Saving Lives at Sea

Documentary following the men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The busiest RNLI station is on the River Thames in central London, established after the Marchioness pleasure cruiser sank in 1989. While it might look benign, the Thames is actually one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the UK, and the volunteers are called from their beds in the middle of the night to try to rescue two students who have jumped naked into the river while high on LSD. At the coast in Newquay, the volunteers and coastguard helicopter are scrambled to try to help a 12-year-old boy on a Cub Scout trip who has fallen badly and has suspected spinal damage. Eastbourne lifeboat station covers a stretch of coastline which includes Beachy Head, so they have had to become more familiar with death than most. Recovering the body of someone who has taken their own life is a duty which the volunteers see as an important service to the family who have lost a loved one.