The annual fitness test proves too much for Gary. Physical trainer, Corporal Fox, doesn't hold back in telling him how bad a shape he's in so, humiliated and determined to save face with the boys, Gary challenges Fox to a race, with a demotion on the cards if he loses. With the help of Jacko, Charlie and new recruit Mickey, Gary finally faces up to an uncomfortable home truth and makes a confession to his dad and Julie, but will it be in time to help him win the race and keep his job?

Gary delights Captain Fanshaw by 'saving his life' on a competitive skills exercise. With the enemy being led by his father, Colonel Fanshaw, the Captain is so grateful that while the others are fending off the Colonel's increasingly audacious attacks, he offers Gary a new job that sounds too good to be true - and turns out to be exactly that.

Cammy, an old adversary of Gary's, is posted to the barracks and old rivalries are soon restored in the form of a brawl. Sergeant Thomson punishes them both but a series of tit for tat exchanges follow. Things quickly get out of hand when army property is defaced and Gary is the one blamed. With the boys unable to provide an alibi and Thomson refusing to believe that Cammy is to blame, Gary finds himself in serious danger of being kicked out of the army forever.

Under threat of barracks closures, Sergeant Thomson is more irritable than usual as he prepares everyone for the visit of MP, Steven Maxwell. The frantic preparations see Thomson injured so Gary steps up to show the MP around. Under strict instructions from Thomson to stick rigidly to the 'boring' agenda, Gary has a better idea and he and Mickey defy the Sergeant to appeal to the MP's appetite for action, but they underestimate just how insatiable it is.

A posting to Germany hasn't quite lived up to the excitement levels of Afghanistan and Iraq and Gary is desperate to get home. But when Charlie announces that he's just got engaged, the final week gets a lot more interesting. Charlie's bride-to-be makes quite an impression, and while Mickey thinks she seems fun, Jacko is less generous with his feedback. Gary's initial misgivings are replaced with his excitement at being asked to be best man, and he starts making preparations for his special day.