Series 8

Season 8 · 2023 · 10 episodes

Documentary following the men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

1Training to Save LivesIn Calshot, the RNLI crew are called out to a young man who has lost consciousness in a jet ski accident; when his heart stops, it’s a race against time to bring him back to life.
2In a Split SecondIn 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.
3Heart of the CommunityWhen reports come in of a kayaker who has failed to make it back to shore - where his wife is watching on helplessly - the Larne crew race to the rescue.
4Facing the FearIn 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.
5AdrenalineIn Plymouth, the crew race to the rescue of a fisherman who’s fallen off his boat and is now adrift in the water, with a sea temperature of just eight degrees. In Llandudno - Wales’s largest seaside resort - a father and son have capsized from their kayak on its very first outing. In the ancient harbour town of Wick, in north east Scotland, a photographer is cut off by the tide on some remote rocks, with night drawing in. And just down the coast in Fraserburgh, the crew have to deploy their inflatable Y boat to rescue a fisherman whose boat has run aground on a rapidly shrinking reef.
6FamilyIn 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...
7Motley CrewIn Blackpool, the crew respond to reports of a teenager who has been swept out to sea within sight of the main beach. On the Kent coast, the Margate crew begin a frantic search to find two paddleboarders - a father and son - who have drifted two miles out to sea. In Porthcawl, a crew member’s wedding is interrupted when the pagers sound for two people cut off by the tide. And in Dunbar, on Scotland’s east coast, the crew receive reports of a dog stranded on rocks, hundreds of metres from its owner on shore.
824-7On 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.
9All Hands on DeckThe North Berwick crew race out to try and save a windsurfer battling the seas as he and they fight the gale-force winds of Storm Dennis on the east coast of Scotland. In Carrybridge, on the banks of Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, the crew face two very different challenges: a man who’s become trapped under a digger on one of the lough’s islands and a cow that’s become stuck in the mud on the shoreline. And in Dorset, the Lymington crew race to the rescue of an elderly casualty whose yacht is caught on a lobster pot and is at risk of being overwhelmed by the stormy seas.
10Expect the UnexpectedOn 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.

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