Saving Lives at Sea

In the first episode, a retired nursery teacher gets herself into danger after attempting to rescue her two dogs after they became cut off by the rising tide. In Wales, one volunteer crew member is washed off a cliff into the sea trying to rescue a concussed spearfisherman, and in Blackpool a res...

The volunteers of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution staff more than 230 stations covering even the most far-flung areas of Britain's coastline but the busiest station by far is actually miles from the sea, on the river Thames in central London.

In Cornwall, newest recruit 18-year-old Shaunna is following in the family tradition and her grandfather's footsteps. After a successful first rescue of a teenage holiday maker, she has hopes to one day become Newquay's first helmswoman.

The army of unpaid volunteers has to contend with everything from overly ambitious novice sailors caught in a storm to a little girl who has become trapped in the rocks below the high-water mark. The dangers of the water are further put into perspective when a father gets himself into serious dif...