Giving this show a rating is quite difficult and I've found myself torn between where to place my vote. You see, Ultimate Force had 2 fantastic seasons, (1 & 2), and then rapidly went downhill. Based on Seasons 1 and 2 however I find it hard to give it too low of a rating - they were excellent. However, having seen so many reviews and comments complaining about accuracy it feels like it is necessary to point out this is not a documentary, it's fiction and with fiction comes a need to let the odd inaccuracy slide once in a while. That said of course, Chris Ryan didn't do the worst job in the first two seasons and while anyone can figure out a lot was held back, they tried to give it a decent feel of reality. Seasons 1 and 2 followed the original Red Troop cast through a nice variety of story lines, from bank sieges, surveillance and infiltration to kidnappings and hostages, even throwing in a little black bag along the way. You were shown the discipline and the characters actions had a large degree of precise accuracy to them. They shot to kill, they didn't miss and they were good at what they did. Unfortunately, this didn't carry on until the shows end. Season 3 began with the vast majority of the original cast being removed - Jamie Dow (Jamie Draven), Pete Twamley (Tony Curran) and Ricky Mann (Danny Sapani) were all killed off with their faces covered and poor voice doubles while Caroline Walshe (Alex Reid) was nothing but an empty desk and a mention of having been transferred and this marked the beginning of the end. The feeling of precision and high standards disappeared almost instantly. Rebecca Gallagher (Heather Peace) joined Red Troop as a trooper after going through selection which was hard enough to deal with - you can ask an audience to suspend a little disbelief but suddenly asking them to believe that a woman is let into the SAS is taking it a little too far. The season felt like the production company hoped that a woman who was happy to appear naked and often topless would boost ratings and if that failed they'd try to grab the extra viewers by tripling the explosions. Episodes turned into 10 minute long scenes of explosions and firefights where they appeared to just run into a room and start shooting, often just filling the area with ammo till someone died. Season 4 seemed to be so desperate to claw back some respect that the writers came up with more and more ridiculous plots, more terrible FX and an even longer list of 'witty one liners', finally culminating in the most ridiculous of all.While some may find it hard to stomach that SSgt Henno Garvie would shoot a Captain in cold blood (#2.6 Dead is Forever) and thus prove that there was nothing he would stop at to protect the men around him, it's even harder to believe that a recently nearly blinded sniper cuts the wire on the timer of a nuclear bomb with a bullet while his SSgt hangs upside down off of a crane holding onto said bomb 200 feet above the ground....with 1 second left on the clock. All with terrible green-screening and superman jokes. Let's also not forget the recycled casting from the same episode, (#4.5 Slow Bomb), when the American female terrorist is the same actress that played Marisol, a member of the global action group attempting to kill a European banker in Season 1, (#1.2 Just a Target). So while I have given Ultimate Force a hearty 8/10 this is based purely on Seasons 1 and 2 and still even now, years later, would recommend them to anyone. They had a great cast with fantastic chemistry, well developed characters, interesting plot-lines and for the ladies, yes Jamie Draven in SAS gear, (the latter alone would make me give it a 10/10 if I wasn't trying to be fair). If I were to rate Seasons 3 and 4 however, it would barely scrape a 4/10 - and that would probably only be for the few flickers of promise that flashed through once in a blue moon - they just unfortunately didn't last. A shame really, it started so well.

Just started watching Ultimate force on Hulu.com.... What a great show, as others have commented its not a show for the squeamish, or that are not into violence. If you haven't watched the show read no further... I have mentioned show characters and some of the story line......however, I'm shocked beyond belief that Jamie Draven was written out of the show... He was one the main character in the show... loosing this figure in the show simply killed the series for me.....Sorry Ross Kemp but your just too much like Micheal Chiklis, and your character, although played out OK just wasn't up to the job.I have at least one mate that was in the SAS and from what I can remember only a portion of what was written on the show is any where near close to real SAS life.Cheers "who dares wins"

Suspension of disbelief is required when watching this series. Lots of guns, explosions and shock horror, a LADY in the SAS, who would have thought it ;-). Maybe they watched GI Jane and thought it would be good for viewing figures.I am sure there will be people out there that have been in the armed forces who will tear shreds into this series claiming it is not true to life, unrealistic, too gun-ho etc.....But... this is entertainment and cheesy entertainment at that. Ross Kemp is very watchable as the leader of the SAS unit, leading them into hijacked planes and excursions in South Africa.

This show is an insult to every member of the Special Air Service Regiment and the only award Ross Kemp deserves is a firing squad. I served in the British Royal Air Force Regiment for a number of years and we sometimes played the "baddies" in SAS exercises. I never met a single SAS soldier who was anything like Mr Kemp and his "team". THEY would look better with stick-on red noses and flowery bowler hats, riding round in an exploding Model T Ford and shooting people with water pistols. They're a bunch of clowns and the whole show is a joke. It has a high budget and it's certainly "glossy" and popular with the general public but as a representation of the SAS it's SO inaccurate it's plain insulting. I was glad to see a coloured actor playing one of the troopers, but in the new series they have a LADY SAS soldier. Sorry but this simply would never happen. Maybe the next series will introduce us to the SAS's first one-legged soldier? Avoid at all costs. I give this rubbish a vote of 2 out of respect to the REAL Special Air Service.