Dispatches (1987)
Long-running Channel 4 documentary series covering issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment. Known for featuring a mole inside organisations under journalistic investigation.
User rating:
2021x01 Britain's £400bn Covid Bill: Who Will Pay?
22 February, 2021 8:00 pm
Lockdown Britain's enduring the worst economic nosedive in centuries. Liam Halligan looks at the pandemic's soaring financial cost and asks: who will pay for Covid?
2021x02 Condition Critical: One Doctor's Story
01 March, 2021 8:00 pm
Filmed over four months, this edition of the programme gives a unique perspective on life on the NHS frontline. Dr Saleyha Ahsan filmed her own journey through the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, capturing the pressure and personal tragedies she faced with the surge in patients, which included her own father. This special Dispatches film also shows the emotional and physical burden faced by friends and colleagues, and how they came close to breaking point with the psychological toll of fighting to keep people alive.
2021x03 The Dirty Truth About Your Rubbish
08 March, 2021 8:00 pm
Environmental journalist Lucy Siegle investigates the rise of waste incineration in the UK, examining how millions of tonnes of waste left out for recycling ends up being burned. The rise in carbon emissions from incineration is put under the spotlight, with exclusive research revealing that it is on course to become the UK's dirtiest form of energy production. The programme also looks at how councils are locked into expensive contracts with incinerator operators forcing them to burn waste for decades to come.
2021x04 The Truth About Long Covid
15 March, 2021 8:00 pm
Dispatches reports from Bradford, one of the UK's worst-hit communities during the pandemic. It's predicted that up to half a million people in the UK are now living with Long Covid. Dispatches asks if the NHS will be able to cope with the lasting legacy of the virus. Narrated by Fatima Manji.
2021x05 The High Street Cash Crisis
22 March, 2021 8:00 pm
Antony Barnett reports on the collapse of several of Britain's best-known brands, examining the influence of the internet and the pandemic on the decline of high street shopping. Barnett asks how much are these firms to blame for the problems on our high street, and questions whether it's fair that their owners still earned millions while tens of thousands of shopworkers lost their jobs.
2021x06 The Black Maternity Scandal
29 March, 2021 8:00 pm
Presenter and mother-of-three Rochelle Humes explores the shocking fact that Black women are four times more likely than White women to die during pregnancy and childbirth and up to six weeks after.
2021x07 Low Pay Britain: Truth About Your Job
12 April, 2021 8:00 pm
As Britain’s economy feels the impact of coronavirus, lockdowns and Brexit, Dispatches examines the future of work, wages and safety in the gig economy.
2021x08 Royals for Hire
10 May, 2021 8:00 pm
Antony Barnett goes undercover to see what some of the Queen's family might be prepared to do for money, including offers of privileged access to Kensington Palace and Vladimir Putin
2021x09 Second Wave: Did the Government Get it Wrong
17 May, 2021 8:00 pm
With two thirds of all British Covid deaths coming after September 2020, Dispatches investigates why, and examines what role the Prime Minister's decisions of last Autumn played in there being a massive second surge in infections that saw tens of thousands of people die. As Boris Johnson's former chief advisor Dominic Cummings threatens to reveal all, reporter Antony Barnett hears from some at the heart of Downing Street discussions, and learns why the Prime Minister ignored government scientific advice and continued to battle against another lockdown. Dispatches also probes the Prime Minister's border plans to stop virus variants coming into the UK and hears from a whistleblower who fears they've failed to do the job.
2021x10 Undercover in Africas Secret State
16 June, 2021 8:00 pm
A gripping, eye-opening investigation of Eritrea, one of the world’s most secretive regimes, with shocking allegations of torture, detention and forced conscription.
2021x11 Torn Apart: Family Courts Uncovered
20 July, 2021 8:00 pm
An unprecedented look at what's going on behind closed doors in family courts, including shocking personal testimony and footage.
2021x12 India's Rape Scandal
27 July, 2021 8:00 pm
As more than 70 Indian politicians face charges of crimes against women, a look at two recent rape cases that have sparked allegations of a cover-up.
2021x13 Cops on Trial
11 October, 2021 8:00 pm
Ellie Flynn reports on the true scale of sexual misconduct by serving British police officers, including personal accounts from those who presented themselves to the police as the victim of a crime, and long term partners of serving officers who have endured domestic violence and abuse.
2021x14 Clapped Out: Is The NHS Broken?
18 October, 2021 8:00 pm
Eighteen months into the worst pandemic in a century, this hard-hitting special travels the country asking some tough questions about the performance of our much-loved NHS.
2021x15 Growing Up Poor: Britain's Hidden Homeless Kids
25 October, 2021 8:00 pm
As lockdown ended and kids went back to school, in Luton, Dispatches examines the devastating impact of overcrowded, unsuitable housing on young lives.
2021x16 How Green Is The Government?
01 November, 2021 8:00 pm
As Britain prepares to host the COP26 summit, this Dispatches special investigates the PM's claim that the UK is the global leader in the fight against the climate crisis.
2021x17 Did Brexit Work for Business?
15 November, 2021 8:00 pm
Is Brexit, and the new free trade deal with the EU, the huge success the Government said it would be? Dispatches meets firms struggling with increased costs and dwindling profits.
2021x18 The Truth About Electric Cars
22 November, 2021 8:00 pm
As Britain frets over diesel and petrol shortages, and the Government advises the public to consider going green in all ways possible, electric cars have never been a more popular purchase. But is right now a good time to sink tens of thousands of pounds of hard-earned cash into buying an electric vehicle? Reporter and electric car owner Morland Sanders asks if Britain's charging network is good enough to keep drivers going flat-out, or set to leave them as flat as a pancake. He also looks at whether hybrid electric cars are as green as believed and considers the reliability and likely longevity of electric cars.
2021x19 Escape From The Taliban
27 November, 2021 8:00 pm
First-hand footage of the Taliban capture of Kabul and the subsequent flight of refugees, shot by a documentary crew that were filming in Afghanistan at the time. The film includes coverage of female rights activist Zoya Faizi's attempt to escape the country, and one of the senior figures of the Al Qaeda-backed Haqqani network visiting a prison where, until recently, he had been held.
2021x20 The Truth about Your Chicken
29 November, 2021 8:00 pm
Morland Sanders investigates the health and environmental impact of industrial chicken production. This undercover investigation asks serious questions about supermarket chicken, animal welfare, environmental standards, and the impact that these farming techniques may be having on the British countryside.
2021x21 Vaccine Wars - The Truth About Pfizer
10 December, 2021 8:00 pm
Pfizer's Covid vaccine has saved the lives of millions around the world and the Government has chosen the Pfizer jab over the much cheaper Oxford AstraZeneca for its autumn roll-out of boosters. However, as Pfizer hikes up the price of its vaccine and enjoys record-breaking profits, questions are mounting over the pharmaceutical company's behaviour. Reporter Antony Barnett considers whether its is unfairly profiteering from the pandemic, whether it has always played by the rules, and whether it is doing enough to stop people in poorer countries dying from Covid-19.
2021x22 The Truth About Disability Benefits
17 December, 2021 8:00 pm
An investigation into a series of deaths, including suicide, by disabled benefits claimants. What impact did government failings have on those who died?
Video Gallery
Coming Soon...
Photo Gallery
Coming Soon...