Episode 2

Horatio Clare joins the crews of lifeboats based on the River Thames. Established in 2002 in response to the inquiries into the Marchioness disaster, the four lifeboats are permanently manned and have to respond to a distress call within 30 seconds. The boats are not like familiar sea-going lifeboats but are jet-propelled, capable of travelling at 40 knots.

Horatio joins the crews at Chiswick and Teddington, whose work mostly involves helping people who use the river for pleasure rather than business. Horatio explores the changes in the ways that people use the river and the RNLI's response to them, and undergoes storm training at the Lifeboat College in Poole.