Saving Lives at Sea (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 27th July 2016)
Documentary following the men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). In Cornwall, newest recruit 18-year-old Shaunna is following in the family tradition and her grandfather’s footsteps. After a successful first rescue of a teenage holiday maker, she has hopes to one day become Newquay’s first helmswoman. And in the remote fishing village of Oban on the west coast of Scotland, the RNLI have another new 18-year-old recruit. Young Andrew and the rest of the crew are given a painful reminder of the dangers all lifeboat volunteers face when they are woken by their pagers in the middle of the night to try and rescue the captain and crew of a fishing boat that is sinking having run aground in the middle of a storm.
Full Steam Ahead (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 28th July 2016)
Series exploring how the expansion of railways in the Victorian era transformed Britain. Historians Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn visit Beamish in County Durham to examine how railway companies began to develop ways of moving people, rather than just stone, coal and iron, around the country. The comfort of the early passenger wagons are put to the test. The team then visit a refreshment room, discover the downside of compartment-only carriages and investigate how travellers made do without modern conveniences. There is also a look at the impact of railway construction on cottage industries, the important role of the train guard, and the harsh life of navvies who grafted tirelessly to lay the miles of track.
Amazing Spaces: Shed of the Year (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 29th July 2016)
George Clarke and the Amazing Spaces team return for the highlight in every shed owner’s calendar: The Shed of the Year competition. From hundreds of entries, just 32 have made it on to the judges’ shortlist for 2016, and only one will take the ultimate shed accolade. The first episode features the ‘Unique’ and ‘Historic’ categories, including a shed that rotates 360 degrees to follow the sun, to a shed that can hit the road clocking in at 90mph. There is also a faithful replica of an Anglo Saxon longhouse and a Vietnam War bunker in Staffordshire.
All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.