The region’s air ambulance medics will return to national television screens this weekend.

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) will feature in the third series of More4’s popular Emergency Helicopter Medics, which starts on Sunday at 9pm.

During the summer, a camera team followed the GNAAS crews at Langwathby, near Penrith, and Teesside International Airport.

The material they compiled with the support of the patients has been made into eleven episodes, the first of which features a man left in a critical condition after collapsing in Spennymoor, County Durham.

Episode one also features the aftermath of a paraglider crash at Ingleborough, Yorkshire Dales.

Forthcoming episodes will feature:

· A parachutist crash landing into a house in County Durham

· An impalement following a car crash in West Cumbria

· A man hit by a train in Hartlepool

Grahame Pickering MBE, chief executive of GNAAS, said the series provided an unflinching look at the work of the charity’s teams.

“The series doesn’t hide from the challenging situations that our teams encounter on a regular basis. It’s important that the public can see where their donations are spent – which is on treating the most seriously ill and injured patients in our region," he said.

The series also follows Thames Valley Air Ambulance and East Anglia Air Ambulance.

Last year, GNAAS needed to raise £5.3m to survive.

It responded to 1640 call outs.

For more information about the charity, visit www.gnaas.com