Discovering the truth behind Bravo Two Zero.

JUST over ten years ago eight SAS men were dropped behind enemy lines during the Gulf War. Their mission to locate Iraqi missile launchers ended with three of them dead, four captured and one walking across the desert to freedom.

The story of Bravo Two Zero is well known through books written by two of them under the pseudonyms Andy McNab and Steve Ryan. But they named the three who died - and that was the driving force behind Michael Asher's personal mission chronicled in this revealing documentary.

Britain's leading desert explorer and a former SAS trooper himself, he was determined to test claims made in the books which, according to talk in SAS circles, contained exaggeration and detailed incidents that never happened.

He was particularly keen to clear the name of Sergeant Vince Phillips whose behaviour, the writers claimed, was the reason for their discovery by the Iraqis. By the end, he appeared to have proved his point, pursuing the clues with Poiret-like zeal. Not only did he retrace the steps of "the most famous incident in recent military history" but went in search of - and found - witnesses to the events as he investigated the discrepancies between what the SAS authors said in print and in their debriefings.

He set out, loaded down with heavy equipment, on the long walk they were supposed to have made from the drop-off point to their observation post. He was physically unable to complete the task. Witnesses denied the SAS men engaged in a pitched battle resulting in the deaths of dozens of Iraqis. He found no evidence of a gun battle with local police. He suggested that McNab, by heading for Syria on a long march in freezing weather without cold weather clothing, ignored standard SAS procedure.

Far from killing 250 people, as described in the books, the SAS soldiers didn't kill anyone. "The body count of Bravo Two Zero was zero," said Asher, admitting his admiration for McNab had evaporated.

"Knowing the truth is more important than hero worship," he added.

In a final poignant moment, he handed over Phillips's binoculars - taken from his body by one of the men who found him - to the dead SAS man's parents.

Instead of blame, he felt, Phillips deserved a medal as much as others on the mission who had received them.