Privates Episode Rating Graph

Britain 1960: as the age of respectability gives way to the era of rock and roll, we follow the stories of eight privates who are part of the last intake of National Service. Stationed at a basic training depot in North Yorkshire, they are part of Two Section and their two years of National Service has just begun. Lance Corporal Jimmy Hobbs proposes to his girlfriend Norah, who works in the army canteen (NAAFI), and then goes AWOL after being chased by Private Keenan. Sergeant Butcher sees a man by his motorbike on the pier, dressed in a homemade general's uniform and speaking only in the dialogue of David Niven; he is Private Lomax. Corporal Barrowman, having taken a dislike to Private Wratten, initiates a search for a 'stolen' watch and pronounces Wratten the thief. After lights out, the men deal with dislocation in their own way: Keenan writes in his journal, Hoy cries and Lomax is nowhere to be seen...

Corporal Barrowman drills Two Section on the parade ground. He is aghast that McIllvenny has permission to wear 'soft shoes' and that Private Hoy is unable to co-ordinate his arms and legs. Lomax fakes taking the sedative that Nurse Connie gave him and much to her surprise suddenly starts to speak like Bette Davis. Jimmy tells Norah he has a plan. Keenan apologises to Connie for being strident about his pacifist views last time they met and asks Connie if they could talk, somewhere private. Two Section undergoes bayonet training. It's a visceral process and most do it badly. It prompts Davies to wonder if he has what it takes to be a soldier. Sergeant Butcher visits a woman at the Imperial Hotel in nearby Ravensea.

Cpl Barrowman challenges Two Section to beat One Section's time on the assault course, while Pte White-Bowne reveals to Capt Gulliver he is standing in the Oldham East by-election, and will therefore get exemption from National Service.

The reasons behind Barrowman's demotion are revealed during a nuclear fallout drill, and the corporal is pushed to the edge when White-Bowne and Wratten play a macabre prank on him. During patrol, Lomax tells Keenan he enrolled to settle an old score, while Sgt Butcher learns Audrey is pregnant.

As preparations for the Remembrance Day parade begin, Capt Gulliver plans to hand in his resignation to make a fresh start with his wife. But when Sgt Butcher invites Audrey to go to Australia with him, she is forced to choose between her newly invigorated husband and her lover. Drama, starring Patrick Baladi and Michael Nardone.