Escape to the Legion finished last night - the Channel 4 programme following 12 men who volunteered to take something similar to the basic training for a Legionnaire…unquestionably the training was tough, but I imagine that the real thing would be even harder. I’m full of admiration for the four guys that completed it, unexepectedly in some cases. The guys that dropped out must really regret either their injuries, or not trying harder. The scene of the four guys (and the ‘officers’) running towards the sea at the end of their final march was just brilliant. To see their faces and bodies before and after the training was amazing, thinned down and hardened by the physical training and toughened by the sun and sand of the Western Sahara. It was a great series, the sort of thing that Channel 4 does really well. The Foreign Legion is undeniably one of the toughest groups in the world - still at the forefront of major conflicts.