Channel 5 Slates Docuseries Secrets of the SAS: In Their Own Words

LONDON: Channel 5 has ordered the documentary series Secrets of the SAS: In Their Own Words from Red Planet Pictures, marking the first commission for the company’s non-scripted division.

Secrets of the SAS: In Their Own Words, which is due to air in the fall, provides insight into the famous military organization through unprecedented and candid interviews with elite former SAS soldiers. The series also uses reconstruction to explore the world of the SAS. It delves into the highs and lows of the soldiers’ secretive lives. Each of the four episodes uses a specific military operation to put a spotlight on the human experience of the SAS soldiers, from their selection to their service, through to their return to normal life after the SAS.

Simon Raikes, the creative director of Red Planet Pictures’s factual division and executive producer on the series, said, “Our first commission shows exactly the type of content that we will be creating: bold, distinctive and ambitious. [For] this series we’ve managed to get SAS soldiers to talk with extraordinary intimacy and candor not just about what they do, but who they are, how they feel, what makes them tick, how they cope—as ordinary human beings—with the extraordinary situations into which they are thrown. The result is a revealing, gripping and shocking series about the people behind the armor and it’s a testament to the honesty of our contributors and to Channel 5 that we have been able to share such remarkable stories.”

Guy Davies, the commissioning editor for factual at Channel 5, added: “This series is a genuine first; we’ve never seen SAS troopers talking in this way before. We’re really proud of the series and Red Planet Pictures has delivered a chillingly compelling first-hand account of life in our most secretive military unit. These are extraordinary stories delivered without embellishment, straight down the lens.”

In addition to Raikes, Dan Gold executive produced for Red Planet Pictures.