Catch up TV
Saving Lives at Sea
Saving Lives at Sea Episodes
Series 8: 9. All Hands On Deck
Although the RNLI is made up of over 35,000 individual volunteers, when the call comes in, it’s all hands on deck.\n\nThe North Berwick crew race out to try and save a win ...
03-07-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 8. 24-7
The volunteer crews of the RNLI’s 238 lifeboat stations can be paged at any time, day or night, calling them away from friends, families and colleagues to head out into th ...
25-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 2. In A Split Second
Last year, RNLI’s lifeboats launched over 9,000 times. And whenever they hit the water, the crews all know that someone’s life can be dependent on their split-second ...
18-06-2025
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 ...
22-04-2025
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 ...
12-04-2025
BBC 2
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 ...
28-10-2024
BBC 2
Series 5: Episode 10
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 ...
15-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 5: Episode 5
Week in, week out, across the UK and Ireland volunteers give up their weekends and evenings to learn life-saving techniques ready for when they need to put their skills into use ...
29-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 7: 5. Learning On The Job
The vast majority of the RNLI’s volunteer crew members don’t come from a professional maritime background - so every day is a school day.\n\nIn Eastbourne, new recru ...
16-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 7: 4. Pressure
On Ireland’s north west coast, the crew at Bundoran race to the rescue of a teenage girl who has been swept out to sea by a rip current. In Portishead, north Somerset, a m ...
09-07-2024
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 6: Episode 3
Every lifeboat volunteer undergoes hundreds of hours of training to get them up to the level of expertise needed to join a crew. But even with the best instruction available, a ...
04-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 7: 3. Caught Out
In Lyme Regis, on Dorset’s Jurassic coast, the crew face a frantic search for three fishermen whose boat has capsized in the River Axe. On the north Cornish coast, the lif ...
25-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 9: 10. Hidden Dangers
The RNLI respond to over 9,000 shouts each year - and what often gets people into trouble in the first place are the hidden dangers.\n\nIn Porthcawl, on the south-west coast of ...
05-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 9: 9. Pride
Whatever their individual background or experience, the RNLI’s 5,700 volunteers all share the pride of pulling on the famous yellow jacket.\n\nOn the north Somerset coast, ...
30-05-2024
BBC 2
Series 7: 7. Casualty Care
In Swanage, Dorset, the crew race to the rescue of a diver whose life hangs in the balance and help a yachtsman whose hand has been badly damaged by an anchor chain. In Kinghorn ...
27-05-2024
BBC 2
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
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
Series 9: 7. Knife Edge
In the 200 years since the RNLI was founded, its crews have saved the lives of over 146,000 people. But even with all that experience behind them, shouts often balance on a knif ...
16-05-2024
BBC 2
Series 9: 6. Trust
Every one of the RNLI’s crew members brings their own unique skills to the station at which they volunteer. But they’re all united by one key element: trust.\n\nIn H ...
09-05-2024
BBC 2
Series 9: 5. Caught Out
Although the crews of the RNLI know the perils around their coasts, many seaside visitors already need rescuing by the time they become apparent.\n\nIn Queensferry, an American ...
02-05-2024
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 ...
25-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 9: 3. Every Second Counts
Over 5,000 lifeboat volunteers across the UK and Ireland are ready to answer the call to save lives at sea. From the moment their pagers sound, they know that every second count ...
18-04-2024
BBC 2
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
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 ...
04-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 6 (shortened Versions): Episode 4
Of the calls the RNLI respond to every year, some are a race against the tide while others are against the weather. But all of them are a race against time. The crew at Tower, o ...
29-01-2024
BBC 2
Series 8: 10. Expect The Unexpected
In 2022, the lifeboats around the UK and Ireland launched over 9,300 times. On each and every shout, the crews must expect the unexpected.\n\nOn the Isle of Wight, the Bembridge ...
15-12-2023
BBC 2
Series 8: 7. Motley Crew
For generations, the RNLI was almost exclusively crewed by fishermen and seafarers. But now, the volunteers are from all walks of life, with one common purpose: saving lives at ...
24-11-2023
BBC 2
Series 6 (shortened Versions): 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 ...
22-11-2023
BBC 2
Series 8: 5. Adrenaline
Whenever their pagers sound, every single one of the RNLI’s 5,600 sea-going crew members experience exactly the same thing: the rush of adrenaline.\n\nIn Plymouth, the cre ...
10-11-2023
BBC 2
Series 8: 3. Heart Of The Community
For almost 200 years, the UK and Ireland’s lifeboat stations have always been at the heart of their local communities.\n\nIn Larne, Northern Ireland, father and son duo Fr ...
27-10-2023
BBC 2
Series 8: 1. Training To Save Lives
As well as dropping everything when the pager sounds, the volunteer crews of the RNLI also train regularly - so that when the call does come, everyone is primed and ready.\n\nIn ...
13-10-2023
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 ...
14-06-2023
BBC 2
Series 4 (shortened Versions): Episode 9
The crews race to rescue a shark attack victim and two boys being swept far out to sea.
17-04-2023
BBC 2
Series 4 (shortened Versions): 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 is the story of the ordinary men and wome ...
10-04-2023
BBC 2
Series 4 Cutdowns: Episode 10
When the lives of the volunteers are interrupted by the sound of their pagers, the crews have no idea what they may be facing. All they know is to expect the unexpected. \n\nIn ...
03-04-2023
BBC 2
Series 4 (shortened Versions): 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 programme tells the story of the ordinary ...
20-03-2023
BBC 2
Series 6: 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 ...
18-03-2023
BBC 2
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
Series 6: Episode 8
When the crews step onto their lifeboats, they work as a team - and teamwork is key to every rescue. On Ireland’s south east coast, the three crews at Dunmore East, Kilmor ...
16-03-2023
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 7
Whenever the crew’s pager sounds, they know they must prepare for all eventualities. At Beachy Head, the Eastbourne crew have to deal with a base jumper’s disastrous ...
15-03-2023
BBC 2
Series 6: 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 ...
14-03-2023
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 5
The volunteer crews of the RNLI are often described as heroes, but it’s a word many of them find difficult to accept. In Trearddur Bay, Anglesey, Sara and her daughter Kat ...
01-03-2023
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 4
Of the calls the RNLI respond to every year, some are a race against the tide while others are against the weather. But all of them are a race against time. The crew at Tower, o ...
28-02-2023
BBC 2
Series 4 (shortened Versions): Episode 2
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 ...
23-02-2023
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 2
When they head out on a shout, crew members must often prepare for the worst - dealing with life and loss is part and parcel of the job. For fishermen, the risk of death is six ...
22-02-2023
BBC 2
Series 6: Episode 1
Over 90% of the RNLI’s rescues come under the broad heading of ‘leisure gone wrong’. Often an innocent day at the beach or a trip out to sea can turn into a ni ...
21-02-2023
BBC 2
Series 4 (shortened Versions): Episode 4
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 ...
31-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 3: Episode 8
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 ...
03-01-2023
BBC 2
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
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
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
Series 7: 6. Ready For Anything
In Eastbourne, a routine day at the station changes in an instant when a boat catches fire just outside the harbour. In Trevone, north Cornwall, 18-year-old lifeguard Alfie race ...
11-10-2022
BBC 2
Series 7: 2. Teamwork
In total, the RNLI is made up of over 35,000 individual volunteers, all working together on land and sea to save lives. In Swanage, the lifeboat crew work hand in hand with the ...
06-09-2022
BBC 2
Series 7: 1. Race Against Time
Although each and every call to the RNLI brings its own unique challenges, every single one is a race against time. In Newhaven, two paragliders face a nightmare on Christmas Ev ...
30-08-2022
BBC 2
Series 2 Cutdowns: Episode 2
Documentary following the men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
02-08-2022
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 5: Episode 1
For many lifeboat crews, volunteering runs in the family, stretching back generations, while for others working so closely together means crewmates can often become like a secon ...
03-07-2022
BBC 2
Series 3: 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. This series tells the story of the ordinary me ...
02-07-2022
BBC 2
Series 3: Episode 9
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 ...
28-06-2022
BBC 2
Series 4 (shortened Versions): Episode 5
In Newquay, the RNLI lifeboat crew are called to one of the many shipwrecks lying on the seabed off the Cornish coast, where a diver has been found unconscious without his mouth ...
05-06-2022
BBC 2
Series 5: 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 ...
15-05-2022
BBC 2
Series 5: 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 ...
01-05-2022
BBC 2
Series 5: 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 ...
24-04-2022
BBC 2
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
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 3: Episode 10
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 ...
27-03-2022
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
Series 4 (shortened Versions): Episode 3
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 ...
02-03-2022
BBC 2
Series 3: Episode 5
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 ...
24-02-2022
BBC 2
Series 4 (10 Minute Versions): Episode 3
On the North East Coast of England the crew at Blyth are called out to search for a missing eighty year old man who hasn’t been seen for over six hours.
23-11-2021
BBC 2
Series 2: Episode 10
Every day around the UK, an army of unpaid volunteers put their lives on the line to try and save complete strangers. Saving Lives at Sea tells the story of the ordinary men and ...
23-11-2021
BBC 2
Series 2 (shortened Versions): Episode 6
Documentary following the men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
23-06-2021
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 4 Cutdowns: Episode 8
Calshot lifeboat station on the south coast of England gets a call out to one of the biggest jobs its crews have ever faced - an 180-metre-long, 50,000-tonne cargo ship has hit ...
16-01-2021
BBC 2
Series 3: Episode 9
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 ...
27-11-2020
BBC 2
Series 5: Episode 4
The seas and lakes of the UK and Ireland can catch out even the most experienced seafarers and, more often than not, it is the RNLI volunteers who pick up the pieces. \n\nIn Ess ...
21-10-2020
BBC 2
Series 5: Episode 2
When the pagers sound, the only thing the volunteers know for sure is to expect the unexpected. The unpredictable seas around Britain’s coast mean they can be called out t ...
07-10-2020
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 3: Episode 4
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 ...
26-11-2019
BBC 2
Series 2: Episode 11
Every day around the UK, an army of unpaid volunteers put their lives on the line to try and save complete strangers. Saving Lives at Sea tells the story of the ordinary men and ...
22-03-2018
BBC 2
