Panorama — 2016

Jan 2016

BBC Panorama goes undercover to expose harrowing evidence of children and young people being hurt and threatened by custody officers who are supposed to protect them. Secret filming at a privately run youth prison, paid more than £10m in 2015 by the government to provide high-quality education and to rehabilitate some of the most vulnerable youngsters in the prison system, reveals some officers mistreating their charges and many more tolerating the behaviour or even helping to cover it up.

Jan 2016

100,000 people in the UK have multiple sclerosis - an incurable condition that can result in permanent disability. Panorama has exclusive access to patients pioneering a crossover cancer treatment that has enabled some MS sufferers with paralysis to regain their movement.

Jan 2016

Vladimir Putin has been accused of corruption on a breathtaking scale. His critics say he's used his power to amass a secret fortune, so is the Russian president really one of the richest people in the world? Reporter Richard Bilton meets former Kremlin insiders who say they know how Putin's riches are hidden.

Feb 2016

When a seven-year-old boy and his mother were targeted and shot on their doorstep, it became clear that a gang war in Salford had reached a shocking low. That came after the assassination of a mayoral candidate, as well as machete, grenade and chainsaw attacks. Panorama asks if the police have lost control of the streets and examines how a community can beat the cycle of guns and gangs.

Feb 2016

Pope John Paul II ruled the Catholic Church for 27 years until 2005. He was one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century, revered by millions and made a saint in record time. Now reporter Edward Stourton can offer a new perspective on the emotional life of this very public figure.

Feb 2016

Organised crime is the single biggest threat to the integrity of the police. With exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage, Panorama has the inside story of how an organised crime syndicate arranged a hit on three police officers. Also speaking publicly for the first time are the law enforcement officials who tapped the phones of drug dealers, only to find themselves hearing corrupt police on the line. The programme reveals how Scotland Yard woke up to the extent of corruption and the extraordinary lengths that the criminals would go to in order to undermine the police's ability to catch them.

Mar 2016

Panorama travels to Brazil to investigate the mystery of the Zika virus. The city of Recife is at the centre of an epidemic of cases of microcephaly - babies born with abnormally small heads who suffer from brain and limb deformities. Reporter Jane Corbin meets the families living with this tragedy and hears from doctors and scientists working to solve the riddle of the Zika virus and trying to eradicate the mosquito which carries it.

Mar 2016

The episode will explore the truth behind shaken babies. Parents will face jail or lose their children, if courts find them guilty of harming their children by shaking them. One doctor who regularly appears as an expert witness for the defence is now on trial accused by the General Medical Council of giving unreliable evidence in shaken baby cases. Alison Holt has access to the neuropathologist at the centre of a fight about the diagnosis of shaking. She will meet families where it has been proven they've shaken their children and where convicted parents continue to protest their innocence.

Mar 2016

Examining how the so-called Islamic State's terror network has been operating secretly in Europe, and Western intelligence agencies' battle to stop it, from highly organised cells, like the one that killed 130 people in Paris, to lone attackers within communities.

Mar 2016

Sixteen years ago, the government promised to protect people from the cold. It vowed to end fuel poverty by 2016, but the deadline has passed and millions of people still can't afford to keep their homes warm. Reporter Datshiane Navanayagam joins some of those struggling this winter and asks why thousands still die each year simply because their homes are too cold.

Apr 2016

The rich and powerful have hidden billions of dollars in tax havens. They thought their financial secrets were safe, but now a huge leak of documents has revealed a world of secrecy, lies and crimes. Reporter Richard Bilton exposes tax avoiders, criminals and world leaders who have been hiding their money and their secrets offshore.

Apr 2016

Sara Green was a teenager betrayed by a mental health system designed to protect her. Using Sara's own words taken from her diary, Panorama reveals the failings of a Priory hospital where she was an inpatient and where she took her own life in a misjudged cry for help. Peter Marshall asks what lessons can be drawn from Sara's story and what can be done to fix the country's broken child and adolescent mental health system.

Apr 2016

As the UK steel industry fights for its survival, John Humphrys is in Port Talbot in South Wales to investigate whether it has a future and asks if taxpayers' money should be used to shore it up in the hope that better times will return.

May 2016

Panorama investigates the ruthless world of the dog trade. Using secret filming, reporter Sam Poling tracks the supply chain of the country's favourite pet, and uncovers some shocking truths about where and how these animals are being bred.

May 2016

Growing resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics is one of the biggest public health threats of modern times, with the potential to cause 80,000 deaths in the UK over the next 20 years. Experts say the use of a range of NHS 'last-resort' antibiotics in farming is risking the lives of future patients. Tom Heap asks if the commercial pressure to produce cheap meat and poultry is fuelling the rise of superbugs and meets the patients for whom the drugs have already stopped working.

Jun 2016

In a powerful, multi-textured documentary filmed over almost two years, one family living with dementia reveals what life is really like behind closed doors. Using CCTV cameras, video diaries and a small, immersive film crew, the programme follows 55-year-old Chris Roberts from north Wales as he, his wife Jayne and his youngest daughter Kate come to terms with his Alzheimer's diagnosis. From making the decision to choose his own care home to writing a living will, getting lost in his own house and not recognising his family, Chris chronicles his changing life as his independence slips away. Once a businessman and a keen biker, he now struggles to walk and talk - his life is beset by frustration, yet his remarkable insight allows us into his world.

Jun 2016

Panorama looks at the breakthrough that could change the lives of everyone and everything on the planet. Gene editing is revolutionising medical research and could deliver new treatments - even cures for a host of diseases. It also gives scientists control over evolution, allowing genetic changes to be forced through species. But some are worried about letting the gene genie out of the bottle.

Jun 2016

In his first year as president of world athletics, Lord Coe has had to deal with the fallout from the biggest corruption scandal the sport has ever seen. Mark Daly investigates what Lord Coe knew about the scandal and when, and also uncovers links between the IAAF president and the man at the centre of the corruption.

Jun 2016

It's America's worst nightmare: an armed gunman on the rampage. But what is it like to be caught up in the carnage of a mass shooting? Panorama tells the story of the Orlando massacre from the people who were there.

Jun 2016

As the country awaits next week's verdict from the long-delayed Iraq Inquiry into why we went to war and what the lessons should be, Jane Corbin returns to southern Iraq. With her are parents who lost a son, a soldier, there and the general who led British troops into battle. Why did it all go so wrong?

Jul 2016

Adrian Chiles goes home to the West Midlands to meet Leave voters from both sides of the political divide and find out why Britain voted for Brexit. He discovers an unlikely alliance of young and old, wealthy and non-wealthy, white and non-white, who all share a belief that their views have not so far been listened to by mainstream politicians. Adrian learns about their lives and their concerns about immigration, jobs and feeling excluded from the benefits of an increasingly globalised world. He also meets Remain voters who blame the Breixters for pushing Britain into crisis. As the nation reels from the fallout of the Referendum result, Adrian's journey across the region shows just how divided Britain has become.

Jul 2016

Panorama goes undercover to expose how the Government's latest pension freedoms are being abused by some companies to get their hands on people's retirement pots. Reporter Fiona Phillips discovers how the offer of a simple pension review can lead to financial ruin. She meets victims whose retirement plans have been destroyed, hears from experts about how to spot the warning signs and watches one scam unfolding from beginning to end.

Jul 2016

With Donald Trump poised to become the official Republican candidate for America's presidency, Panorama visits the racially divided town of Bakersfield in California. Reporter Hilary Andersson meets the Trump supporters who back his calls to oust 11 million illegal immigrants and ban Muslims from travelling to America. She talks to those who fear what a Trump White House would mean for them and asks why America is so angry.

Jul 2016

Hundreds of young people go missing in Britain every day. The police admit that vulnerable youngsters are being left at risk but say they are simply overwhelmed by the number of missing people. Reporter Darragh MacIntyre meets the families searching for clues and the parents who have been waiting years for news about their children.

Aug 201630m

BBC reporter Rupert Wingfield-Hayes was expelled from North Korea for showing disrespect and `distorting facts'. He now tells the full story of his visit to the country and explores what his detention and interrogation by senior Korean officials say about this secretive state. He investigates the apparent upturn in the North Korean economy and asks if the signs of improvement in the capital Pyongyang are real.

Aug 2016

With the new prime minister facing tough decisions on government spending cuts, Panorama reporter Richard Bilton investigates the impact of six years of austerity measures on his home town, Selby in North Yorkshire. Services are still being cut and many people are being asked to make do with less, so can a new army of volunteers bridge the gaps?

Sept 2016

A special investigation into the shocking state of Britain's most hazardous nuclear site. With a high-level whistleblower, hundreds of leaked documents and exclusive access to former senior managers, reporter Richard Bilton uncovers the truth about Sellafield. He finds an ageing and run-down plant, where nuclear waste is stored in dangerous conditions and insiders fear a serious accident.

Sept 2016

Wendy Bendel's partner killed himself after struggling with a 20-year gambling addiction. In a confession he wrote for Wendy, he singled out the high-stakes, high-frequency fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) found in bookmakers across the UK. Wendy embarks on a journey to find out what it is about the design of the machines that makes them so addictive and sees evidence that they can affect the brains of long-term gamblers. She discovers the billions they generate has divided the industry, with former insiders now accusing the bookies of putting profits before people.

Sept 2016

With the Labour leadership election less than a week away, BBC deputy political editor John Pienaar asks if Labour is on the brink of self-destruction. Panorama spent the summer in Brighton, on the frontline for the battle for the soul of Labour, where local activists slog it out for control of the party. In one corner, Momentum fights off ugly allegations of bullying, anti-Semitism and hard-left entryism. In the other, the party's 'moderates' fear election annihilation and deselection. The programme follows both sides through the ups and downs of the campaign and finds neither side in the mood for compromise.

Sept 2016

The battle for Aleppo, Syria's largest city and once home to over two million people, is in its fourth year. Divided between opposition-held east and government-controlled west, ordinary civilians are suffering on both sides. The east has been relentlessly bombed by the Russian military-backed forces of President Bashar al-Assad, and for the last month five citizen journalists in East Aleppo, commissioned by Panorama, have been documenting life under siege. The film is an intimate portrait of ordinary people struggling to stay alive, including a civil-defence volunteer who risks death to save his fellow citizens. The film goes behind the headlines into the backstreets of East Aleppo to show the horror, chaos and fear of the daily bombings, but also the surprising humanity, resilience and hope of the people who remain.

Oct 2016

Britain is in the grip of a health epidemic that's threatening to overwhelm the NHS. More and more of us are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It's a hidden killer which can lead to heart failure, blindness, kidney disease and leg amputations. Now even children are being diagnosed with the condition. Filming over six months, Panorama reports from the frontline of the epidemic - in Birmingham, where almost one in ten people has the disease. In this film, type 1 diabetes was referred to as 'the sort you're born with'. We acknowledge this is not medically accurate. Type 1 often develops in childhood to genetically predisposed individuals, but it can develop at any age, resulting from immune mediated injury to the pancreas.

Oct 2016

The way in which millions of pounds were made out of BHS has been branded the 'unacceptable face of capitalism'. 11,000 people lost their jobs as a black hole opened up in the pension fund. Panorama investigates the multimillion-pound deals and cut-throat business practices that made former owner Sir Philip Green and his family very rich while the retailer fell on hard times.

Oct 2016

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are two of the most hated and distrusted presidential candidates ever. As the election approaches, Jeremy Paxman travels to Washington and beyond to understand how America's great democracy has come to face such an unpopular choice. From a life-size naked effigy of Donald Trump, to the stage of Avenue Q and the corridors of power, Jeremy meets political insiders and voters on both sides of the gaping political divide, and casts his unsparing eye over a nation preparing for a historic election.

Oct 2016

Panorama goes undercover to find the sweatshops making clothes for the British high street. Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees and children are working illegally in the Turkish garment industry. They are often paid very little, work in harsh conditions and have no rights. Reporter Darragh MacIntyre discovers refugees and their children working in the supply chains of some of the best-known brands.

Oct 2016

Rolls-Royce has grown dramatically in the past 20 years and has won business in some of the most corrupt countries on the planet. But has some of the company's spectacular success been built on bribery? Reporter Richard Bilton investigates the secret network of shady middlemen who helped sell Rolls-Royce products overseas, and he uncovers evidence that suggests Britain's most prestigious company has bribed its way around the world.

Nov 2016

An investigation into the disconnect between the claims of the government and rail industry - which maintain that Britain's railways are a success - and the experience of many passengers who feel train services are unreliable, overcrowded and cost far too much money. What will it take to close that gap?

Nov 2016

America's 2016 election season has been the most bitter and ugly in living memory. Hilary Andersson meets angry Americans on both sides of the electoral race who feel disillusioned and disenfranchised by the electoral process. Panorama asks, can America's new president quell the voices of radicalism and unite America again?

Nov 2016

Panorama goes undercover in two nursing homes and finds evidence of cruelty and neglect. Reporter Janice Finch booked into the homes as a resident and witnessed staff rushed off their feet, leaving the privacy and dignity of some fellow residents often ignored. The company, which has a chain of homes in Cornwall, earns millions from NHS and local authority placements and has already been told to make improvements. An emergency safeguarding plan is now in place after the programme makers raised their concerns with the Care Quality Commission and other agencies.

Nov 2016

Fertility treatment can be an expensive business. Reporter Deborah Cohen investigates how some clinics sell add-ons - the extra drugs, tests and treatments offered on top of standard fertility care. Some can add hundreds or thousands of pounds to a bill. Exclusive new research shows a worrying lack of good evidence from trials to show these can improve the chances of having a baby. Panorama goes undercover to reveal how patients aren't always told everything they need to know when they ask some clinics about these treatments.

Dec 2016

With their stronghold of Mosul under fierce attack and Raqqa next in the frame, IS has intensified its global propaganda offensive, calling for more lone jihadis - 'lone wolves' - to slaughter civilians using knives and trucks 'plunged at high speed into a large gathering of unbelievers'. IS in Syria now direct attacks, giving lone wolves targets and instructions via encrypted apps that leave intelligence agencies in the dark. In this film for Panorama, reporter Peter Taylor investigates the escalation of this global phenomenon. He travels to the US to talk to the deputy director of the FBI and goes on patrol with the NYPD. He asks what the UK government can do to prevent radicalisation of young people and talks to Britain's most senior anti-terror police officer about what authorities here are doing to protect us in the face of this growing threat.

Dec 2016

John Simpson, one of the BBC's best-known foreign correspondents, has been at the heart of breaking news for more than half a century. A frontline witness of history, the World Affairs editor has dodged bullets and cheated death from Iraq to Afghanistan. In a highly personal Panorama, John looks back over his 50-year career, revisiting the people and places that have impacted on him most, as he reveals his thoughts on the challenges for the future.