The Retreat - Season 1

Nick Knowles joins a diverse group including a policewoman and taxi driver to undergo an intense detox and healing programme on a Thai island paradise. Is 28 days enough to change their lives?

As the cast departs for Koh Phangan Thailand, we begin to get to know them and the mental and physical issues they are hoping to overcome during this 'transformational' process. Medicals underway, the resort's group of healers start to get to grips with the issues to be tackled and the cast embark on their tailored programmes - starting with a pre-cleanse, a fast and twice-daily colemas. The realities of the 28-day programme they are about to embark on starts to dawn.

Nick Knowles joins a diverse group including a policewoman and taxi driver to undergo an intense detox and healing programme on a Thai island paradise. Is 28 days enough to change their lives?

Taking us up to day seven, the group starts to bond as they get to grips with their detox schedules and go solo with their colemas for the first time. Billy embraces this new 'activity' and relishes sharing his experiences with the group, whilst Nick and the others remain a little more tight-lipped over theirs. The treatments start and the cast get to grips with yoga - some for the very first time, with mixed reactions. Type II diabetic Milton and Kathy's friendship strengthens during the first of many early morning walks as he travels to the hospital for further tests. He is checking progress to see what impact these initial dietary changes are having on his condition with astonishing results already.

Ever-positive Billy, embracing all aspects of the programme so far, quickly becomes the resort's detox expert, walking Milton through the process as he starts in earnest. In his first Reiki session however, we start to understand Billy's own journey and that he is dealing with some very deep personal feelings himself.

Nick Knowles joins a diverse group including a policewoman and taxi driver to undergo an intense detox and healing programme on a Thai island paradise. Is 28 days enough to change their lives?

It is the halfway point at the retreat and as the fast starts to become a distant memory for most, the cast start to regain their energy and take part in more physical activities. Milton, still fasting, is walking increasingly far each day and is feeling drained but positive about the possible impact of this process on his diabetes. Some of the girls, in an act of solidarity to Milton, extend their fast in line with his and are battling with their hunger as activities become more physical.

The group is starting to fragment a little as their personal journeys come to the fore. April is absent from most group activities as she struggles with her eye condition but is placing hope in some of the more invasive physical therapies the cast are about the embark on. Laura introduces Claire to Buddhist teachings as they travel to the capital to meet a Dharmic monk, and yoga therapy starts in earnest with Luke, where we see Julian start to battle against his teachings and Nick begin to carve out his own physical programme which is at odds with the programme's other healing modalities.

Nick Knowles joins a diverse group including a policewoman and taxi driver to undergo an intense detox and healing programme on a Thai island paradise. Is 28 days enough to change their lives?

Kathy, battling depression, is dealing with the aftermath of her final Reiki session with Shakti and reveals that she has cried for the first time in as long as she can remember. Julian, the group cynic, has a transformational third Reiki session himself, contrary to his expectations, and to the astonishment of yoga therapist Luke, he and Nick start openly to talk of out-of-body experiences, astral projections and auras.

Physical activities ramp up and Nick is spending more and more time in the gym, becoming increasingly dismissive of some of the deeper teachings as they are introduced to the disappointment and concern of the resort's healers.

Milton and the girls finally end their fast and celebrate with the group during a vegan feast. Spirits are high as the cast start Reiki training to gain a deeper understanding of the process and to reconnect them to their innerselves. The results are mixed however, with group cheerleader Billy feeling suddenly unwell and Julian disappointed that he is unable to 'let himself go' in front of the cameras.

The next morning brings shock news as the first of the group decides it is time for them to return home.

Nick Knowles joins a diverse group including a policewoman and taxi driver to undergo an intense detox and healing programme on a Thai island paradise. Is 28 days enough to change their lives?

In the final episode, the cast report to the hospital for their final medicals and eagerly await their results. The cast visit a Muay Thai gym as energy levels peak, followed by a spa visit to take in island views and reflect on the process so far. Nick takes this opportunity to have conversations with Laura, having questioned her Buddhist views, and also with Claire - as he wrestles with the spiritual side of the retreat, he is interested to see what impact the process has had on her personally.

To equip the gang with the skills to continue practices back home, Dominique invites them all to a vegan cooking demonstration before they head off to a monastery to embark on a challenging three-hour walking meditation. Despite his conversation with Laura, Nick is noticeably absent.

There is a final shock early departure and Luke pays a visit to April, who has also withdrawn from recent activities.

As the series concludes, Dominique sits down with the cast as the final medical results are revealed, with some life-changing results, laying the ground for a final farewell party with the remaining group as they reflect on their own personal journeys and how they see their futures.