On 21 January 2008, Sky One broadcasted the first episode of a five-part series Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, which entails Kemp following the 1st Battalion of the British Army's Royal Anglian Regiment during their deployment to Afghanistan's Helmand Province from March to August 2007. In preparation for the assignment, Kemp had to participate in military training for personal defence, including use of the SA80 assault rifle. Kemp has a personal interest in the East Anglians, as he is from their recruiting area, and his father served with their predecessor regiment, the Royal Norfolk Regiment, in Cyprus.
Candid and brutally honest, this landmark five part series is Ross Kemp’s very personal account of British soldiers at war. The series gives an unprecedented insight into the heat of a war zone. Filmed in stunning HD. A British TV first for a war zone.
Ross Kemp journeys to Britain’s front line in Afghanistan with his BAFTA winning documentary team to experience first hand the British Army’s attempts at bringing peace to one of the world’s most dangerous war zones and to witness the Army’s attempts at bringing about a sea change in this hugely volatile region.
A hard hitting and thought provoking documentary series for Sky One Ross Kemp in Afghanistan focuses on the British Army’s deployment in Helmand Province and features exclusive access to the Vikings – 1 Royal Anglian.
The series chronicles the experiences of British soldiers as they adapt to life in a hostile environment, battle against a fanatical enemy; the Taliban, and attempt to win the hearts and minds of the local population. Ross also meets soldier’s families in the UK to see how they cope when their loved ones are away as well as meeting the families of soldiers who didn’t make it home alive.
During three separate deployments, Ross lives through some of the most extreme and stressful conditions imaginable. On the front line there’s the constant threat of attack from the enemy, not to mention the intolerable desert environment with sand storms and temperatures well into the 50’s. Ross isn’t in a hermetically sealed bubble miles from the troops. He spends weeks with them; he eats when they eat, he sleeps when they sleep; he gets shot at when they get shot at. Ross experiences exactly what the soldier’s experience.
Ross comments; “Conditions in Afghanistan are intolerable. The heat is stifling and there’s the constant threat of snipers, RPG attacks and land mines. During one engagement between B Company and the Taliban we were pinned down by enemy fire in open ground; bullets fizzed by inches from our heads, hitting the ground on either side of us. It was the most frightening experience of my life. I’ve never hugged the ground as tightly as I did when that happened. It’s definitely the closest I have ever come to dying. I was so scared.
