The BEST episodes of Dispatches

#1 - Britain's Sex Gangs

Season 2011 - Episode 29 - Aired 11/7/2011

Research suggests that thousands of children are potentially being sexually exploited by street grooming gangs. This may only be the tip of the iceberg, as experts believe many crimes of this nature go unreported. Journalist Tazeen Ahmad investigates street grooming and hears from community leaders who say enough is enough and demand action on the issue. She meets victims of grooming and their parents, whose lives have been torn apart. She hears how girls as young as 12 have been targeted by these gangs and so terrorised and brainwashed that they keep their ordeal secret for years. In a particularly shocking encounter she talks to two young men who explain in detail how grooming by gangs is perpetrated, why virgins are more highly prized and how the commerce of this type of brutal sexual exploitation unfolds.

#2 - Secrets of Cadbury

Season 2016 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/21/2016

It's six years since Britain's beloved Cadbury was bought by American giant Kraft. As the Easter chocolate indulgence approaches, the episode will explore what's been happening to one of our favourite brands.

#3 - Can AI Steal Your Vote?

Season 2024 - Episode 7 - Aired 6/27/2024

Could AI influence the way you vote? As the dangers of AI targeted political material become apparent, Dispatches illustrates the effect AI could have on 12 British households of undecided voters.

#4 - Britain's Car Theft Gangs Exposed

Season 2025 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/19/2025

Every eight minutes a car is stolen in Britain. Dispatches goes undercover on the tail of the thieves driving this car-crime epidemic.

#5 - Lords, Billionaires and the Russian Connection

Season 2009 - Episode 37 - Aired 11/30/2009

Dispatches investigates the elusive Russian oligarchs who have been trying to buy up our football teams, newspapers and car companies.

#6 - Getting Rich From the Housing Crisis

Season 2018 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/16/2018

As Britain faces a major housing shortage, how is it that some of those responsible for providing the social housing that we so desperately need seem to be doing so well out of the crisis? Reporter Anthony Barnett travels the country to hear from communities under threat at a time when the pay of social housing bosses has hit record levels, while the provision of housing for social rent has hit an all-time low. Among his discoveries is that an executive of a housing association in one of the poorest parts of the country received a pay-out of more than a million pounds.

#7 - Myanmar: The Forgotten Revolution

Season 2022 - Episode 13 - Aired 7/25/2022

A look at the world's forgotten civil war, where over 20,000 people have been reported dead, and thousands are fighting against a military coup that has removed elected government.

#8 - Britain's New Build Scandal

Season 2019 - Episode 19 - Aired 7/15/2019

Reporter Liam Halligan investigates allegations of shoddy standards, poor customer care and excessive profits at Britain's second biggest - and most profitable - builder, Persimmon.

#9 - Grenfell: Did the Fire Brigade Fail?

Season 2019 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/18/2019

Dispatches investigates the London Fire Brigade's response to the Grenfell fire, through interviews with survivors and firefighters, and using critical new evidence released by the public inquiry.

#10 - Lawless Britain: Where are the Police?

Season 2018 - Episode 22 - Aired 10/8/2018

Have you been burgled, robbed or assaulted but feel that the police brushed you off? You're not alone. Dispatches hears from victims of crime who claim that the police have failed to investigate their cases fully, if at all. These are stories of violent attacks, homes broken into, property vandalised and family businesses left to fend for themselves against thieves. Exclusive research featured in the programme raises concerns that Britain is now sliding into a new era of policing. One of the most comprehensive analyses to date reveals the levels of crimes that many forces are choosing not to investigate. Dispatches also examines the wider impact of the policy of 'screening out' and other practices by the police. Some victims are being left to investigate and seek justice themselves, others feel that law and order is slipping away from their community.

#11 - Secrets of Coca-Cola

Season 2017 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/27/2017

Dispatches investigates Coca-Cola, one of the world's most iconic brands.

#12 - Britain's Benefits Experiment

Season 2015 - Episode 22 - Aired 11/2/2015

Tazeen Ahmed reports on a Department for Work and Pensions initiative to encourage people in work and in receipt of benefits to boost their income and reduce their dependency on the state. The project has implications for Britain's million lowest paid workers, and this documentary investigates if advice and encouragement will help them earn more, or if financial punishments, also known as sanctions, are the best way to get the working poor off benefits.

#13 - The Hunt for Britain's Sex Gangs

Season 2013 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/23/2013

In 2010 Telford police allowed cameras to start filming what was to become one of the biggest child sex abuse cases in the UK. The investigation, Operation Chalice, eventually encompassed over 100 victims, and around 200 suspected perpetrators. The Hunt for Britain's Sex Gangs follows - with unprecedented access - a live police investigation, showing just how difficult it is to secure justice for victims of sexual abuse, especially when some girls were just 11 when they were first abused. Gaining the trust of victims - who as a result of the grooming process, don't see themselves as victims - is key to the success of the case, but it takes months for the police to win their trust and keep them on board as they prepare for the harrowing process of going to court. As the police work with the victims, they begin to understand a vicious cycle of grooming, which starts with flattery and friendship, then moves on to a more overtly sexual relationship, and finally becomes exploitative as the groomers pass the girls around their networks of friends and family for sex.

#14 - The Force Is Not With You

Season 1998 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/15/1998

#15 - MMR: What They Didn't Tell You

Season 2004 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/18/2004

In February 1998 Dr Andrew Wakefield claimed to have discovered a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism. A global health scare ensued. This documentary investigates the scare and some of the facts that parents were not told at the time.

#16 - Kill Zone: Inside Gaza

Season 2024 - Episode 3 - Aired 5/27/2024

The story of the Israeli military assault on Gaza. Seen through the eyes of children, journalists and doctors, Dispatches takes an unflinching look at the horrific challenges and heartbreaking loss.

#17 - Is Britain Full?

Season 2017 - Episode 23 - Aired 10/30/2017

Is the country at breaking point? For many, high levels of immigration have caused real issues and arguably led directly to the Brexit vote. But is Britain really full? For Dispatches, Michael Buerk investigates the story behind the numbers and the impact of internal migration. New research reveals the true scale of massive movement within the UK and its impact on both overpopulated and underpopulated areas. Buerk travels to a northern English city that has almost halved in size over the years, meeting young people forming the exodus of migrants heading south for opportunity and better pay. Here he finds forgotten streets full of empty homes. The North-South divide is not just about wealth but also about numbers. Buerk asks whether we ignore the issue of internal migration at our peril and whether, with Brexit on the horizon, this issue will finally be discussed.

#18 - Escape From The Taliban

Season 2021 - Episode 19 - Aired 11/27/2021

First-hand footage of the Taliban capture of Kabul and the subsequent flight of refugees, shot by a documentary crew that were filming in Afghanistan at the time. The film includes coverage of female rights activist Zoya Faizi's attempt to escape the country, and one of the senior figures of the Al Qaeda-backed Haqqani network visiting a prison where, until recently, he had been held.

#19 - Britain's Coronavirus Catastrophe

Season 2020 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/3/2020

With Britain's Covid death rate one of the world's highest, Antony Barnett examines the evidence and asks did the government get it wrong?

#20 - The Truth About Traveller Crime

Season 2020 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/16/2020

Anja Popp goes in search of the truth about crimes linked to traveller sites. She talks to members of the public who have experienced crime waves and intimidation, goes out on patrol with police dealing with rural incidents and hears from travellers and their advocates, who say they suffer prejudice and attack.

#21 - The Truth About Vegans

Season 2019 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/2/2019

Reporter Morland Sanders investigates the rising popularity of veganism. It's better for your health, the environment and animals but why do some activists resort to such extreme tactics to promote it?

#22 - Trouble on the Trains

Season 2017 - Episode 24 - Aired 11/6/2017

Dispatches gains exclusive access to go undercover with the British Transport Police's crime unit to expose racism, homophobia and anti-Semitism by football fans on Britain's trains. Reporter Morland Sanders investigates as ordinary passengers are subjected to shocking abuse. One youth sings anti-Semitic songs, and another group of fans subject travellers to their racism - all caught on secret cameras. The cops try to track them down and put them away. Paul Crowther, the BTP's most senior police officer, discloses that anti-social and abusive behaviour on Britain's trains by football supporters is under-reported by the public because it is tolerated as part of 'football culture'.

#23 - Undercover: Britain's Cheap Clothes - Part 2

Season 2017 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/30/2017

British shoppers have embraced the home delivery economy. During the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping frenzy before Christmas, the total online spend was almost £6.5 billion, driven by huge discounts and sales promotions. There are now 1500 warehouses servicing these orders in the UK, which is the equivalent of roughly 5500 football pitches or the total size of Cambridge. In this second Dispatches investigation into Britain's cheap clothing market, Morland Sanders investigates the working conditions inside some of these warehouses. Secret filming shows the realities of operatives walking miles of floorspace a day to get orders out on time at the busiest time of the year and reveals what can happen when workers are unwell, arrive at work late or don't want to work overtime. What does Black Friday mean for workers on the receiving end of your orders?

#24 - Britain's Shoplifting Gangs Exposed

Season 2024 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/25/2024

In this high-stakes true crime investigation, Dispatches goes undercover to expose the organised criminal networks behind the UK's shoplifting epidemic.

#25 - North Korea: Life Inside The Secret State

Season 2013 - Episode 33 - Aired 11/13/2013

Kim Jong Un rules the world's most secret and repressive state. But thanks to the digital revolution, Kim can no longer keep the world from seeing the reality of life in North Korea - or stop his own people from discovering that everything they have been told about the outside world is a lie.