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What does it take to be a frontline soldier in the British army?

Who has what it takes to be a frontline soldier? At Britain's biggest garrison, fresh recruits are pushed to the limit - physically and mentally. Only the very best will make it.

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Kim Rossiter

Mark Rossiter

Lorraine Charker-Phillips

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Label1 Television Ltd

Soldier: Series 1: Episode 5

Episode 1

Episode 5

BBC One - Soldier, Series 1, Episode 5

Recruits face final tests to prove they are ready to become infantry soldiers.

Just over half of the infantry recruits remain - but who will make it to the end and become a soldier?

In the final episode, we see which recruits can overcome the remaining hurdles to prove they are able infanteers who could be deployed at any minute. Forty-five recruits signed up to D1 platoon, now just over half remain. In the final weeks, only those that meet the army’s high standards will make it through.

Being battle-ready takes the recruits out into the wilds as they dig trenches through the night, followed by a test of their fighting ability to the point of exhaustion. In modern warfare, trenches are still a vital skill for frontline infantry soldiers. It’s a rite of passage that will push them physically. With trenches dug, they then have to prove that they can muster the necessary aggression to kill the enemy using just their bayonets. The training team are looking for maximum aggression, complete with composure and control. 

The recruits look back on how far they’ve come over the last five-and-a-half months. Pte Hope-Mainwaring recalls her battles with self-confidence. She continues to push through to the end. Eighteen-year-old Pte Olivia Hall-Beakhouse has made it to the final phase, but the journey has not been easy. She proves she has got the killer instinct and impresses Cpl White, who thinks she’s made huge progress. But she still has one final enemy to beat – the role fitness test. Having failed it the first time, she is given one final chance to pass. If she fails the re-test, Lt Wahab will have no other option but to ‘back-class’ her. This will mean she won’t pass out with the platoon, and she will be made to repeat her training again. Pushing her to the end of the gruelling fitness test is trainer Cpl Potts. Will she make it this time?

During the course, 20-year-old Pte Owen South has performed consistently, but the training team feel he can go further. In the final exercise, he’s given the role of point man – to lead the attack on the enemy. If Pte South passes out, he will join the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. His mum, Claire, couldn’t be prouder of him, but as a pacifist, she struggles with his new career.

Sgt McIntosh reminds the young men and women that they are the last remaining recruits from the platoon and to 'make themselves proud.' But there is one young recruit whose future is still hanging in the balance. Eighteen-year-old Pte Callum Stretton reflects on how his life has changed since giving up working in a fast-food restaurant. A leg injury means he struggles to keep up in the penultimate attack on the final exercise and is now in a race against time to be medically fit to pass out with his fellow recruits.

As Lt Wahab and his team decide the fate of the remaining recruits, who has made the grade to join the British army?

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