RTE viewers were thrilled by gruelling challenges and trials as Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week burst back onto Irish screens on Monday night.
28 recruits were selected for the show and were put through their paces for the first time, with a number of contestants calling it quits early on.
Drill Sergeants dragged the recruits through harsh wilderness to reach their main base, where they were greeted by their main instructor, Ray Goggins.
The team had already lost their first recruit before this point.
Contestants were given no relief as they were asked to tackle a bridge jump into a freezing reservoir below.
Another candidate dropped out at this stage, unable to summon the nerve to take the leap.
Following this, the team were forced to undertake The Scratch, an extreme resistance course that makes its return from The Curragh in season one.
This trial took out several recruits in a ruthless test of strength and resilience.
The huge number of dropouts is no surprise, considering 90% of candidates fail to conquer the challenge.
Viewers took to twitter to make their satisfaction clear.
“Thank God this is back on the telly #hellweek” said Stephen.
Simon described the show as “best thing on RTE’ while Tom described it as an “excellent first episode in all fairness”.
You can catch next week’s show at 9:35PM. 24th of February on RTE 2.
