Skates. Sequins. Lip gloss. Triple axels. The gap between failure and everything you’ve ever dreamed of separated by barely half a centimetre of steel. Welcome to the glamorous, dangerous, beautiful world of figure skating. Every young skater grows up dreaming of one thing: making it onto the elite British Ice-Skating Performance Squad – the cream of UK skating talent – but few will ever make the cut. Now, this new BBC THREE series follows young athletes from across Britain over the course of a crucial year, as they battle through skate-offs, qualifiers and international competitions to try and maintain their place on the team – or, for those on the outside looking in, to bag themselves a coveted spot on the squad. For those skaters at the top of their game, this season brings the golden opportunity to qualify to represent Great Britain at the Winter Olympics in February 2022. But a year of lockdown restrictions has wreaked havoc with the squad’s chances of making the grade.

In a sport that receives little by the way of funding or public attention, the sky-high cost of a career on ice means life is even tougher for skaters without easy access to the bank of mum and dad. The frequent risk of injury and the mental resilience required to thrive in this ‘perfection sport’ threatens to overwhelm even the most determined of skaters. Filmed over twelve months and released as two separate box-sets, this stylish documentary series has front row seats as our young skaters dedicate every hour, every ounce of energy, and all the glitter eye make-up they can find, in pursuit of their dreams.