The former Queen Katherine School pupil and his flying colleagues from HMS Gannet at Prestwick in Ayrshire, Scotland – in 2007, the UK's busiest helicopter search and rescue station since records began – will feature prominently in 'Highland Emergency', a 30-episode series which aired for the first time on August 5.

The programmes will focus on a number of different rescue organisations, which daily work the rugged and dangerous terrain of the Scottish Highlands, ensuring that help gets to those who need it, no matter what their predicament.

For a year and a half, Martin has been second in command at the Royal Navy's Prestwick unit, which covers a huge area – from Ben Nevis in the north to the Trossachs in the East; the Inner Hebrides and Northern Ireland in the west to the Lake District and beyond in the south.

The men and women who make up HMS Gannet, provide full-time civilian and military search and rescue cover within this area, often flying in extreme conditions above dangerous terrain.

"I am delighted that HMS Gannet is highlighting the work of Royal Navy Search and Rescue in Scotland and the Lake District as part of this national television programme," said Martin. "And I'm proud to have been part of it all, too. I love my job and we all get enormous satisfaction from being able to help people.

"We come across people in all kinds of need, whether it be a pregnant woman who has to be evacuated from one of the islands to hospital or a lost climber caught out as the mist falls, an injured person in a road traffic accident or the crew of a stricken boat – the variety is huge."

Martin now lives in Prestwick with his wife Fiona and their three children Megan, Tom and Finn, though he and his family find plenty of time to visit his parents Marjory and Nicholas Lanni who still live in Kendal.

During his 18 years in the Royal Navy, Martin has served all over the world, flying helicopters at home and on overseas operations, including Iraq in 1998.