Guy Martin: Proper Jobs

In this episode, Guy joins the crew of an RNLI lifeboat in his hometown of Grimsby as he tackles a selfless and demanding job where volunteers put their lives on the line every day.

Guy goes to work one mile below the North Sea in the UK's last deep mine - it's punishing work in blistering heat, and very real dangers lurk around every corner.

Guy Martin travels to a remote island in the Hebrides to live and work on a dairy farm during calving season - after learning the ropes, he milks a herd of cows by himself.

Guy Martin joins a multi-generational family business who rescue crashed or broken-down HGVs as he learns the physics of truck recovery and operates a crane during a complex rescue.

In one of the most intense experiences of his life, Guy Martin takes on what is often called the most dangerous job in the UK – working as a deckhand on a fishing trawler. Not a single trawler still works out of Guy's hometown of Grimsby, one of the country's biggest fishing ports when Guy was growing up. So, Guy has to travel to another famous trawler town, Brixham, in Devon. Here he sets sail for a gruelling 4-day trip on a 30-foot beam trawler called William of Ladram. Under the guidance of the boat's most experienced crew member, Lizard, Guy learns how to land the catch, often manhandling madly swinging nets on the rolling deck to release up to three tons of fish. He's taught how to sort the most valuable fish from the worthless (which are thrown back in) -and then how to gut the catch. It's an energy sapping trip of long brutal shifts, little sleep and the ever-present danger of falling overboard, or being injured by the massive array of heavy equipment he's working with, although Guy will also discover the amazing camaraderie of such a tight knit crew -and the bravery of the people who put fish on our plates. He'll also enjoy the freshest fish dinner he's ever had. 

The Calf of Man is a remote island in the Irish Sea, just off the coast of the Isle of Man. It is a nature reserve, with just four permanent residents who live off-grid, monitoring wildlife and maintaining the wild habitats. Guy joins these wardens in their conservation work, trying his hand at birdwatching, rat catching and cleaning up a beach that's a favourite with pregnant seals. Guy helps repair the fake puffins designed to attract the real thing, gets hands on with a local bird that had been thought extinct (but is now one of British conservation's biggest success stories) and, of course, finds a way to get covered in oil as he repairs the island's only tractor. Living in an abandoned lighthouse and surviving on ration packs isn't for everyone, but for Guy it is a profound experience that takes him closer to nature and allows him to form a unique bond with the other wardens. It offers the busy truck mechanic and motorcycle racer both a time for reflection, and valuable lessons in conservation, such as what a birdwatcher means when they discuss the importance of jizz and shags…

Guy Martin follows in the footsteps of his brother and sister, both of whom were firefighters - "well, I suppose it's in the blood". Before dawn, Guy arrives at Peak's Lane Fire Station in Grimsby – the town's busiest station – to work a full 24-hour shift on Green Watch. As well as joining the crew of Papa 4 on any call outs through the day - "got to drive through Grimsby with the dee-daas going!", Guy mucks in with cooking meals, works out in a gym for the first time in his life and learns why his fellow firefighters joined the service, what motivates them and how they cope with the harder parts of the job. Of course, Guy wasn't allowed on shift with no training so, a month before it began, he spent a week at the Fire Service College in the Cotswolds. At the world class training facility, Guy experienced, up close, the destructive power of fire - and took part in large scale exercises simulating a multi car motorway pile-up and an oil facility fire following a helicopter crash. So, would Guy's brother and sister be proud? Can he hack it as a firefighter?

Guy begins by selecting which of his own three dogs – Nigel, Steve and Keith – is most suitable as a search and rescue dog. Keith shows a lot of promise, but when expert trainer Stu McIntyre puts him through his paces, Keith sadly doesn't make the grade. So, alone, Guy heads to the Cairngorms – one of Britain's most dangerous mountain ranges – where he's given an intense course of Mountain Rescue training and learns a little about why the volunteers who do this extreme job repeatedly risk everything to save others. Then he practices, repeatedly, how to work with an experienced search and rescue dog called Pippa, learning how to efficiently cover a search area with her. Finally, Guy faces a daunting test of his newly acquired abilities. Dropped by helicopter in one of the remotest parts of the Cairngorms, he and Pippa must try to locate a casualty in a search area stretching for miles. It's cold, wet and blowing a gale – but of course it involves a dog, so Guy is loving it.