The RNLI have released some exciting news about the second series of the BBC program Saving Lives at Sea. The first show of this series will air on BBC 2 at 8pm on Wednesday 16 August. Each program will be 1 hour long and the series will run for 12 weeks until Wednesday 1 November. Attached is the list of stations and beaches featured - it's to be hoped that no WPCA Members are included! As editing for the program is still on-going for the later episodes there may be some additional ones included.
Saving Lives At Sea returns to our TVs this summer, once again telling the story of the ordinary men and women who volunteer for the RNLI and the rescues they go on.
Background
The second series was recommissioned at the end of 2016. Once again, the programme is being made by Blast! Films, but this time by a different team out of their Brighton office.
The series has been extended to 12 x 1 hour programmes, and has moved over to BBC2. The timeslot has move forward by one hour to 20:00. The Channel Editor of BBC2, Patrick Holland, enjoyed series 1 so much he was instrumental in its recommission for BBC2 (which he’s headed up since July 2016). It’s being seen as an important programme for the channel’s new identity under his leadership.
In our negotiations with the production team, we were keen to explore RNLI areas that were not covered in series one – lifeguards, ALC, International etc – along with our presence in Ireland. I’m pleased to say that rescues from both lifeguards and throughout Ireland. However, as a rescue –driven series, sadly other areas of our work, whilst considered, have not been incorporated into the series.
Filming
Due to budget constraints, the production company did not embed a film crew at any stations to film rescues as they happen, and has, therefore, relied heavily on the RNLI to provide rescue footage for this series. This was achieved with the help of a rollout of new HD helmet cameras (and assorted hardware) to 28 stations and 3 lifeguarded beaches. A Press Officer was employed on a temporary basis to assist with this, and the difficult work of coordinating the journey of unedited footage from stations, flagging any issues with the operations managers in CLS and providing it to Blast.
Filming was done at stations once the stories had been chosen, and has included 38 stations as well as at least 2 lifeguarding stories.
The series is more rescue-driven than its predecessor, and has fewer home/worklife scenes, although there are still thought-provoking interviews with crew and rescuees. Once again, the volunteer ethos comes across strongly, with crew members captioned with their day job; in a few cases they’re filmed at work. There’s a nice spread of backgrounds, ages and experience, but female crew feature less prominently than in series one.
Locations
Lerwick, Kinsale, Dover, Porthcawl, Redcar, Minehead, Woolacombe, Aith, Castletownbere,
Brighton, Moelfre, Whitby, Weston SMare, Portreath, Bangor, Portsmouth, Tenby, Bridlington, Dart/Salcombe, Perranporth, Skerries, Newhaven, Conwy, Hartlepool, Sennen/Penlee, Walmer, The Mumbles. Southend, Ilfracombe, Sheerness, Aberystwyth, Hunstanton, Newquay, Tower, Rhyl, Lowestoft, Shoreham, Yarmouth, Mudeford