A North East lifeboat crew will appear on a BBC TV programme set to return later tonight.

Hartlepool RNLI is set to appear on BBC Two programme Saving Lives at Sea which is returning at 8pm on Thursday, September 28.

Hartlepool crews will be faced with rescuing a chihuahua and its owner who have drifted out to sea on a paddleboard.

Read more: All you need to know: Stockton's The Gathering Sounds 2023

The episode will mark its eighth season tonight with loyal viewers excited to see lifeboat crews perform their essential work.

The first episode airing tonight, Training to Save Lives, will also feature RNLI crews in Calshot, responding to a young man who lost consciousness in a jet ski accident.

Meanwhile, the full-time coxswain at Dover, will be using all of his experience to rescue two anglers in danger of being washed off a pier.

Adding to this, crews of New Brighton and Hoylake are forced to work together to help a man stuck in the mud as the tide rises around him.

Read more: A body has been found beneath Roseberry Topping beauty spot

In the second episode, airing next Thursday (October 5), Whitby crews race to rescue two fossil hunters who are cut off by the tide - with the crew finding they are also in grave danger.

Saving Lives at Sea documents the work Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), showing its rescues in British coastal waters.

Read next:

It's the last day of the flash sale! Get more from The Northern Echo with a £1 for 1 month Premium Plus subscription. Click here.

The series debuted on BBC Two in 2016 and has proven a hit with viewers across the country.

The programme provides an insight into the RNLI's often precarious work rescuing thousands of people, and saving hundreds of lives around our coastline and inland waterways each year.

It features real-life rescue footage, accompanied by testimonials from volunteer crews, lifeguards and those they help.