Panorama : Season 69

With the country locked down again in the battle against coronavirus, Panorama reporter Clive Myrie asks what it will take to get through this latest, deadly stage of the pandemic. Hospitals are under pressure, with many said to be at breaking point. Once again, we’re being told to ‘stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives’. With schools shut and most exams cancelled, Panorama assesses the impact on young people’s mental health. The arrival of a vaccine offers hope, but its rollout

Panorama investigates why black men in the UK are more likely than white men to have force used on them by police and to die in police custody. Reporter Mark Daly follows the family of Kevin Clarke on their search for justice. Mr Clarke repeatedly said, 'I can’t breathe' as he was restrained by police on the ground for 14 minutes during a mental health crisis. He died soon afterwards, his words mirroring those of George Floyd, whose death in the US triggered a global debate on race and

Panorama reporter Olivia Davies went to school and college with three boys who later went to fight in Syria. She investigates why they abandoned the UK and what happened to them when they joined the barbaric Isis regime. Travelling to Syria for the first time, she tries to discover what turned three boys from ordinary families into brutal fanatics of the Islamic State group.

As the number of people who have died with coronavirus reaches 100,000 in the UK, BBC Panorama tells the stories of some of those who have lost their lives. Across the generations and occupations, we hear about the amazing lives that have been cut short, from the people who knew them best and loved them the most.

A top boxing trainer shot and badly wounded. A former boxer executed in broad daylight. And a gangland killing at a weigh-in for a European title fight. Is organised crime involved in professional boxing? Reporter Darragh MacIntyre investigates the murky world behind the glamour of the big fights and the suspected gangster who has been welcomed to boxing’s top table. Daniel Kinahan has been named in the courts as the head of one of Europe’s biggest drug cartels. So how did he become

With millions now vaccinated, Panorama investigates the scare tactics of anti-vaxxers – who are they, and what are their motives for trying to deter people from getting the jab? Reporter Marianna Spring reveals the scale of a social media blitz that has targeted vulnerable people and is now reaching young generations yet to be called for their vaccination. We witness the reaction of a test group exposed to one anti-vax video, all under the watchful eye of one of the UK’s most respected

“I’m a hostage. I am not free... my life is not in my hands… I am worried for my safety.” After Princess Latifa was thwarted in an attempt to escape Dubai in 2018, the world was told that she was back in the loving care of her family. But Latifa’s friends, Tiina, David and Marcus found a way to get her a secret phone. A few months ago they lost contact. Now they have taken the decision to release some of the video footage and share her account with the world. Panorama tells Latifa’s

Fly-tipping is a national problem that is ruining our towns and countryside. There are more than a million incidents each year of illegally dumped rubbish in the UK. So why are so few people prosecuted for damaging the places we love? Reporter Richard Bilton investigates a crime that affects us all and meets some of those who are fighting back against the fly-tippers.

The killing of George Floyd last year triggered a national conversation about race and racism in Britain. It’s a subject that can be uncomfortable and sometimes divisive, as BBC presenter Naga Munchetty discovers when she travels across the country to understand what race and racism mean in the UK today.

As the government faces mounting criticism that well-connected people made millions out of Britain's PPE crisis, Panorama investigates who won out. More than £12 billion was spent in the first six months of the pandemic on contracts to provide personal protective equipment. Reporter Richard Bilton meets one man who made £40 million on a deal and speaks to others who felt ignored in favour of less-experienced suppliers. As the government refuses to reveal the full details of all its so-called

The inside story of the most sensational break-up in recent political history. Once close friends and allies, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon took the SNP from nowhere to government, and Scotland to the brink of independence. Now sworn enemies, former first minister Salmond accuses some of those he once led of plotting to have him imprisoned. Reporter Mark Daly investigates and asks what the split could mean for the future of Scotland and of the United Kingdom.

Thousands of schools have been totally or partially destroyed during the Syrian conflict, which began ten years ago this month. Iqra School in Aleppo was one of those schools, bombed by a fighter jet in 2013. Some pupils were killed immediately and more died of horrific injuries soon after. A BBC Panorama team were filming in a children's hospital nearby and captured the desperate attempts to save lives after the attack. Supporters of the Syrian regime falsely claimed that these scenes had been

Journalist Jane Corbin has reported on epidemics, medical emergencies and global conflicts since the 1980s. When Britain went into its first national lockdown in March, she was filming on the NHS Frontline in Leicester and Coventry. It was an unprecedented point in history - there was no playbook and no firm evidence base to guide decision-making. With every government on the planet faced with the same challenge at the same time, it could have been an unprecedented opportunity for global

Panorama goes undercover inside a lab analysing thousands of Covid-19 tests per day. Secretly filmed footage reveals a failing service with shoddy practices, where staff complain they are under pressure to meet targets despite the lab often running well below capacity. The programme discovers there have been three outbreaks of coronavirus among staff and that social distancing is poorly maintained. Test samples sometimes arrive poorly packaged and labelled, with equipment frequently

Panorama investigates the scandal of our polluted rivers. Reporter Joe Crowley obtains data that reveals how some big water companies have been illegally dumping untreated sewage. He meets local people campaigning for a wholescale clean-up and exposes one company discharging sewage without a permit.

Panorama investigates allegations of racism in the Church of England. A year after the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, admitted that the Church was still 'deeply institutionally racist', and that he was 'ashamed' of its record, reporter Clive Myrie meets vicars, curates and theological trainees to understand the scale of the problem. He hears stories of racist abuse and claims of a culture that creates a hostile environment for Christians of colour. Some say they have been told to

Thousands of young people born or brought up in the UK are having their dreams destroyed or lives disrupted because of their immigration status. Reporter Greg McKenzie meets those who say they’re treated as second-class citizens. They can’t vote, can’t claim benefits, struggle to go to university and may even face deportation. Panorama investigates a Home Office policy that gives them a chance to stay in the UK, but which takes ten years and costs thousands of pounds.

For the past year Panorama has been filming with Kent police as they try to disrupt the ‘county lines’ that transport millions of pounds of drugs from London to towns across their county. With an estimated 1,000 county lines operating across the UK, criminals have increasingly turned to children and the vulnerable to carry out the risky job of distributing drugs. Despite months of lockdown, the illegal trade in class A drugs has flourished. Panorama films drug deals openly taking place on

Panorama investigates what happens when care goes wrong in hospitals and reveals how some NHS trusts keep critical reports hidden from the regulator and the public. Repeated scandals have shown how transparency is vital to make sure lessons are learned. But after a year-long investigation uncovering around one hundred unpublished independent reports, reporter and GP Faye Kirkland discovers how hospital failings are being buried and asks, is reputation being put before patient safety?

Twenty-five years ago, Panorama reporter Martin Bashir secured his global scoop interview with Princess Diana. Now, a new Panorama team fronted by journalist John Ware has carried out its own four-month investigation, with exclusive interviews and revelations from internal BBC documents. This is the inside story of how Martin Bashir obtained his career-defining interview, and how the BBC responded when it discovered he had faked bank statements and shown them to Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer.

From Amazon’s Alexa to improvements in cancer care, artificial intelligence is changing our world. But today leading tech figures from Silicon Valley worry about the future that’s being created. Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, believes George Orwell's 1984 could become reality by 2024. Panorama has uncovered new evidence of AI being used by police in China to recognise the emotions of detainees in order to help determine guilt or innocence. China has vowed to become the world's AI

With the Tokyo Paralympic Games approaching, Panorama investigates the sport’s classification system. Designed to make competition between athletes with different disabilities fair, it is accused of being flawed, easily manipulated and lacking credibility. Former Paralympic athlete and coach Richie Powell says para-sport saved his life after he was injured in a motor cycle accident. But he retired as a wheelchair racer, disillusioned with a classification system that he says pitted athletes

When the UK left the EU single market six months ago, Boris Johnson said there would be some bumps along the road to success. Panorama has been following British businesses as they try to negotiate those bumps and navigate their way through our new trading relationship with Europe. From fishermen in Scotland to entrepreneurs in the home counties, business owners are working hard to hold on to their European customers while seeking new markets further afield. So who will survive and who will

BBC correspondent Lucy Adams is one of more than a million people in the UK with long Covid. She has been suffering a range of symptoms for more than a year and wants to know why. Panorama follows her as she speaks to doctors with increasing caseloads, leading scientists carrying out research and other patients desperate to know when they will be well again.

Horse racing is one of the most popular and profitable sports, a £5 billion industry in the UK and Ireland followed by millions. Panorama reporter Darragh MacIntyre investigates what can happen to racehorses when their careers end. The industry says that racing is now safer than ever, that the number of deaths on the track is falling and that the animals are looked after in retirement. Panorama discovers that off the track, many horses suffer career-ending injuries, and rather than being