Ultimate Force - Watch Full Episodes Online

It was co-created by Chris Ryan, a former British SAS soldier who was a member of the infamous Bravo Two Zero patrol during the 1991 Gulf War. As well as his behind the scenes role, Ryan appeared as a SAS soldier in the first series of the show playing Blue Troop leader Johnny Bell, and has since gone on to have a successful television career.

The show features British television star Ross Kemp (Eastenders, Extras) as its central character, the hard-boiled Staff Sergeant Henno Garvey. The show was a star vehicle for Kemp, who had been lured away from the BBC to ITV with a multi-million pound contract. Kemp has appeared in every episode from the four series made up until now.

The departure of Chris Ryan as technical supervisor following the end of series two resulted in what many fans consider a far less realistic depiction of SAS life.

Along with Chris Ryan, most of the main cast left the show after series two and were replaced by several new characters. Series three abandoned the hour-long format of the previous two series; each episode was expanded to feature length, possibly in an effort to facilitate lucrative international film sales. Some viewers found the new, longer episodes too simplistic, eschewing the depth and characterisation that had been seen previously, in favour of seemingly non-stop action on a far grander scale (and with a far greater body count). However, this perceived "simplification" could prove popular in foreign markets, where “action“ films are a perennial favourite.

In addition, the now infamous "John Woo" style gun fight during the first episode of season three created a Jumping The Shark moment solidifying many fan's view that the program had passed its prime.

Domestically, the change of format seemed to produce diminishing returns for ITV; series three was abruptly taken off air by the station midway through the run, only to return a few weeks later. Strangely, ITV had decided that the show was now to be broadcast on Saturday nights at 9 o'clock, when the target audience would presumably be out socialising. A similar fate awaited series four, which was pulled after just two episodes. However, unlike the previous series, the remaining episodes of the fourth series were never rescheduled and have yet to be broadcast on ITV. A DVD of the fourth series was released on 25 Sept 2006 in the UK.

ITV have confirmed that there will not be a 5th series, much to the disappointment of many fans.

The remaining episodes of season 4 not shown on ITV were shown on ITV4 Jan/Feb 2007, and older episodes can be seen on ITV4.

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