A YORK TV baddie is back on the nation's screens this week - and this time he's got some equally bad boys to contend with.

Cheery sports science lecturer Mark Sullivan is reviving his role as a 1950s-style sergeant for ITV's Bad Lads' Army.

Mark, 46, made his acting debut in 2002 on the original Lads' Army programme, which took 30 volunteers back to the days of National Service training.

This time, the York College employee will put a bunch of self-confessed "bad lads", aged 18 to 24, through their paces in an attempt to see if four weeks of a strict 1950s regime can lick them into shape.

They face exactly the same living conditions, training and punishments that their contemporaries would have endured.

Mark said he was delighted to been invited to take part in the programme again and see if the participants could be "rehabilitated".

"There was a bit more attitude from some of them compared to the last group," he said.

"Some in particular were quite disruptive, which did not help early on. But by and large, they were very similar and just wanted to have a go."

The role is not acting for Mark, as he has much military experience. He joined the army in 1979 and left 22 years later, as a Warrant Officer Class One, having served in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. He moved into lecturing in 2001.

The first episode of Bad Lads' Army will be shown on ITV1 on Thursday at 9pm.

Updated: 10:39 Monday, July 05, 2004