Catch up TV
Series 6 (Shortened Versions): 1. 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 to cargo ships on the rocks. In almost every single rescue every second counts. Saving Lives At Sea tells the story of the ordinary men and women who give up their time to do something extraordinary, giving an insight into the lives of the 6,000 lifeboat crew members who are prepared to put their lives on hold whenever the pager sounds, and whatever the weather.\n\nSaving Lives At Sea brings us some of the RNLI’s most extraordinary recent rescues, filmed with the crews’ own cameras, and taking us straight into the heart of the drama. The series captures life at some of the 238 RNLI stations across the UK and Ireland, the compelling stories behind the crew members involved, and the heartfelt testimony of the casualties they’ve saved.\n\nOver 90% of the RNLI’s rescues come under the broad heading ‘Leisure Gone Wrong’ - often an innocent day at the beach or a trip out to sea can turn into a nightmare. In Porthcawl, a surfer’s paradise turns out to be anything but when Storm Brendan wreaks havoc and leaves a group of young friends - and the crew who come to rescue them - in grave danger. In Selsey, a family’s day out for a spot of paddleboarding goes badly awry when a father becomes separated from his young children, leaving them stranded on a rapidly dwindling sandbank. In Anstruther, the crew are called to reports of a local man who’s injured himself jumping off rocks, but takes some persuasion to accept their help. And an exhausted swimmer in the Bristol Channel causes the Portishead crew to take decisive action.
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