Panorama 2021

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 is now in a race with a new, highly contagious strain of the virus.

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 policing. The programme also reveals fresh evidence in Scotland’s most high-profile death in custody. Sheku Bayoh died in 2015 after being restrained by up to six officers.

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 involved in setting up Britain’s biggest ever bout – the fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world?

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 doctors. Will they be influenced by disinformation, or will their plans to be vaccinated remain unchanged?

“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 full story.

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 VIP deals, the programme reveals the high-profile connections to one lucrative contract.

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 faked. Eight years later, Panorama has met with survivors and relatives of the dead to discover how profoundly their lives have changed as a result of that day.

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 learning and cooperation. Instead, different countries took very different views of the virus, followed different strategies and have, as a result, seen different outcomes. In this Panorama, Jane wants to know ‘Who Got It Right?

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 malfunctioning, leading to contamination of results. The programme also discovers that tests, including some intended to find new variants of coronavirus, have been wrongly discarded or lost.

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 ‘turn the other cheek’ when they have raised complaints, others say they have suffered in silence for fear of further discrimination or losing their jobs.

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 the streets, with police involved in a game of cat and mouse to pick off the street dealers while building the intelligence and evidence to go after those that supply them.

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 superpower by 2030, sparking a new arms race with America. Both countries are pouring billions into cutting-edge military tech, including autonomous weapons. AI could usher in a golden age, but without urgent regulation, experts warn we could lose control of artificial intelligence, a prospect, they say, that should scare us all.

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 with different abilities against each other. In this film, he meets other former athletes, coaches and classifiers who share their experiences of Paralympic competition, hearing that Britain, the home of the Paralympic movement, should be the country that leads change.

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 thrive now Britain is out of the EU?

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 rehabilitated or retrained for life outside the sport, race horses that have been owned and trained by some of the biggest names in the industry have been put down, some meeting grisly deaths.

David Cameron was paid to promote Greensill Capital’s financial products around the world. He helped convince investors their money was safe, and he tried to persuade the British government to invest billions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash. But Greensill Capital is now under investigation after it collapsed leaving investors facing billions in losses. So how much did the former prime minister know about Greensill and the investments it was selling?

Ever wondered who might be behind those dodgy-looking texts trying to get you to part with your money? Panorama is on the trail of a new generation of fraudsters. Reporter Kafui Okpattah speaks to victims and investigates how cyber scammers use social media to promote fraud. Once hidden in the shadows of the dark web, they have moved into the open online. They are in plain sight, so why are the government and big tech companies failing to stop them?

The speed of Afghanistan's fall to the Taliban has shocked the world – but what sort of country will it become? The BBC’s Yalda Hakim was born in Afghanistan and travelled back there in the weeks before the Taliban took control. She meets a Taliban commander from the front line promising a Sharia state, and the Afghanistan vice president who was adamant he would never surrender. Also she hears from those who are now fearing for their lives and their futures. Panorama asks what is at stake for the Afghans who are now in their first week under Taliban rule.

This is the year of the Great British staycation, with millions of us exploring holidays on our doorstep. But the impact of Covid has taken its toll. As the hospitality industry tries to make up for the financial losses of the last 18 months, the cost of some self-catered accommodation has risen by more than 40 per cent. The basic cost of a holiday to the Lake District can be as much as three times more than one to Italy’s Lake Garda. And though business is booming in some areas, tourism bosses say staff shortages are hitting them hard. Reporter Mobeen Azhar explores the truth about our staycations.

Mariella Frostrup meets teenage girls who say they have been abused, assaulted or raped by teenage boys, and asks whether we should be doing more to protect our children. With exclusive new data from police forces, she reveals how reports of abuse have risen sharply in the past four years, despite government promises to tackle the problem. She asks if social media and pornography could be to blame, and if schools could be handling the problem better.

Panorama unveils new revelations about the corrupt practices deployed by one of Britain’s biggest companies. Six years ago, reporter Richard Bilton revealed how British American Tobacco made secret payments to politicians and civil servants in East Africa. Now the programme uncovers evidence of bribery in South Africa and Zimbabwe. It shows how the multi-billion pound British company secretly paid almost 200 informants as part of a covert operation to damage its competitors.

It was the summer when football almost came home. Now Panorama investigates the system that has produced some of the England team’s brightest stars. Reporter Rory Carson, himself a former professional player, discovers that for teenage footballing prodigies it’s a high-pressure, big-money game, where they can be bought and sold, leaving some feeling discarded when they don’t make the grade. Rory hears from former players and their parents about the mental health impacts of being built up as the next Premier League superstar, only for their dreams to be shattered when they are dropped. He also investigates evidence of agents breaking Football Association rules designed to protect young teenagers from being financially exploited.

The number of people waiting for hospital treatment in England has hit a record high of 5.61 million, as the NHS struggles to clear the growing backlog of cases caused by Covid-19. Victoria Derbyshire meets some of those on the waiting list and hears about the profound effects it is having on their lives. She discovers that a growing number of people see no alternative but to pay for their own treatments using savings, bank loans and even crowdfunding sites. And she reveals exclusive research showing just how many people are now considering turning their backs on the NHS and going private instead.

Panorama investigates the Pandora Papers, one of the biggest offshore leaks in history, revealing the financial secrets of some of the most powerful people on the planet. Reporter Richard Bilton uncovers the hidden offshore deals that presidents, prime ministers and royalty don’t want you to know about.

When political parties accept donations, they are required to check who the donor is but not where the money actually comes from. Panorama's investigation of the Pandora Papers, one of the biggest offshore leaks in history, reveals the financial secrets of three major donors to the Conservative Party. Reporter Richard Bilton asks whether the rules governing political donations are fit for purpose. Update 3 December 2021: Following publication, Mr and Mrs Chernukhin have made legal complaints about this programme. They say that the programme is defamatory of them. In their complaint, they have told the BBC that no deal (corrupt or otherwise) was ultimately concluded with Mayor Luzhkov in respect of the properties in Moscow.

Six weeks after the complete withdrawal of US-led coalition forces, Panorama reports on how life has changed for Afghan people under Taliban rule. The streets may be more peaceful now, but human rights are under attack, healthcare is crumbling and many families are struggling to find enough food. British Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi and his team meet leading Taliban figures and ask whether Afghanistan is once again harbouring the international terror group al-Qaeda.

Panorama investigates the rise of online abuse against women and asks why the police, the government and social media companies aren’t doing more to stop it. BBC reporter Marianna Spring discovers how social media algorithms are promoting hate and tracks down the trolls who send her abuse daily. She meets global politicians, Love Island contestants and a doctor on the frontline to explore the impact of online hate on women who use social media to do their job.

Coca-Cola sells more than 100 billion throwaway plastic bottles each year. Panorama investigates their promises to crack down on plastic waste. Globally, more of Coke's plastic packaging is found littered than any other brand. Filming on the ground in Samoa, the Philippines and Uganda, this film asks if Coca-Cola is on track to achieve its pledge to create a world without waste.

Panorama investigates a year of wild weather and hears how freak events are becoming increasingly commonplace, changing life right now for millions. This summer a small town was destroyed by fire after record-breaking high temperatures in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. Floods in Germany swept away entire villages. A plague of mice destroyed livelihoods in Australia's New South Wales. Dust storms from China swept thousands of miles to South Korea and the people of Madagascar are on the brink of the world’s first climate change-induced famine. By interrogating climate science and with exclusive access to new Met Office data, reporter Justin Rowlatt reveals where in the world the climate is changing the fastest and who will be most affected.

The sex industry has been transformed by the internet, and most sex workers now meet their customers through online sites. Their pictures can be seen next to adverts for lawn mowers and patio furniture, but has the move away from the streets made prostitution any safer for the women involved? Reporter Bronagh Munro investigates the online pimps who traffic vulnerable women for sex and the high-profile website that is helping them to cash in.

The electric vehicle revolution is hotting up, and Tesla is leading the charge. The trillion-dollar car company is now worth more than all the other major car makers put together. But where does Tesla get the rare metal for its car batteries, and how ethical is its supply chain? Reporter Darragh MacIntyre meets the African nuns who say Elon Musk’s company must do better. They’re demanding the world’s richest man does more to protect some of the poorest people on the planet.

As we gear up for Christmas, Panorama asks if the UK’s supply chains will be able to deliver in time. Reporter Jane Corbin goes on the distribution front line to hear from companies struggling to find enough HGV drivers to move essential foods around the country and speaks to farmers who fear their crops will be left to rot if they can’t find enough workers. With wages rising and the recent hike in energy prices putting pressure on costs, the programme analyses household bills and asks whether families are facing a New Year hangover.

Tens of thousands of elderly people live in care homes owned by international investors. Panorama asks how much money is being taken out of the system.

The way we shop is changing, and buying now and paying later has never been easier. Purchases made through companies like Klarna and Clearpay have tripled to an estimated £2.7bn. The companies say they are revolutionising credit by helping customers spread purchases over a number of months, but debt charities are becoming increasingly concerned. Reporter Ellie Flynn investigates the Buy Now Pay Later market’s close relationship with retailers and asks is enough being done to protect customers from ending up with big bills they can’t afford.