What is Saved by a Stranger?
Saved by a Stranger is new four-part documentary series presented by Anita Rani. Each episode features two ordinary people who survived some of the most tragic and world-changing events in living memory – from terror attacks to pandemics. They all owe their survival to a stranger who helped them in their darkest hour, and the programme follows their efforts to track down these ordinary heroes.
When is Saved by a Stranger on TV?
The first episode of Saved by a Stranger will air on BBC Two at 9pm on Thursday 29 April 2021.
What is Saved by a Stranger about?
In the first episode of Saved by a Stranger, Anita Rani meets Karl, a trainee clinical psychologist. In 2005 Karl was a passenger on one of the London Underground trains that was targeted in the 7/7 terror attacks. In the moments after the bomb exploded, Karl was comforted by a woman who was standing close to him and who reached out and held his hand in the dark, smoke-filled carriage as he feared for his life. Now, he wants to track her down, as he finally comes to terms with the event that changed his life forever.
Alongside Karl’s search 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.
The three forthcoming episodes of the series will feature survivors of major historic events including the Holocaust, the Falklands War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Who is Anita Rani?
Anita Rani is a TV and radio presenter who has co-hosted Countryfile since 2015, and this year began presenting the Friday and Saturday editions of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. When she appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? Anita discovered that her own family were caught up in a historic tragedy, as her grandfather Sant Singh lost his first wife and children in the sectarian violence surrounding the partition of India in 1947.
Rosemary Collins is the staff writer of Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine
