spreading over Australia's entire north western corner, the Kimberley is three times larger than England but with a population of less than 40,000 - it's one of the world's greatest wildernesses. The isolation of the region and the long hours spent driving vast distances give the team a chance to bond quickly, and they begin to share intimate stories of their injuries and discuss the difficulties of their recovery, both physical and psychological.

En route, they set up bush camps in beautiful and remote locations. But even camp life is challenging for some of the group - Shaun's visual impairment means that operating in the quickly descending dark is a real challenge. And on a walk to bathe in a natural pool, Keanie's 'invisible' injuries suddenly manifest in a remarkable scene as she struggles to walk the short distance.

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