TV-PG
Long-running factual programme reporting on all aspects of life in Britain.

Where to Watch Panorama • 1989

35 Episodes

  • How Free Is Britain?
    A1
    How Free Is Britain?Peter Taylor asks whether a decade of Conservative government has eroded or enhanced democratic liberties in the UK.
  • President Bush - Challenging the Future
    A2
    President Bush - Challenging the FutureIn four days, George Bush becomes the 41st President of the United States, taking office at a time of momentous change in the structure of world power.
  • Children in Need
    A3
    Children in NeedThis year looks set to be a record year for charity appeals, not only for the Third World but for poor children in Britain.
  • The Killer Inside
    A4
    The Killer InsideThere's growing concern that Britain's prisons are a breeding ground for AIDS. Senior prison workers warn that smuggled drugs are widespread and many prisoners continue to share syringes and needles.
  • Factory Fresh: The Food Revolution
    A5
    Factory Fresh: The Food RevolutionIt began as an 'epidemic' of salmonella in eggs. It frightened consumers, cost egg producers dear, and lost Mrs. Edwina Currie her job. Now it has put the record and future of British farming on trial.
  • Inside the Ayatollah's Iran
    A6
    Inside the Ayatollah's IranRuled by an Islamic government, where the aged Ayatollah Khomenei still holds the key to power and the future, Iran still shows the scars of failure in war and is beset by rumours of executions and internal strife.
  • Will You Still Feed Me?
    A7
    Will You Still Feed Me?Polly Toynbee reports on the divide between rich and poor old people in the UK. Some feel life has never been better, while many on the state pension are finding it hard to make ends meet, especially if they are coping with elderly or disabled spouses.
  • The Tender Trap
    A8
    The Tender TrapBy August, every council in England and Wales will have to start putting six essential services out to tender. Will the home owner get better value for money or will the quality of services decline?
  • Death in the Rainforest
    A9
    Death in the RainforestThe murder of Chico Mendes , the Brazilian rubber-tappers' leader and defender of the Amazon rainforest has focused world attention on the violent conflict over the future of the Amazon.
  • NHS Plc? - What's in It for Patients?
    A10
    NHS Plc? - What's in It for Patients?The Government has embarked on most radical reforms to National Health Service in its history.
  • Sent from Heaven - Sold on Earth
    A11
    Sent from Heaven - Sold on EarthMrs. Thatcher says that water privatisation has not been handled well. As the Government redoubles its campaign to sell the idea to the public, Panorama asks what's in it for the consumer?
  • Disarming the Alliance: The Soviet Peace Offensive
    A12
    Disarming the Alliance: The Soviet Peace OffensiveTomorrow NATO celebrates its 40th anniversary. But the Western Alliance, forged in the Cold War, now faces the challenge of the new Soviet peace offensive.
  • The Condor Conspiracy
    A13
    The Condor ConspiracyPanorama Episode featuring Jane Corbin on threat posed by Argentinian Condor Missile Programme.
  • Whose Law Is It Anyway?
    A14
    Whose Law Is It Anyway?The High Court is closed today. For the first time in history, judges have downed wigs to debate what they suspect may be a threat to justice itself. On trial are the Government's plans to reform the legal profession.
  • No Spring in Prague
    A15
    No Spring in PragueFrom Czechoslovakia where Soviet tanks crushed the experiment of 'Communism with a human face' in 1968. Today the Government in Prague, paralysed by the fear of change, has embarked on a new repression.
  • Ten Years' Hard Labour
    A16
    Ten Years' Hard LabourTen years ago the last Labour government was defeated by the Tories under Margaret Thatcher. What has been the impact of Thatcherism on the Labour party? Thatcher once declared that her aim was to 'eliminate socialism'. Has she succeeded?
  • Football - Safe in Their Hands?
    A17
    Football - Safe in Their Hands?Whatever the outcome of the inquiry into the Hillsborough tragedy, Britain's worst sporting disaster has already provoked a crisis of confidence in our national game.
  • Punching Judy
    A18
    Punching JudyLatest Police figures show an increase in crimes of domestic violence, unmatched since records began. One in four assaults is by a man on a wife or girlfriend. In London alone, a thousand battered women ask the police for help each week.
  • University Challenge
    A19
    University ChallengeAlan Young comes from Bedlington near Newcastle. His father was a miner, his mother works at the local hospital. Alan is one of Oxford's brightest mathematicians. But will there be any more like him?
  • Alaska: Oil on the Rocks
    A20
    Alaska: Oil on the RocksWhen the Exxon Valdez ran aground off the coast of Alaska last March, it was the worst oil spill in American history. Now the implications may affect the future of America's entire oil industry.
  • Built in Britain, Made Abroad
    A21
    Built in Britain, Made Abroad
  • Lady Porter - The Pursuit of Power
    A22
    Lady Porter - The Pursuit of PowerThe leader of Westminster's Conservative council, Lady Porter, one of a new breed of town-hall Tories. Lady Porter's reputation has been in the doldrums since her policy of selling Westminster's cemeteries to developers for a pittance.
  • Getting the Message Across
    A23
    Getting the Message AcrossIn the 10 yrs since Thatcher came to power the bill for Gov't advertising has doubled to E150 million. The water privatisation advertising campaign has cost more than that of Nescafe Gold Blend, Persil, Guinness and Coca Cola put together.
  • Solidarity - Taking the Reins of Power
    A24
    Solidarity - Taking the Reins of PowerThis September, Poland is living through some of the most momentous days in its history. For the first time in Eastern Europe for 40 years, a non-Communist Prime Minister leads the Government.
  • Happy Families
    A25
    Happy FamiliesOne in three marriages ends in divorce. A quarter of all babies are now born to mothers who have never married at all. Without a father as a breadwinner, most single mothers and children end up on social security.
  • Lockerbie: An Avoidable Tragedy
    A26
    Lockerbie: An Avoidable TragedyAs the hunt to bring to justice the murderers of 270 passengers and crew continues into its tenth month, Gavin Hewitt has traced the story from Scotland to the United States, to the Middle East and West Germany.
  • Afghanistan: The Squandered Victory
    A27
    Afghanistan: The Squandered VictoryWhen the Soviet army withdrew from Afghanistan last February, the regime in Kabul was expected to fall to the Afghan rebels within weeks. But, ten months later, victory in the Holy War against the Communists has degenerated into civil war.
  • Follow My Leader
    A28
    Follow My LeaderAnthony Howard reports for BBC Panorama into the thoughts and stratagems of the Conservative powerbrokers, from 1989.
  • British Rail: The Ultimate Sell-Off
    A29
    British Rail: The Ultimate Sell-OffFred Emery reports on reaction round the country to the many changes already affecting British Rail services in what's being seen as the run-up to privatisation.
  • Crack Crisis - Is Britain Next?
    A30
    Crack Crisis - Is Britain Next?Crack; the drug which President Bush says is turning American cities into battle zones. Is now starting to appear on some British streets. One of President Bush's top advisers warned that Britain could have a similar epidemic to New York.
  • Gorbachev: Reaping the Whirlwind - The Poisoned Land
    A31
    Gorbachev: Reaping the Whirlwind - The Poisoned LandFrom the Aral Sea, evidence of a catastrophe that rivals Chernobyl. The planning decisions of the Brezhnev years have left a great many facing disease, deformity and death. As the sea dries up, the ecology of the region disintegrates.
  • Gorbachev: Reaping the Whirlwind - Bloody Sunday
    A32
    Gorbachev: Reaping the Whirlwind - Bloody SundayIn Tblisi, the capital of Soviet Georgia, troops encircled a crowd of peaceful demonstrators and attacked them with truncheons, entrenching tools and gas. 20 people were killed - more than 3/4 were women - and over 500 taken to hospital.
  • The Boys on B Wing
    A33
    The Boys on B WingHow is it that every year 1,500 teenage boys - all 16 years old or younger - can be locked up in British prisons, two to a cell, 20 hours a day, on remand sometimes for offences as trivial as absconding and car theft?
  • What Future for Thatcherism?
    A34
    What Future for Thatcherism?With the shock waves of the recent political crisis still reverberating through the Government, is Mrs. Thatcher's famous conviction and single-mindedness now more of a liability than an asset to the Tories?
  • Allies in Arms
    A35
    Allies in ArmsInvestigates the S.A.-Ulster Alliance in arms.

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