Review of Ultimate Force

I'm not normally a fan of these SAS action dramas as there are far too many that have been poorly done......prime example...Strike Back. Here, however, we have almost believable characters and although there are a few stereotypes the writers have kept it pretty simple and avoided the usual cheap-n-easy ones. The women, unfortunately for most of these action shows, are usually portrayed as either over-the-top GUNG HO super-women that still have their perfect hair and makeup and look FABULOUS in Khaki. The women in this show are a little more down to earth. Another unwanted ( by me at least ) pitfall is the 'Love-connection' part of every action show that cannot but interfere with the essential story-line. Here they have minimized it so we don't have to be distracted by a scene in the bedroom every 15 minutes of action. We KNOW it exists in real life but just like cooking breakfast, we don't necessarily want to see it every second scene. I'm not normally a fan of Ross Kemp and true to form he's a little over the top and I would have preferred another actor taking the lead...not to mention that he's DECIDEDLY CHUNKY to be portraying an active SAS sergeant but he does the job well enough to make it almost believable. The strength of the show, however, for me, is the writing. Each episode is pretty much self-contained and although related to previous ones is on it's own. Some episodes are better than others naturally but for the most part they are both entertaining AND believable. Very watchable and I recommend it.