Idris Elba's Fight School

Idris has scoured all four nations for his recruits, whittling down hundreds of applications before selecting his chosen team. Now it's time for Idris and the Fight School coaches to meet their first ever intake – eight young people determined to throw themselves into Idris's life-changing experiment for the next five months.

Former national boxing champion Rachel Bower and fitness coach Greg White support his ambition but have immediate doubts about one of Idris's selections. At over 100kg, 24-year-old Jess's weight would make her heavyweight, and there are only a handful of women in the UK competing in this class. Rachel and Greg are concerned that even if they can get her fitness up to the level needed, it's going to be almost impossible to find her a fair match. And as the group are put through a rigorous fitness assessment, it's soon clear that it's not only Jess who will struggle with the pace.

18-year-old Naeem has joined Fight School because he struggles with self-discipline, but within days he is also struggling with punctuality, to the training team's frustration. And 29-year-old latecomer Chanika reveals she's been delayed in joining the team after being admitted to intensive care with Covid-19 and pneumonia.

But just when it might seem that their mentor might have bitten off more than he can chew, an early morning run transforms one student's view of what they might be able to achieve.