TV & Radio

All the must-see/hear programmes

Began Thursday 29 April, 9pm BBC Two and BBC iPlayer

Many of us dream of tracing relatives whose stories tie our families to major historical events. However, the lived reality of being present at moments when the world changes is often quite another matter. This was something that broadcaster Anita Rani discovered in her episode of Who Do You Think You Are? in 2015, when she learnt about the tragedy suffered by her maternal grandfather and his immediate family during the Partition of India in 1947.

The lasting impact of being caught up in remarkable events lies at the heart of Saved By A Stranger, a four-part series presented by Rani. Each episode shares the stories of two individuals who were affected in such a way, and follows them as they search for the person who reached out and helped them at their moment of crisis.

Many of the stories reflect recent British history, including the 7/7 London bombings, the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the Falklands War, but the Holocaust and the Bosnian War are also featured.

The first episode, already available on iPlayer, illustrates how this works in practice as we meet Karl, a clinical psychologist travelling on the Piccadilly Line train targeted by terrorists on 7 July 2005. In the moments after a bomb exploded, Karl was comforted by a woman who held his hand in the smoke-filled carriage. But who was she?

We also meet Emina, an NHS researcher from Nottingham. Emina and her younger sister Edina, who was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome as a baby, were born in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. Emina returns to the city to track down the doctor who fought to place the family on a crucial list for immediate medical evacuation.