First broadcast from 10 June to 15 July 2008 on ITV4, the show is presented by ex-SAS soldier Andy McNab, and is cast as an insight into the life of the Allied soldiers in these conflicts,[1] setting aside the already well documented politics of the conflicts and giving accounts in the soldier's own personal frames of reference.

[2] The series combines first hand accounts and amateur film footage shot by the soldiers on the ground, with official archive footage from the Ministry of Defence, and reconstructions.

[4][5] The majority of each 1 hour episode is made up of the narration and reconstruction of a particular engagement.

In conjunction, a second unrelated engagement is also narrated and reconstructed in parallel in a short slot.

Also included are so-called 'McNab briefings', where McNab describes particular weapons and tactics.