''Helicopter Heroes'' is a British daytime television series, following the lifesaving work of the

Yorkshire Air Ambulance Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) is a dedicated helicopter emergency air ambulance for the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It was established in October 2000, and currently operates two Airbus H145 aircraft. It is an independent char ...

. The first episode aired on 3 September 2007, and a total of seven series have been made. The programme ceased production in 2015. In 2012–13 the team produced a ten-part series called ''Helicopter Heroes Down Under'', featuring the work of British medics working in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

History

First screened on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

in 2007, its first presenter was

Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, mechanic, and writer. He is best known for co-hosting the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and Jame ...

. He agreed to front the show to thank the Yorkshire Air Ambulance crew which flew him to hospital in after his near-fatal jet engine powered car crash, while filming for ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'', at Elvington airfield near York, in September 2006. Audience appreciation ratings (AIs) led the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

to re-commission the show. Several series have been repeated in a primetime slot in slightly shortened form (30 minutes). Since series two (2008), it has been fronted by ex-policeman and former ''

Crimewatch ''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was or ...

'' presenter

Rav Wilding Rav Wilding (born 16 October 1977) is a British television presenter and former police officer who served with the British Transport Police and Metropolitan Police Service. Prior to joining the police, Wilding served in the British Army and wo ...

. Series six was broadcast in Autumn 2012, with a further ten episodes airing in May 2013. The first series of ''Helicopter Heroes Down Under'' first aired in April 2013 on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, narrated by

Joe Crowley Joseph Crowley (born March 16, 1962) is an American politician and consultant who served as U.S. Representative from New York's 14th congressional district from 1999 to 2019. He was defeated by Democratic primary challenger Alexandria Ocasio-C ...

. This was then repeated on BBC One and led to a second series being commissioned, which then aired in January 2015.

Filming

''Helicopter Heroes'' is edited in a hangar at

Leeds Bradford Airport Leeds Bradford Airport is located in Yeadon, in the City of Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire, England, about northwest of Leeds city centre, and about northeast from Bradford city centre. It serves Leeds and Bradford and th ...

and shot by a small team from BBC English Regions using Sony EX3 and PMW200 HD cameras. The team also uses a collection of

GoPro GoPro, Inc. (marketed as GoPro and sometimes stylized as GoPRO) is an American technology company founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman. It manufactures action cameras and develops its own mobile apps and video-editing software. Founded as Woodman La ...

cameras both as 'Medicams' (body-mounted cameras on the paramedics) and five cameras located within the helicopter for stationary shots. The show also features air-to-air footage and aerial pictures of the Yorkshire countryside. They have flown more than 2,000 missions in the Yorkshire Air Ambulance's two MD900 Explorer helicopters. The programme captured footage of the aftermath of the

Cumbria shootings The Cumbria shootings was a shooting spree which occurred on 2 June 2010 when a lone gunman, taxi driver Derrick Bird, killed twelve people and injured eleven others in Cumbria, England, United Kingdom. Along with the 1987 Hungerford massacre a ...

during summer 2010. The team also filmed footage of a patient – air ambulance dispatcher Chris Solomons – actually suffering a heart attack, going into cardiac arrest and being revived with CPR and a defibrillator. This is now used as a training aid for

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

s, air ambulance crews and

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

s. The ''Helicopter Heroes Down Under'' series was filmed in Australia during early 2013.

Transmissions

Regular series

Down Under

International broadcasts

''Helicopter Heroes'' has aired in

(series 1–2 on

LifeStyle Channel Lifestyle (formerly known as The LifeStyle Channel) is an Australian television channel. The channel launched on 1 September 1997. The channel has an emphasis on contemporary lifestyle interests. Its programming covers topics including food an ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 1101218 2007 British television series debuts 2015 British television series endings 2000s British documentary television series 2010s British documentary television series 2000s British medical television series 2010s British medical television series BBC television documentaries Documentary television series about aviation Television shows set in Yorkshire