Dispatches
Season 2007
TV-PG
Dispatches is the British TV current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987. The programme covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, and often features a mole inside organisations under journalistic investigation.
Where to Watch Season 2007
41 Episodes
- The Supermarket That's Eating BritainE7
The Supermarket That's Eating BritainTesco is Britain’s favorite supermarket. With 2,000 stores and 15 million customers a week, it’s almost twice as big as its nearest rival. Dispatches shows how Tesco could soon become even bigger, and asks if this retail giant is abusing its power. Dispatches’ information shows how that dominance could become even greater. The programme examines the ways in which Tesco avoids paying tens of millions of pounds in tax by exploiting legal loopholes and using complex networks of companies and partnerships here and overseas. - NHS: Where Did All the Money Go?
E8NHS: Where Did All the Money Go?Why are increasing numbers of NHS-trained doctors and nurses unable to get jobs? Over the last five years, the amount of taxpayers' money being spent on the NHS has almost tripled. In this edition of Dispatches, award-winning journalist and economist Liam Halligan asks: "Where has all the money gone?" - Charles: The Meddling PrinceE10
Charles: The Meddling PrincePrince Charles will one day be crowned King of England - a position which by constitutional convention is politically neutral. But in this six-month investigation, Dispatches reveals a number of serious concerns: the extent of his political ambition and interference, the measures his office have employed to silence critics and questionable financial arrangements, which raise questions about his suitability for the throne and the future of the monarchy. - Undercover PrisonerE13
Undercover PrisonerFor the first time, a covert camera investigates prison life. A prisoner has secretly filmed for 15 days inside one of Britain's most controversial open prisons as part of a major investigation into the effectiveness of such prisons in protecting the general public and the successful rehabilitation of offenders. - Murdering the TruthE14
Murdering the TruthWhen world-famous investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, one of President Putin's fiercest and most effective critics, was assassinated last October in Moscow, there was international outrage. At home, her colleagues at her newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, were determined that an investigation into her murder was not going to run into the sand, like so many before. So they set up their own private investigation. Dispatches has been granted exclusive access to that investigation. And as the body count of journalists, businessmen and politicians mounts, the programme asks whether the hope of a new, democratic Russia is falling apart. The programme meets the former Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya, now in hiding, who claims he is the last person alive on a Chechen hit list that included Anna. - The Indian Miracle?E16
The Indian Miracle?Underneath the glittering surface of India's economic boom lie the ugly realties of modern day India: mass suicide by debt-ridden farmers, a rise in Hindu nationalism, discrimination against Muslims and a caste system which condemns millions to a life of servitude. - Gordon Brown: Fit For Office?E17
Gordon Brown: Fit For Office?Over the last nine months Dispatches has carried out the most in-depth study ever done for television on the Chancellor, interviewing cabinet ministers, MPs, top civil servants, economists, journalists and friends. The programme, presented by Peter Oborne, forensically examines why these claims have been made by some of Gordon Brown's colleagues. - The Olympic Cash MachineE29
The Olympic Cash MachineFor the past six months, Dispatches has been investigating the London 2012 Olympics. Undertaking a forensic examination of who the real winners and losers are likely to be as a result of hosting the Games, reporter Antony Barnett reveals that, for a lucky few, the personal, financial benefits could be huge. - China's Stolen ChildrenE32
China's Stolen ChildrenMore than a decade after producing The Dying Rooms - a powerful film about the neglect of abandoned babies in Chinese orphanages - the same award-winning team returns to a very different China, where the infamous One Child Policy has created the horrific side-effect of a boom in stolen children. - The Housing Trap
E36The Housing TrapDispatches asks whether Britain's house-price boom will create a new generation unable ever to afford a home of their own. The programme follows three sets of first-time buyers as they begin looking for ideal homes in summer. How will the would-be purchasers cope with pricing hot-spots, competition from buy-to-let investors and the meltdown in consumer lending caused by the international credit crunch? - Bottleneck BritainE37
Bottleneck BritainBritain stands on the brink of gridlock. But when the Government proposed pay-as-you-drive motoring, the driving public revolted against it, dubbing it the Toll Tax. This week, Dispatches will conduct its own experiment to find out if road pricing is indeed the answer to congestion. - Mark Thomas on Coca-ColaE38
Mark Thomas on Coca-ColaInvestigative report by Mark Thomas into the accusations of exploitation of workers, human rights violations, environmental damage, and questionable business practices by Coca-Cola. Looks at its suppliers and operations in India, South America and the US. - Mark Thomas on Coca-Cola
E42Mark Thomas on Coca-ColaCoca-Cola is one of the most iconic brands of both the 20th and 21st centuries. Promoting itself as the drink of freedom, choice and US patriotism, the company's feel-good factor is recognised worldwide and reflected in its enormous profits. But behind this carefully crafted image exists a company accused of environmental damage, human rights violations and questionable business practices. Political activist and journalist Mark Thomas travels to South America, India and the US to investigate the way in which Coca-Cola and its suppliers operate and the extent to which they upholds moral and ethical obligations. Thomas, a long-term critic of Coca-Cola's more controversial practices, finds disturbing evidence which undermines its effervescent image as a force for good and which has prompted a global consumer backlash. - How To Get Ahead In AfricaE43
How To Get Ahead In AfricaIn this 2007 Channel 4 (UK) documentary "BAFTA Award-winning journalist Sorious Samura shows how in Africa corruption has become normal and accepted, even though it's tearing the continent to pieces. Despite the billions in western aid poured in, Samura claims Africa is heading into oblivion: but it's not war, famine and disease strangling development; it's corruption.
