Royal Navy School (2016)

Documentary following two classes of new Royal Navy recruits as they start their training at HMS Raleigh in Torpoint, Cornwall. In the first episode, a fresh intake arrives at HMS Raleigh to begin 10 weeks of training, the first two of which can make or break their career. Exhaustion and homesickness leave teenager Harland questioning if this life is really for him, while the eldest member Craig Rowan (32) sees this as his last chance to make something of himself and his instructors think he might be leadership material.

Recruit Dackombe has always wanted to join the Royal Navy, but two weeks before he was due to attend its basic training facility HMS Raleigh in Torpoint, Cornwall, he found out that his girlfriend was pregnant with their first child. He must decide whether to give up his childhood dream or stay in the Navy and commit to long stretches at sea away from his family. Plus, when juvenile pranks get out of hand, the rookies face disciplinary procedures and must fight to save their careers.

The Fisher recruits are in their second week of training, and Warrant Officer Collingbourne is expecting each of them to make the step from civilian to sailor, but with 23 teenagers in the division this is a harder task than normal. After a weekend of skylarking, 17-year-old Dunbar takes a prank too far, and his future in the Navy hangs in the balance when he finds himself in front of the commander, having to explain his actions.

The recruits are halfway through their 10-week course at HMS Raleigh in Torpoint, Cornwall, and the training is being intensified. Former cheese-shop assistant Cara Gillies struggles to lead her team across Dartmoor during a gruelling exercise, and is left wondering if a life in the Royal Navy is for her. Meanwhile, Callum Kerr finds it hard to grasp what it takes to be a sailor and soon finds himself in front of the officer in charge of training to defend his place.

This edition focuses on the women of Cornwell Division as they go through exactly the same training as the men, coming up against HMS Raleigh's toughest physical test in the notorious `Stretcher Run'. Seventeen-year-old recruit Rachel Fletcher sees the Navy as her big chance to turn things around and make a new life for herself, while 19-year-old Thailand-born Saowalak Choptham inadvertently breaks Raleigh's `no touch' rule after kissing her boyfriend on base and finds her career left hanging by a thread.

The Fisher Class are 3 weeks into their training course and so far PO Coot struggles to get them into shape as they embrace naval life. Meanwhile recruit Edwards struggles with his attitude and reluctance to change after picking up a tier 2 discipline warning following a failed kit inspection. Can recruit Edwards shape up and fulfill his lifelong dream in the Navy? An upcoming weapons drill exam can proof vital to proof Edwards and all the Fisher Class can install the high standards and attitudes expected in the Royal Navy.

Recruit McGregor has not always been enthusiastic in her training, an approach that contrasts starkly with her ambitious class leader Able, who has little sympathy with those who have shown themselves to be weak links. An exhausting 20km trek across Dartmoor leaves one of them seriously ill and forces them both to reconsider their attitudes.

The recruits reach the final week of their gruelling training, but it's not plain sailing all the way to their passing out parade as a sudden illness jeopardises everything. Hill is also worrying about who will come to the parade following a family disagreement, while Penney makes a silly mistake and has to fight for his career on the last day of training.