History Series / NineNineNine

[[caption-width-right:350: Nine-nine, NINE! Tonight on 999...]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Nine-nine...NINE! Tonight on 999...]]

[[caption-width-right:350: NINE, NINE...NINE! Tonight on 999...]]

''999'' (also known as ''999 Lifesavers'' and ''999 International'') is a British docudrama TV series that was shown on the BBC from 1992 to 2003. It was presented by the newsreader Michael Buerk and was the British equivalent to ''Series/Rescue911''.

A similar, more child-friendly series called ''Against All Odds'' ran on CBBC in the early 2000s.

* WorstAid: The final season had a segment in which Dr. Catherine Hood tested a public audience on their first aid knowledge. If they made the wrong choice, she would demonstrate why this would be dangerous/fatal in the real world.

[[caption-width-right:350: Tonight on 999...]]

* LostAShoeInTheStruggle: A young boy lost one of his new shoes when he had to be rescued from being stuck in mud.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: After every reconstruction, the people involved would talk about how they dealt with the aftermath of their ordeals and were all the wiser as a result.

Not to be confused with ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', commonly abbreviated as ''999''.

* BitterSweetEnding: Occasionally, one such example was the dog that barked constantly after its owner had fainted and fell off a bridge until a passerby noticed and went to get help, said dog passed away a few months later [[spoiler: and posthumously received a life-saver award from the RSPCA.]]

* SpiritualPredecessor: To the likes of RealRescues, HelicopterHeroes, CloseCallsOnCamera, etc.

* AdultFear: Naturally, this was the case with reconstructions of children being rescued, such an example was featured as early as the 2nd episode.

A similar, more child-friendly series called ''Against All Odds'' ran on CBBC from 2000 to 2004.

* JumpScare: Guaranteed to happen at some point, given the nature of the series as a whole, especially the common occurance of the signature three-notes that referred to the title in morse code during each episode.

** This also applied to the episodes as a whole because one episode would always end with a preview of the following episode as well an end credits sequence with the theme tune playing over it.

** Some of the rescues were previously shown on the televised news, allowing the use of archive footage. Others were featured in local newspapers.

* AdultFear: Naturally, this was the case with reconstructions of children ending up in danger, such an example was featured as early as the 2nd episode.

** A 1996 episode featured a reconstruction of an 18-month-old girl choking in her cot and the family cat alerting the tot's parents to the danger with Beethoven's 3rd Symphony playing in the background. This was because the cat was named after Beethoven.

** A 3-year-old boy survived straying on to a railway line and getting zapped by the third rail, only requiring the amputation of his left leg. Luckier still, a train driver who lived nearby saw the kid from a distance and flagged down an oncoming train before it could hit him. [[RealityEnsues Unfortunately, the train driver was so distressed by the incident that he became afraid of trains and retired immediately.]] [[spoiler: It was only years later that both victim and rescuer were able to ride a steam train together.]]
* RealityEnsues: Although the victims and their rescuers were all the wiser after their ordeals, some were affected worse than others. The incident listed under NoOneCouldSurviveThat for example.