Saving Lives at Sea

On the Isle of Wight, the Bembridge crew face a race against time to save an old fishing trawler that’s become trapped on a submarine barrier, and is now taking on water. Just across the island, the Cowes crew embark on a night time search for a missing jet skier. In Anstruther, on the east coast of Scotland, a man is badly injured after falling into the harbour just a few hundred feet from the station. And on the Welsh coast, the St Davids crew work with the local coastguard team to rescue two people who are stuck on a cliff.

On the north eastern tip of the Scottish mainland, the crew at Wick begin a frantic search to find a paddleboarder who has drifted a mile out to sea, while her family wait anxiously on the shore. Further south, the Fraserburgh crew respond to a mayday call from a trawler that has run aground with four fishermen on board. In Mudeford, on the Dorset coast, the crew race to the rescue of a small inflatable boat that’s struggling to make it back to harbour in 40mph winds. On the Kent coast, a bystander has reported a capsized catamaran a mile out to sea. And in Rhyl, a Christmas Day call out to a person in the water leads to an unexpected discovery.

In Torbay, Devon, a yacht has sent out a mayday, meaning the lives of the six crew on board are in grave and imminent danger. In Wales, the Aberystwyth crew race to the rescue of a small boat that has lost engine power and is drifting perilously close to the rocks at the end of the harbour wall. In Dover, the crew launch their Severn-class lifeboat, after reports that a small boat - with 30 people on board - has capsized in the English Channel. On the north east coast of England, in Cleethorpes, a man is cut off by the tide in a notorious trouble spot. And on the Sussex coast, the Eastbourne crew respond to an unusual call out: a deer in the water...

In north Wales, the Conwy crew respond to reports of two people - including a young boy - who have been caught out by the tide and are now struggling to stay afloat.

In Whitby, North Yorkshire, the RNLI crew race to the rescue of two fossil hunters who are cut off by the tide - and soon find that they too are in grave danger.

In Baltimore, south west Ireland, the crew are called out to reports of a solo sailor clinging onto his upturned catamaran over 70 miles out to sea.

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 Eastbourne, on the Sussex coast, a routine day at the lifeboat station changes in an instant when a boat catches fire just outside the harbour.

On Ireland’s north west coast, the RNLI crew at Bundoran race to the rescue of a teenage girl who has been swept out to sea.

In Swanage, the lifeboat crew work hand in hand with the specialist coastguard rope team to help an injured climber.

In Portrush, Co Antrim, the crew race to rescue a boy who has got into difficulties after jumping off rocks, and one of the crew volunteers enters the water to save him. On the Pembrokeshire coast, the lifeguard team at Whitesands Beach join forces with the St David lifeboat crew to rescue someone who has been found unconscious in the water

On Ireland's south-east coast, the three RNLI crews at Dunmore East, Kilmore Quay and Rosslare battle to save a cargo ship that has lost all power and is drifting towards rocks. In Hoylake, on the Wirral, a vast multi-agency effort is required to rescue a mother and daughter who have got stuck in the mud and, 65 miles to the west, in the coastal village of Porthdinllaen, the crew respond to a mayday call from a yacht five miles out in the Irish Sea that is requesting an immediate medical evacuation.

In St Agnes, the crew is involved in a race against time to rescue two young men. They are reported to be struggling in the water near a notorious headland known as Tubby's Head. In Whitby, North Yorkshire, Leah is training to be the station's first female helm, and her skills are put to the test when she is called out to rescue a walker who's fallen and injured her leg on inaccessible rocks by the seal colony at Ravenscar.

The crew at Tower, on the River Thames in London, is the busiest of all the lifeboat stations, averaging more than 500 shouts a year and aiming to launch to any emergency in under 90 seconds. When a call comes in about a man in the water near the Thames Barrier, they reach him with just moments to spare. In Fleetwood, on the Lancashire coast, a desperate 999 call alerts the crew to a bait digger - out looking for worms on the sand flats - who has been caught out by the incoming spring tide and is in danger of being submerged and swept out to sea.

The volunteers of the RNLI battle to save a mother and her son who are caught in a rip current, plus a man who has fallen over 100 feet from the top of a cliff.

The RNLI volunteers race to save a teenage paddleboarder being swept out to sea, a sinking cargo ship and a yacht being battered by an Atlantic storm.

The RNLI volunteers face a search in one of the worst storms in living memory, race to save three people caught in a rip current and two men stuck on an oil rig's anchor chain.

The RNLI volunteers race against time to try and save three people in the water in the Bristol Channel, a father and son trapped against a cliff face and a badly injured sailor.

The volunteers of the RNLI race to save a sinking schooner and a walker with a broken leg, while cries for help in the early hours of the morning lead to an eerie night-time search.

The volunteers of the RNLI race to rescue a stranded porpoise, a teenager trapped by the tide on a rocky outcrop and the crew of a fishing boat on fire.

RNLI volunteers teams come to the aid of two teenagers stuck in mud on the Humber estuary and a boat that has lost its mast on the freezing waters of Loch Ness.

The RNLI volunteers race to the rescue of a huge cargo ship aground on a sandbank, a kayaker who has set off an emergency beacon, and a horse in danger of drowning in a river.

RNLI volunteers race to the rescue of two five-year-old girls blown out to sea on an inflatable and a mother and daughter trapped by the tide, while one crew member saves his own dad.

The RNLI volunteers race to the rescue of a rock climber who has fallen over 40 feet, a paraglider who has crashed into the sea and a man drifting offshore in a toy dinghy.

The volunteers of the RNLI race to save a fisherman from a burning boat, a man stuck in freezing mud, and a walker who, after trying to rescue her dog, now needs saving herself.

Off the packed beach at Blackpool, the crew race after a teenage girl being swept out to sea on an inflatable dinghy. While on the miles of long sandy beaches at Rhyl in north Wales, amongst the holidaying crowds two girls get caught in a deadly current while swimming just a few metres from shore. And on the Cornish coast a woman, trying out the extreme sport of coasteering for the very first time, falls several metres down a cliff face onto a beach with a fast incoming tide.

For the thousands of volunteers who guard our seas and waterways, saving other people can mean making sacrifices in their own lives. Volunteer and doctor Adam makes a 500-mile round trip every time he puts in a shift at Tower Lifeboat Station in the heart of London, but his medical skills prove invaluable when the crew are called to help the police try and save a man who is stuck under a pier on the Thames with the tide rising. In north Wales, when police officer Vinny isn't patrolling the streets of Rhyl, he volunteers for the lifeboat crew. When the pagers go off one summer evening, Vinny finds himself heading out into the darkness to try and rescue two teenage boys who have chased a wayward football into the sea and get caught in a treacherous current. While across the Irish Sea in Dunmore East, the lifeboat crew's evening is interrupted by an urgent call to a motor boat stranded several miles out and taking on water.

There are many reasons why the thousands of yellow-wellied volunteers first joined up, but they all share a common desire to help those in trouble. At Anstruther station in Scotland, one of their newest helms, George, takes charge for his first shout to a serious medical evacuation. A woman has slipped on one of the most notorious parts of the station's patch, the Chain Walk, where walkers have to negotiate steep cliffs while hanging on to chains hammered into the rock. On the north coast of Devon, the crew at Appledore station make a life-or-death dash to rescue two teenagers caught in a cave being flooded by the tide and pounded by waves, but arriving at the scene they discover that saving the young couple will mean putting themselves in danger. And when Storm Henry hits the British Isles and has shipping running for safe harbours, a cargo ship loses all power and is left at the mercy of the waves and 90-mile-an-hour winds. As she drifts inexorably towards the rugged cliffs of north Devon, two lifeboats are launched but even with their combined power they face a losing battle trying to tow the huge ship out of harm's way

In Brighton the crew are called out to what they think is just a routine job - towing a yacht that has lost power back to harbour - but a sudden spring squall and mountainous waves leave the crew fighting to save the yacht and themselves from being dashed on the shore. Off the east coast of Ireland, the crew of the small fishing village of Howth respond to an emergency call from a family on a local beach - a teenage girl out on a sailing dinghy has capsized and is now being swept out into the Irish Sea. While on the island of Anglesey, the crew of Moelfre are also heading out to help a family in trouble - two women have swum out to save a friend's young son being blown out to sea on an inflatable, but it quickly becomes the rescuers that need saving themselves

From first timers at sea to salty old skippers, the wrong conditions can catch anyone off their guard leaving them in need of rescuing. On the east coast of Ireland, the crew of Courtown's inshore lifeboat face one of their most challenging shouts ever - in deep water they must keep a teenage girl with suspected spinal injuries immobile and afloat for 40 minutes, knowing any movement could leave her paralysed for life. Meanwhile on the English Riviera in Devon, the Torbay crew have just minutes to find a capsized kayaker before she is dashed against the rocks, and in Dartmouth, an 81-year-old sailor, fallen overboard in the middle of the night, is left clinging to a rope for his life.

In Tenby, police searching for a boat thief call for lifeboat assistance. The Mumbles lifeguards and lifeboat crew race to help two kayakers adrift in a boat laden with beer. And when two yachts capsize off Portsmouth, the crew must make fast decisions about who to rescue first.

As the summer sun comes out, so do the fun seekers, and crews around the country get ready for action. In Southend, a family of five out sightseeing are a mile off shore and waist-deep in water after being caught out by the tide. The Shoreham crew are paged in the early hours after a drunken festival-goer jumps in the river. And the Brighton crew fear the worst when a man tombstones off the pier at low tide.

In Ilfracombe, a father and son find themselves in danger after jumping in to rescue a drowning dog. The Minehead crew must scour the cliffs and shoreline after a young woman goes missing in a distressed state. And when they're paged to a man seen entering the Thames, the Tower crew face the possibility they may not find him in time.

In episode six of this 12-part series, on one of the hottest days of the year, the Dover crew race to a Channel Swimmer who's collapsed within sight of the French coast. In Mudeford, there are growing fears for a dinghy sailor who is four miles out in rough seas and refusing to accept help, and the Tenby crew are called to a runaway yacht just metres from running aground.

In Bangor, Northern Ireland, crews are tasked to find two teenage paddle boarders, blown offshore towards nearby shipping lanes. The Tenby crew in West Wales must race to a dog who's fallen over a cliff - before worried members of the public attempt to rescue it themselves. And on the North Norfolk coast, the harrowing hovercraft rescue of three young sisters still brings back painful memories for the Hunstanton crew.

Off the coast of Bridlington, a kayaker has been missing for an hour, and only the crews' expert coastal knowledge can help track him down. A crew member on his first shout races to a dinghy capsize to find a man losing consciousness in the water. And when a fishing trawler sinks off the coast of the Shetland Islands, the fishermen and RNLI crew aboard must swim for their lives.

The volunteers are called to rescue a father who gets himself into difficulties after trying to rescue his son.

The volunteers are called to rescue two students who have jumped naked into the River Thames while high on LSD.