THERE was an abnormal rise in the number of people looking for a career in the forces on Monday following the screening of a popular BBC One drama.

The Army careers office in Foregate Street, Worcester, saw a rise in interest on Monday morning after five million people watched the one-off Army life drama Our Girl, starring Lacey Turner.

Sergeant Darren Hartmann said Monday mornings are often quite quiet, but there was a rush from people interested in finding out more about life in the Army.

However, despite Sunday evening’s show featuring a young woman living in a sink estate turning her life around by entering the Army, all of the inquiries at the Worcester office came from men.

Sgt Hartmann said: “Normally it is very quiet, but it has been busy this morning.

“We did see a difference when people watched Ross Kemp in Afghanistan. There was a big spike in people wanting to join the infantry.

“I think the show was a good eye-opener because people don’t know what goes on, but I think it might have actually put young girls off because they might look at it in a different way.”

Sgt Hartmann has been in the Army for 18 years and worked as an instructor at Catterick, Yorkshire, as well as Pirbright, Surrey, where part of Our Girl was filmed.

He said that while the show gave a good impression of Army life, there were elements that had been over dramatised including Ms Turner’s character talking back to the corporal.

“It wouldn’t happen. Sex in the barracks would also be a big no-no and anyone caught doing that would be thrown out. I didn’t like the fact the one character was saying that training was to break you down and build you into a soldier. It sounded like brainwashing, whereas it is about hearts and minds.

“The show was good at bringing home to the viewer that training isn’t going to be all singing and dancing – even if there was singing outside the tents which they also wouldn’t have had.”

For a career in the Army, log on to army.mod.uk.