31 March 2024
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Group shot of RNLI volunteer crew member, shot in Lyme Regis for Series 9 of the BBC / Blast programme Saving Lives at Sea ( SLAS ). Left to right: Neil Sutor (Portishead), Janet Iqbal (Largs), Angharad Masson (Porthcawl), Maria Bull (Dungeness), Dave Fenton (Castletownbere).
As the RNLI marks 200 years of lifesaving, the volunteer lifeboat crew at Castletownbere are set to take to television screens on Tuesday 2 April at 8pm, as they feature in the ninth series of popular TV show Saving Lives at Sea on BBC Two and iPlayer.
The new series comes in the wake of an incredible milestone for the RNLI, as the charity marked two centuries of lifesaving on 4 March 2024. It began with a special first episode, guest presented by long-time RNLI supporter Dermot O’Leary, taking a closer look at RNLI crews’ involvement in the Second World War.
Nine further episodes in the series return the focus to the lifesaving work of today’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards, featuring footage captured on helmet and boat cameras including Castletownbere RNLI. Viewers will be able to watch dramatic rescues as they unfold through the eyes of RNLI lifesavers, as well as meeting the people behind the pagers and hearing from the rescuees and their families who, thanks to the RNLI, are here to tell the tale.
This forthcoming episode, on Tuesday 2 April, sees Castletownbere RNLI undertake a medivac when the lifeboat launched to help a fisherman who had become seriously ill aboard a trawler in rough seas two miles off Mizen Head in November 2020, alongside rescue stories from their colleagues at other stations.
Castletownbere RNLI volunteer, Donagh Murphy who was on his first call-out, who features in the forthcoming episode, says: ‘It’s great to be able to showcase the work we do on TV like this, and allow the public to see how their generous donations help us to save lives. We’re all looking forward to watching the episode.
Filming took place over the past year, with lifeboat crews and lifeguards carrying special cameras and welcoming film-makers into their day-to-day life. Rescues from the RNLI’s archives are also revisited, and we get a glimpse into the everyday lives of the thousands of men and women who give up their time to save lives.
Saving Lives at Sea is broadcast at 8pm on Tuesdays on BBC Two and iPlayer.