Rav Wilding fronts this CBBC reality series that gives six 12- to 14-year-olds a crash course in British emergency response. Over two series the squad rotate through the Cadets, RNLI lifeboats, mountain rescue, air ambulance and water-rescue units, picking up rope knots, casualty drills and radio protocol before facing a mock disaster. Each episode pairs Wilding with a guest mentor who grades the cadets and crowns a ‘Squad Leader’; the chosen child then commands the others in a fully equipped, but scripted, rescue operation.
The first run launched 8 October 2012 and pulled enough playground chatter for BBC executives to green-light a second batch before Christmas. Filming resumed the following summer, with series two airing 9 October–11 December 2013. Production travelled wherever the services allowed: Welsh quarries for cliff extraction drills, North Sea harbours for lifeboat launches, Brecon peaks for stretcher carries. The formula never varied: eight days of tuition, one day of judgement, a medal ceremony in front of the kit they had just learnt to handle.
Twenty episodes were made before the axe fell quietly; no third series was commissioned and CBBC wiped the online catch-up rights in 2015. Wilding moved on to Crime Watch Roadshow, while the young recruits returned to GCSEs and the occasional school assembly anecdote about steering an Atlantic 85 or winching from a Sea King.
Production Details
CBBC Channel / 2 Seasons / 20 Episodes / 2012
Main Cast
