Panorama - Season 68 / Year 2022

Two years since the start of the pandemic, the NHS is facing a new Covid crisis. The latest coronavirus variant, Omicron, is producing the biggest wave of infection yet, adding to the normal winter pressures and a waiting list that now stands at nearly six million in England.

Panorama reporter Jane Corbin returns to University Hospital Coventry, where she was when the pandemic first hit, to see how it is coping now with a surge in cases and a shortage of beds and staff.

Cars are safer than they have ever been, so why are Britain's roads becoming more dangerous? For the first time in a generation the fatality rate, the number of deaths per mile, is on the rise. Reporter Richard Bilton investigates the increased risks we face when we get behind the wheel and asks whether weaker policing could be to blame.

Rory Carson investigates how anti-social behaviour blights communities across Britain and discovers how hard it can be to get help.

Downing Street parties have led to the greatest crisis of Boris Johnson's career. Tracing other recent scandals, John Ware asks what 'partygate' says about the prime minister's character.

John Simpson goes back to Afghanistan to explore the shocking unravelling of a country he has been reporting on for more than 40 years.

Is animal welfare being compromised in the drive to keep milk prices low? Reporter Daniel Foggo speaks to farmers and vets about the lives most dairy herds can expect to lead.

The best way to win the battle against Covid is to vaccinate the whole world, but in poorer countries not enough people are getting the jab. Bronagh Munro investigates why.

Michael Buchanan reports on repeated failures in maternity care at hospitals in Shropshire. Many babies died whilst others were left with life-changing injuries.

Four days after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, Panorama reports on the conflict. With Paul Kenyon in Kyiv and Jane Corbin in London, the programme asks what lies behind Putin's invasion, and how Ukraine and the rest of the world have responded.

Chelsea-owner, Roman Abramovich, has been sanctioned by the UK government for his ties to Vladimir Putin. But where did the Russian billionaire's money come from? Panorama reporter Richard Bilton travels to Siberia to investigate the corrupt deals that made his fortune. He uncovers new details about Mr Abramovich's murky past and his relationship with the Kremlin.

For almost a month, Ukraine has fought off one of the world's super-powers. Can it hold on and repel President Putin's forces? Panorama's Paul Kenyon reports from the frontline in southern Ukraine. In Mykolaiv, he finds a city on the brink, fighting hard not to become encircled by Russian forces and face the same fate as the besieged city of Mariupol. On the Black Sea coast in Odesa, he finds a city bracing itself for the worse. With exclusive footage from inside nearby Kherson, which has already fallen into Russian hands. 
 

Panorama is on the frontline with Derbyshire Police to investigate why only one percent of reported rapes in England and Wales results in a conviction. For more than 18 months, the film follows five people who've reported rape and the detectives investigating their cases as they journey through the criminal justice system. They include 'Sam' who says she was raped by a stranger after a night out, and two sisters who say they were repeatedly raped by their father as children and whose case has already been turned down by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Britain is feeling the squeeze. With inflation rising to its highest rate for 30 years and energy bills spiralling, households across the country are having to make do with less. So how are people coping? Panorama follows three families, as they try to cope with what is predicted to be the biggest fall in living standards since the 1950s.

Eighteen months after the prime minister launched his strategy to help the nation lose weight, EastEnders actress Clair Norris, who is overweight herself, wants to know if it is working. One in four adults in the UK are currently living with obesity, a health risk highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Clair meets teenagers on a weight management scheme in Sheffield, a man-versus-fat football team in Norfolk, and a dancer running classes for plus-size women. She delves into the complex reasons why some people find it difficult to lose weight and asks if you can be overweight and stay healthy.

Levelling up is one of Boris Johnson's flagship policies. It's intended to improve the quality of life for millions of people who live outside London and the south east by investing in local communities and infrastructure. Billions of pounds have been allocated for high streets, transport links and skills. For Panorama, the BBC's new political editor Chris Mason returns to his home county of Yorkshire to find out what the residents of Barnsley think of the policy.

With more children in care in England than ever before, and the government about to publish a report on the deaths of two toddlers at the hands of their parent's new partners, Panorama investigates how social workers make critical decisions about children's lives.

Granted rare, exclusive permission from the family courts, reporter Louise Tickle hears from families who have been damaged by decisions made by one local authority. With the government pushing social workers to step in earlier than ever, what happens if they go too far, too fast?

As Ukrainians return to areas once under Russian control, they are uncovering evidence of war crimes. Panorama's Paul Kenyon travels to Kyiv to investigate the elite Russian units he encountered on the first
day of the war. He hears allegations of looting and murder and speaks to witnesses who lived through the occupation.

Tracking the soldiers east he visits a frontline town from where Ukrainian forces are launching counterattacks against troops who had previously occupied the suburbs of Kyiv.

Mobeen Azhar investigates TerraCycle's green credentials and its relationship with major brands.

Panorama investigates Britain's biggest GP network. US owned Operose Health provides GP services to the NHS, with 70 surgeries from Leeds to London and more than half a million registered patients. Reporter Jacqui Wakefield reveals a shortage of GPs, some less qualified medical staff working without adequate supervision and a backlog of important patient paperwork.

Thirteen-year-old Olly Stephens left home for the final time on a Sunday afternoon in January 2021, telling his parents he was meeting a friend nearby. Fifteen minutes later, he had been murdered. Lured out by a teenage girl and stabbed to death by two teenage boys she had met online, the entire attack was planned on social media and triggered by a dispute on a chat group. With exclusive access to Olly's parents Amanda and Stuart, Panorama reporter Marianna Spring investigates the violent and disturbing world their son had been exposed to online and follows their campaign for tighter regulations on harmful content.

Panorama has spent the last year with young journalists and protestors as they live through the most turbulent period in Hong Kong's recent history. When the British government transferred sovereignty back to China 25 years ago, it promised to protect freedom of speech, but new laws have effectively silenced all criticism. Street protests have all but stopped, pro-democracy lawmakers have been replaced by Beijing loyalists and Hong Kong's new chief executive is its former security chief, who led the crackdown. Reporter Danny Vincent has been following those who've lived through the street protest movement, both as activists and reporters, many of whom are now in prison.

With unique access to the biggest mental health service in the UK and some of its young patients, Panorama reveals the challenges faced daily by clinicians as demand for services reaches unprecedented levels in the wake of the pandemic. In 2017 it was estimated that one in nine young people had a diagnosable mental health condition. Now it's thought to be one in six.

Dealing with growing waiting lists, staff shortages and more young people turning up at A&E in crisis, staff at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust open up about the pressures they face, whilst four young people with a range of complex needs and their families offer a rare insight into what it means to live with mental health conditions.

Uber's aggressive expansion across Europe sparked police raids and violent protests. The US tech firm attracted millions of customers by subsidising fares and undercutting traditional cabbies. Now, a leak of internal documents reveals how the company got away with it.

Reporter Richard Bilton uncovers how Uber broke laws, upended employment rights and got the backing of politicians as the company forced its way on to our streets.

British special forces killed hundreds of people on night raids in Afghanistan. The SAS say they were insurgents who were posing an imminent threat. But were some of the shootings executions? Panorama investigates a series of raids where people were shot dead after they surrendered to British troops. Reporter Richard Bilton uncovers new evidence and tracks down eyewitnesses who say they saw unarmed Afghans being killed in cold blood.

As Boris Johnson is forced from office, Laura Kuenssberg follows the dramatic events of the last seven days in Westminster. She looks back at the scandals that defined his premiership and ultimately led to his downfall. She also hears from the insiders who tried to persuade him to go, the candidates vying to replace him and the colleagues who warned it was always going to end like this.

Strikes, delays, cancellations. With the peak summer holiday season almost here, many of the UK's airports and airlines are struggling to cope. For Panorama, Rachel Burden investigates the aviation industry at home and across Europe. She hears from holidaymakers fighting to get compensation and reveals the best and worst performing airlines. She also gets tips on the key consumer advice you need to know before you try to get on a flight this summer.

Thousands of vulnerable people are housed and supported by not-for-profit social housing providers, many of them charities. Panorama investigates one charity and its links to a millionaire developer who has turned taxpayer-funded housing benefit into a personal fortune through the supply of properties. Reporter Rory Carson speaks to tenants who feel they've been let down by the charity, former employees who say serious problems of anti-social behaviour were sparked by the charity's focus on expansion and hears calls for better regulation of social housing to protect both tenants and the taxpayer.

Offshore money, huge fees, suspicious payments and a phantom head of the KGB - just some of what a group of ordinary British savers discovered when the £46 million fund they had invested in collapsed. Each year, a billion pounds is lost in failed investment schemes. Panorama tells the story of one of them and follows investors as they try to unravel the truth about the Blackmore Bond, a Manchester-based scheme, and challenge the regulators they believe failed them.

Panorama investigates the disturbing online trade in sexually explicit images and video of women, often taken and posted online without their consent. Reporter Monika Plaha meets women whose lives were ruined when intimate pictures of them were put on social media. She asks whether some tech companies are doing enough to combat this illicit trade, and she tracks down one man responsible for running an online community awash with explicit material.

It is being described as a national emergency. Energy bills are soaring and families across the UK are struggling to cope. Millions are falling into fuel poverty and are wondering how they will heat their homes in winter. But not everyone is suffering from the energy crisis.

Reporter Bronagh Munro investigates the big companies that are profiting from rising bills and asks whether some are cashing in at our expense.

Sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is part of a government plan intended to help cut the number of small boats crossing the Channel and force people smugglers out of business. But will it really deter migrants trying to come to the UK? Reporter Jane Corbin investigates the smugglers who get people into Britain and finds out what the government's plan means for those attempting the potentially deadly journey.

A Panorama undercover investigation has found evidence that a secure NHS psychiatric hospital is failing to protect some of its vulnerable patients. Secret filming reveals evidence of a toxic staff culture, patients being taunted and bullied, inappropriate use of restraint and falsification of important medical paperwork. Experts who have reviewed the findings have questioned the hospital's safety, saying the evidence suggests its core therapeutic mission is being corrupted.

With unique access to the biggest mental health service in the UK and some of its young patients, Panorama reveals the challenges faced daily by clinicians as demand for services reaches unprecedented levels in the wake of the pandemic. In 2017 it was estimated that one in nine young people had a diagnosable mental health condition. Now it's thought to be one in six.

Dealing with growing waiting lists, staff shortages and more young people turning up at A&E in crisis, staff at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust open up about the pressures they face, while four young people with a range of complex needs and their families offer a rare insight into what it means to live with mental health conditions.

School's back, but not everyone is turning up. Covid lockdowns have left a legacy of persistent absence amongst some students, and schools are under pressure to get them back through the gates. For Panorama, the BBC's Education Editor, Branwen Jeffreys, has spent three months following the lives of students struggling to return to the classroom and asks whether harsher measures, including fining parents, can work.

The wood-burning Drax power station in Yorkshire provides 12 per cent of the UK's renewable energy. It has already received £6 billion in green energy subsidies from the government. But are the wood pellets the power station burns really as sustainable as the company claims? Reporter Joe Crowley investigates where the wood comes from and uncovers an environmental scandal. He reveals how Drax is chopping down trees and taking logs from some of the world's most precious forests.

Line of Duty actor and campaigner Tommy Jessop investigates why people with learning disabilities are more than twice as likely to die from avoidable causes than the rest of the population. He hears from relatives who have lost loved ones prematurely. In one case, the BBC went to court so a mother could speak publicly about her fight to get lifesaving care for her son.

It was supposed to be a joyous end to an unforgettable season, but it quickly turned into a nightmare. Journalist Layla Wright investigates events as they unfolded at the 2022 UEFA Champions League final in Paris between Liverpool and Real Madrid to try to understand what went wrong. Drawing on extensive first-hand testimony and mobile phone footage, Panorama pieces together the definitive forensic picture of what took place, examines mistakes made by UEFA and the French authorities, and asks what lessons can be learned for the future of fan safety.

Panorama investigates how survivors of major terror attacks are hounded and abused by conspiracy theorists who claim they are ‘crisis actors.' US conspiracist Alex Jones has just been ordered to pay nearly $1bn to families of the Sandy Hook school shooting after claiming the attack was a hoax. Now the BBC's disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring hunts the disaster trolls who target survivors of terror attacks in the UK and reveals new research about the popularity of these beliefs.

There are more cyclists on our roads than at any time in the last 50 years, and the government is spending billions trying to encourage even more people to get on their bikes. So why are there so many incidents of road rage and injury? Research suggests most people think the UK's roads are too dangerous to cycle on. Filmed confrontations with motorists are now commonplace. Reporter Richard Bilton hits the road to investigate what's going on between drivers and cyclists.

Will Donald Trump run for president again? On the eve of the US midterm elections, reporter Hilary Andersson visits Selma, North Carolina, to find out whether voters want him back. Trump's final days in office saw his supporters attack the US Capitol, bringing the country to the brink. The country has remained dangerously divided. As many Republican candidates line up to support Trump's claim that the 2020 election was stolen, Panorama asks whether American democracy can withstand the destructive forces now converging upon it.

Before the war in Ukraine, Mariupol was a thriving city, home to 430,000 people. In a little under three months, most of its citizens fled Putin's army and thousands were killed. Filmed and told by residents, this powerful documentary is the story of their loss, bravery, determination and incredible daring in escape. They were among those who sought refuge in the Mariupol Theatre, only for it to be bombed, the maternity hospital which was also hit, and the Azovstal steelworks, where hundreds hid in bunkers and Ukrainian forces made their last stand.

Food prices are rising at their fastest rate in more than 40 years. As the cost-of-living crisis continues to squeeze household budgets, Panorama explores why food prices are so high and looks at the impact food inflation is having on our pockets and on our health. Reporter, Kate Quilton asks are supermarkets, food producers and the government doing enough to help shoppers? And what can people do to help make food bills more affordable.

What does the winter hold for people struggling to get a home, or hold on to the one they already have? The rapid increase in interest rates has left many at breaking point. With mortgage rates up and rents soaring, Panorama spends time with those trying to survive. From young workers who've given up on ever owning a home of their own, to families facing eviction before Christmas. Reporter Richard Bilton investigates what's gone wrong with the UK's housing market.