‘SAS: Who Dares Wins’ series 8 episode 5 preview – Entertainment Focus

The fourth episode of SAS: Who Dares Wins season 8 saw the Directing Staff increase the pressure again on the remaining recruits.

In episode 4, the theme was Leadership. The episode opened up with the recruits being woken in the early hours of the morning by the DS simulating a gas attack on their base. After evacuation the recruits realised that two of them had been taken captive. The recruits were split into two teams for a hostage rescue mission.

Number 9, Daniel and Number 10, Danica were the hostages along with two locals. They were placed in a derelict compound. Team Alpha was led by Number 14, Ross. The team quickly found the local hostage but incorrectly decided to leave them behind. They did manage to rescue Daniel but got a telling off by DS Foxy for leaving the other.

Team Bravo was led by Number 18, Levi. They failed to properly clear the first room and didn’t spot the local hostage. They did manage to extract Danica but failed to remove her hood. They also got a telling off from DS Foxy for missing a hostage.

Back at base the DS met to discuss the recruits. Following the meeting they ran a challenge to test the integrity of the recruits. This was disguised as a fitness assessment with two circuits of 6 different sets of exercises. Two of the exercises purposely took place out of sight of the DS but were secretly filmed. After the challenge, the DS reviewed the secret video footage and discovered that Number 7, Faye didn’t complete the required number of exercise repetitions.

The DS brought Faye in for questioning and showed her the video of her failing to complete the exercises. They pulled her up on it and she claimed she thought she had done all of them. The DS were unimpressed. They called the recruits onto the parade square had had Faye confess her failure. As punishment, Faye was put in jail which was a wooden cage in water. The next day Faye was interviewed again and spoke of her lack of confidence and how she struggled as a child in care.

Later, Levi had to see the doctor after aggravating a pre-existing groin injury. He was gutted when he was forced to medically withdraw from the course.

Before the next challenge, the DS decided to put Faye in charge of Team Bravo and Daniel in charge of Team Alpha. The challenge was an equipment resupply task. This saw the two teams race against each other to move heavy equipment 6km across the jungle. Team Alpha took an early lead but under Faye’s command, Team Bravo managed to overtake them to win phase 1. Number 5, Becky suffered a leg injury and was forced to medically withdraw.

The second phase of the challenge involved a river crossing using MIBs (Military Inflatable Boat), this was followed by a race to carry these 80kg boats back to base. With Becky dropping out, Team Alpha was down to four members. Team Bravo finished first while Team Alpha really struggled to carry and move their MIB.

The DS decided to bring Daniel in for questioning. He spoke of his career as dancer, his lack of leadership experience and struggles with self criticism. DS Billy gave him advice on how to proceed.

Episode 5

In episode 5, the remaining recruits’ will to survive is severely tested with an extraction task used in the Vietnam War. There’s an intense beasting in a fight for the survival of the fittest.

With the hardships of the jungle closing in, a lack of sleep, a calorie deficit from ration packs, and their bodies starting to fail, will any of the recruits make it through a survival task that requires navigating through the jungle pursued by hunters during a mission behind enemy lines?

SAS: Who Dares Wins series 8 continues at 9pm Monday 20th February 2023 on Channel 4.