
When the pagers sound, sending lifeboats into the waters of the UK and Ireland, the crews on board rely on both their training and experience to bring casualties home safely to their families. But out at sea, there is another important factor they know they’ll need that can’t be taught or learnt – luck.\n\nOff the coast of North Wales, a teenage paddleboarder has lost his board and is being swept out to sea. Fortunately, he set out with a brand new waterproof phone case - but even with the coastguard helping to guide him in by phone, the crew of the Abersoch lifeboat face a race to reach him before he succumbs to the sea.\n\nPerched on a sheer Cornish cliff face, Lizard is one of the UK’s most southerly lifeboat stations. Launching from their slipway, the crew are called to a cargo ship taking on water and in danger of sinking with her crew still on board. Luckily, kind weather conditions mean the lifeboat crew arrive in time to set up a salvage pump to try and save the ship - only to then discover she’s taking on water faster than they can pump it out.\n\nConditions aren’t so kind to the Lizard crew when their pagers sound again. This time, an Atlantic storm is battering the south coast, a small yacht caught mid-Channel needs urgent help, and the crew find themselves on a gruelling six hour mission to save two lives.
Source: BBC 2
Series 6 (shortened Versions): Episode 10
Last year, the lifeboats around the UK and Ireland came to the aid of over 8,300 people. But no matter what they face when they head out on a shout, all crew members are instill ...
31-01-2026
BBC 2
Series 9: 4. First Time For Everything
For every RNLI crew member, the first shout is just the beginning of many firsts.\n\nOn the south western tip of Ireland, Castletownbere crew member Donagh faces a baptism of fi ...
16-01-2026
BBC 2
Series 5 (shortened Versions): Episode 8
During one of the worst storms in living memory, on the south coast of England the crew of Hastings lifeboat receive an emergency call. A surfer, hoping to make the most of the ...
11-12-2025
BBC 2
Series 5 (shortened Versions): Episode 7
Of the almost 9,000 emergencies the RNLI’s lifeboats launch to every year, just seven per cent are to commercial vessels. The vast majority of their shouts are to those us ...
26-11-2025
BBC 2
Series 6 (shortened Versions): Episode 6
There are now over 600 women who are active lifeboat crew, a number which has doubled in the last ten years. In Calshot, Kelley volunteered for the crew 18 months ago, despite n ...
06-11-2025
BBC 2
Series 5 (shortened Versions): Episode 6
Every day around the UK and Ireland, an unpaid army of men and women, from artists to undertakers and from priests to poets, are ready to put their lives on the line to save tho ...
30-10-2025
BBC 2
Series 6 (shortened Versions): Episode 8
Each year the volunteer crews of the RNLI respond to around 9,000 call outs, from paddleboarders swept out to sea to sinking fishing boats, from families caught in rip currents ...
23-10-2025
BBC 2
Series 9: 1. Saving Lives At Sea In World War Ii
In this special episode commemorating the 2024 bicentenary of the RNLI, Dermot O’Leary uncovers the untold story of the institution’s heroic efforts in the Second Wo ...
16-10-2025
BBC 2
Series 10: 10. Midnight Emergency
In Blackpool, it’s just after midnight when the crew receive reports of a man in the water. After finding him unresponsive, it’s vital to get him urgent medical atte ...
08-10-2025
BBC 2
Series 10: 9. Scuba Diver In Danger
In Plymouth, the crew respond to a mayday call - the highest level of emergency at sea - for a scuba diver who has lost consciousness during a 30-metre dive to a shipwreck. When ...
02-10-2025
BBC 2
Series 4: Episode 1
Every day in the seas around the UK and Ireland, an army of unpaid volunteers put their lives on the line to save those of others. Saving Lives At Sea tells the story of the ord ...
05-04-2022
BBC 2
Series 5: Episode 3
The lifeboat crews are on call all year round, but it is in the summer months when they are at their busiest. While the crowds that flock to the coast relax and soak up the sun, ...
22-05-2024
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea Ser 2 Cutdowns: 1. Saving Lives At Sea
Documentary series following the men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). \n\nIn south west Wales, the Tenby crew race to a kayaker with suspected back a ...
20-05-2021
BBC 2
Series 2 (shortened Versions): Episode 1
Documentary following the men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
11-07-2022
BBC 2
Series 3: Episode 6
Every day in the seas around the UK and Ireland, an army of unpaid volunteers put their lives on the line to save those of others. This series tells the story of the ordinary me ...
12-07-2020
BBC 2
Series 7: 8. Commitment
In Thurso, Scotland’s most northerly mainland station, the crew race to the rescue of an ocean-going rower who has run into trouble 40 miles out to sea. In Dungeness, on t ...
06-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 10: 4. Yacht On The Rocks
The Newhaven crew make a desperate attempt to convince a solo yachtsman that he needs rescuing; when his anchor line snaps, he is at the mercy of the rolling swells and the stor ...
28-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 9: 4. First Time For Everything
For every RNLI crew member, the first shout is just the beginning of many firsts.\n\nOn the south western tip of Ireland, Castletownbere crew member Donagh faces a baptism of fi ...
16-01-2026
BBC 2
Episode 06-03-2022
Every day in the seas around the UK and Ireland, an army of unpaid volunteers put their lives on the line to save those of others. This series tells the story of the ordinary me ...
06-03-2022
BBC 2