Catch up TV
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 ordinary men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) who are ready to answer their pager’s call and race to the rescue of those in trouble, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, whatever the weather. Using footage shot on the crews’ own cameras, this series takes us into the heart of the action, capturing the unpredictable work of the RNLI in unique detail.\n\nOver five thousand lifeboat crew volunteers are on standby to launch into the seas, rivers and lakes of the UK and Ireland and when they do they know there are three things they can rely on – their kit, their training and, most importantly, their team. The tight-knit crew at St Davids in Pembrokeshire includes three brothers Hal, Will and Ben, who are all called into action together when a plane makes an emergency crash landing on one of Wales’s busiest beaches, while over two hundreds miles to the south, on Jersey in the Channel Islands the St Catherine crew push their boat and themselves to their limits launching into a winter storm to search for a man missing far out at sea; and on the Wirral the crew of Hoylake launch their specialist rescue hovercraft and race the incoming tide to try and save a horse, stuck fast in mud, from drowning.
Source: BBC 2
Most recent episodes of Saving Lives at Sea
Saving Lives At Sea
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 ...
22-04-2025
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
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 ...
12-04-2025
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 6 (shortened Versions): Episode 5
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 ...
29-03-2025
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
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 ...
22-03-2025
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 6 (shortened Versions): 2. Saving Lives At Sea
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 ...
20-03-2025
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 5 (shortened Versions): Episode 9
Last year, the lifeboat crews and lifeguards around the UK and Ireland raced to the aid of over 9,400 people, but all the volunteers know that, when the pager goes off, not ever ...
09-02-2025
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 8: 4. Facing The Fear
Every time any of the 400 lifeboats across the UK and Ireland are called out on a shout, the crews on board must manage a whole range of emotions - and face their fears.\n\nIn n ...
17-12-2024
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 8: 6. Family
For all crews, the support network extends far beyond the staff and volunteers themselves: they need their family behind them at all times.\n\nIn Torbay, Devon, a yacht has sent ...
11-12-2024
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
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 ...
20-11-2024
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
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 ...
30-10-2024
BBC 2
Most popular episodes of Saving Lives at Sea
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 5: Episode 6
The thousands of lifeboat volunteers across the UK and Ireland are willing to put their lives on the line to rescue those in danger at a moment’s notice. Once they have la ...
10-04-2022
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
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 ...
12-04-2025
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 7: 10. Battling The Conditions
In Baltimore, south west Ireland, the crew are called out to reports of an upturned catamaran over 70 miles out to sea. In Newhaven, on the Sussex coast, a grounded yacht in rol ...
15-11-2022
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 3: Episode 7
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 ...
14-12-2022
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 9: 2. 999
Of the 9,000 shouts the lifeboat crews respond to each year, the vast majority start - as most emergencies do - with a 999 call.\n\nIn Dungeness, the crew are called out to repo ...
11-04-2024
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 9: 8. Pressure
Whenever their pagers sound, the volunteers of the RNLI immediately find themselves under pressure.\n\nIn Port Isaac, on the north coast of Cornwall, the crew race to the rescue ...
23-05-2024
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 6: Episode 9
We rely on our lifeboat crews 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year - they risk their lives saving ours, even in the most challenging conditions.\n\nIn St Davids, on the Pembroke ...
17-03-2023
BBC 2
Saving Lives At Sea
Series 7: 9. Silly Season
In St Davids, on the south west coast of Wales, the crew have to deal with one of their biggest ever summer shouts: a group of 16 paddleboarders and kayakers who are blissfully ...
01-11-2022
BBC 2