After being captured by the Chilean Military Hunter Force at the end of last week's episode, the Recruits were faced with the gruelling interrogation phase of the SAS Selection Process. "This is what all the training builds up too... the Interrogation Phase," Ant told the camera.
Using techniques not permitted by the "British Military" the man known only as "The Umpire," whose identity is protected for security reasons and his team tested the Recruits for the final time. Out of the initial twenty-five Recruits that began the process, only eight remained four men and four women.
Stages of interrogation
While captured the Recruits were bound with bags over their heads and made to sit or stand in "Stress Positions," Foxy remembered his interrogation phase saying "Every bit of you is aching in places that you don't think you can ache." Another way that the Recruits were made to feel uncomfortable and disorientated was the use of headphones that played repetitive white noise and the sounds of women screaming and babies crying.
"You don't know how people are gonna react," Billy told the camera as he opened up about this stage of Interrogation "Some people just cannot handle it."
The "Interrogation Phase" begins with "Harshing" where Recruits were faced with loud and aggressive interrogation techniques and also stripped of their clothes in 5-degree temperatures, "It's a very vulnerable situation" Foxy told the camera.
These techniques also aimed to disorientate the uncomfortable Recruits.
After four hours of interrogations, #17 Vicki, #14 James and #21 Louise all asked to see "The Umpire" and chose to "VW" from the process. Leaving just five Recruits and a further fourteen hours of interrogations.
The Recruits were all given the same cover story to tell during their interrogations, Ollie stating "You have to be highly skilled at manipulating someone" as he spoke about telling a good cover story "It's an art." Liz, one of the "Interrogators" also stated that "A good prisoner is trying to protract from the real story behind the cover story for as long as possible."
Another technique used by the "Interrogators" is the "Group Interrogation" that brought all the remaining Recruits together after holes had been found in their cover story.
"It's keeping yourself and your buddies alive," told the camera. The "DS" all watched the interrogations on a monitor on the same compound.
The final interrogation technique was a friendlier one, that saw the "Interrogators" attempt to befriend their "Prisoners" in order to get more information out of them. Ollie described what made a good prisoner during this phase "Its that emotional intelligence, helps you build a rapport.
Helps you communicate effectively at all levels." While Liz described the benefits of the technique "They just forget that you're the enemy."
Three Recruits
The Recruits reactions throughout the interrogation phase, especially during the final technique decided their fate on whether they would pass the Selection Process or not. After eighteen hours of interrogation and five Recruits still remaining, the "DS" decided to withdraw #25 Hannah and #18 Rick based on their performances.
Orthopaedic Surgeon, Lou better known during her time a #24, was the only Woman to pass the course. Ant telling her "You've restored my faith in allowing women into the Military, especially on the front line because if they're all like you, then you can certainly get the job done."
#6 Milo, a Water Engineer and #7 Mark a Firefighter who had built up a close friendship during the show, also passed the final phases of the Selection Process.
