SAS: Who Dares Wins changes location and replaces Chief DS for 2023
A long-standing DS will be stepping up to lead the team in 2023.
It's official. SAS: Who Dares Wins is returning for its eighth season in January 2023, with a brand new location and Chief DS.
According to Channel 4, the new season will feature the show's "most savage selection course yet", as a new group of recruits enter the jungle in Thung Ui, northern Vietnam.
The new six-part season will see Foxy (Jason Fox), Billy (Mark Billingham) and Rudy Reyes all return as part of the Directing Staff (DS), and are joined by new DS Chris Oliver. However, for the 2023 season, Reyes will no longer be Chief DS, with that role instead taken up by Billy.
Billy said: "Having been a DS on actual military SAS selection and chief instructor at the British Army Jungle Warfare Training School in Brunei, there is nobody better placed than myself to lead the recruits through this treacherous environment."
He continued: "I’m looking forward to challenging and encouraging the new recruits. However, I will not be accepting any excuses - this will be the toughest course to date!"
New DS Chris Oliver is a former Special Forces operator and Royal Marine mountain leader, with 16 years combat experience. He previously served in the elite Special Boat Service alongside Foxy, and left the military in 2015.
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Oliver said: "I will bring a hard-hitting intensity to the SAS: Who Dares Wins DS, being a fiery character with a very passionate approach to military training, with respect being at the forefront of everything I do.
"The values I intend to instil in the recruits, as part of the DS, have been forged on operations where we have lost good operators, so they had better be under no illusions - anyone who doesn’t play by the rules will pay the price."
The new season will once again see the DS lead 20 ordinary men and women through the jungle phase of SAS selection to test their mental and physical ability, and determine which of the recruits has what it takes to pass the course.
Last year's season was held in the Jordanian desert, with the winners later telling RadioTimes.com about what of their experience the viewers don't see on screen.
SAS: Who Dares Wins will return to Channel 4 in January 2023. While you're waiting, check out more of our Entertainment and Documentaries coverage, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
