Pulse-poundingly breathtaking, Mayday Mayday, as seen on ITV1, follows the fearless men and women of the RNLI.

These volunteers, operating lifeboats around Britain's rough and weather-beaten coastline, must be ever-ready to come to the aid of those in trouble at sea. Using footage from state-of-the-art helmet and boat cameras, this unique view of lifeboat crews on active duty takes you to the heart of the danger, the risk, and the reward.

On holiday at Torbay, Keith Wilkinson from Yorkshire slips on the rocks and wakes up in the sea seriously wounded. Two miles out to sea, David and Anne Brumitt realise that their motor cruiser is rapidly and irreversibly filling with water. In Dunbar, Scotland, Susie Donnelly and her three daughters go for a seaside picnic, but soon discover they have been cut off by the highest tide of the year.

With true-life events like these - filmed as they happen - the endings are never certain, but one thing is. It's all about saving lives and what happens when the call comes in: Mayday Mayday.

Special Features:

• History of the RNLI
• Picture Gallery
• Subtitles