We are delighted to announce Commando will be transmitted this coming Sunday 8th May at 8pm on BBC2.

This series takes us behind the scenes in one of the world’s most elite organisations. Not only will we follow young recruits aspiring to become Royal Marine Commandos but we’ll travel to the freezing fjords of Norway where the Mountain Leaders train and sail to the Gulf to witness the international work of the boarding teams fighting criminal drug gangs.

We open with episode one:

The Green Lid

We go behind the scenes of one of the most elite military organisations in the world, following young recruits Dom and Kane as they attempt to earn the prestigious commando green beret. They have both completed a gruelling seven months of training, but can they become one of only 1% of the original applicants who go all the way and earn the right to call themselves commandos. They must complete four final tests to do so. 

They follow in the footsteps of giants, and each of the tests reveals a story from a veteran. Young Dom is only sixteen years of age, one of the youngest Royal Marines going through training. As he attempts the first test – the endurance course – we hear from Clifford. He also joined up at sixteen years of age but did so in 1943 at the height of World War Two. He recounts the horrors of D-Day, and tell of losing four of the five friends he joined up with.

Kane worked as a joiner before he joined the Royal Marines, and now faces the challenges of the tests that will allow him to start a new life as a Roya Marine. The second test – the nine miler – must be completed as a group, and as we follow the recruits we hear from Jon White, an Afghanistan veteran who was blown up, and saved by his men. Despite losing three limbs, he is now a world class kayaker.

Next comes the tarzan assault course, the test closest to the original commando tests from 1942. Will Kane and Dom make it through a challenge responsible for more injuries than any other?

And finally, onto Dartmoor, for the legendary 30 miler. At the end of it awaits the green beret, a symbol of military excellence. But it will be hard earned. We follow the recruits through this most gruelling of tests, and hear the testimony of General Julian Thompson, who led 3 Commando Brigade as they conducted the famous yomp across the Falklands. 

The culmination of this episode is the presentation of the green berets to the exhausted recruits. They are now commandos, but for them the work is only just beginning.

Episode two will be aired on Sunday 15th May.