The Undercover Soldier Tonight Thursday 18 September at 2100 BST

[Trevortt]

When the BBC asked me to go undercover in the British Army to investigate bullying, I had to think long and hard.

The Army is one of Britain's most secure institutions.

Up until then I'd been working with school children around Leeds. It felt like an impossible ask.

I took a deep breath and agreed to do it, to test the government's promise to take better care of recruits after the Deepcut scandal.

It's important because these are the young men and women who get sent to fight wars, keep the peace and deal with disasters.

I had three months to get ready.

I had to get used to using secret cameras and have my cover story word perfect. As it turned out the most effective secret camera I had was the one in my mobile phone.

Unknown step

Several BBC training courses, and lots of practice later, it was time to join up.

On 21 October 2007, I left my family home and made my way to my new home - a barracks in the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick Garrison.
I was leaving family and friends who knew I was joining up but not as a BBC reporter, and stepping into the unknown.

Read the full story here