The BEST episodes of Dispatches season 2017
Every episode of Dispatches season 2017, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Dispatches season 2017!
Covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, and often features a mole inside organisations under journalistic investigation.
#1 - Secrets of Coca-Cola
Season 2017 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/27/2017
Dispatches investigates Coca-Cola, one of the world's most iconic brands.
Watch Now:Amazon#2 - 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?
Watch Now:Amazon#3 - 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.
Watch Now:Amazon#4 - 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'.
Watch Now:Amazon#5 - Al Fayed Behind Closed Doors
Season 2017 - Episode 28 - Aired 12/8/2017
Dispatches investigates allegations of sexual harassment against billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed.
Watch Now:Amazon#6 - Undercover: Britain's Homeless Scandal
Season 2017 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/13/2017
With councils across England and Wales struggling to meet the demand for emergency housing, Dispatches goes undercover to investigate the impact on homeless women attempting to get off the streets. The number of rough sleepers has risen for the sixth year in a row, of which women are a particularly exposed group. Reporter Jackie Long meets women who are escaping violence and expectant mothers searching for a home. New research in the programme reveals the dangers they face. Local authorities have a duty to offer temporary accommodation to the most vulnerable. Secret filming puts some councils to the test, examining claims that they are unable to cope and are wrongly turning women away. The government has pledged more money to councils to help the homeless but Dispatches asks whether this will be enough to solve this growing crisis.
Watch Now:Amazon#7 - The Great Housing Scandal
Season 2017 - Episode 26 - Aired 11/13/2017
Harry Wallop investigates the housing shortage in Britain and in particular the Government sell-off of state-owned land to build housing on. He discovers that the land was undersold and few houses built on it.
Watch Now:Amazon#8 - How to Avoid the Dementia Tax
Season 2017 - Episode 27 - Aired 11/20/2017
Is demand for long-term nursing care about to push the NHS over the edge? Ahead of the Budget, the Chancellor is coming under increasing pressure to raise more money to fund long-term social care. As local authorities struggle to meet these huge costs, reporter Tazeen Ahmad reports on the so-called 'dementia tax'. Ahmad investigates why some dementia sufferers have to sell their family homes to pay for care while others gain access to NHS funds. And Dispatches goes undercover to reveal the advice financial experts give to potential sufferers. Dispatches asks whether the system providing care for thousands is really fit for purpose.
Watch Now:Amazon#9 - Trump & Russia: Sex, Spies and Scandal
Season 2017 - Episode 21 - Aired 10/18/2017
Matt Frei investigates an epic tale of mystery and intrigue. It's the biggest political scandal of our time and could eclipse the fallout of even Watergate. Did the Trump campaign collude with the Russians? The story reads like an international thriller featuring spies, models and some of the most notorious political players. A year after one of the greatest political upsets of all time, Frei travels to Moscow and Washington to discover more about this alleged conspiracy. Speaking to some of the insiders and examining the evidence, he explores the deep links between Trump confidants and Russia. Did the Kremlin have leverage over a number of these controversial aides who were helping Trump to win the presidency? Were some of them even in the pay of the Russians? Were deals done between these influential figures, including the President's own family, and agents of the Russian state? And what do both parties stand to gain?
#10 - President Trump: How Scared Should We Be?
Season 2017 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/3/2017
President Trump has said that his foreign policy will be based on the principle of 'America First'. He's surrounded in the Oval Office by people who dispute the notion that the US has an obligation to maintain a stable international order. Some are hostile to the EU and attach little value to international institutions such as Nato and the United Nations. And now Donald Trump has his finger on the trigger of nearly 7000 nuclear warheads. Abi Austen travels to the US to find out what the Age of Trump means in practice for the rest of the world and asks: just how worried should we be?
Watch Now:Amazon#11 - Syria's Disappeared: The Case Against Assad
Season 2017 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/23/2017
The hidden story of the tens of thousands of men, women and children who've been disappeared in Syria by the Assad regime, into a network of clandestine detention centres.
Watch Now:Amazon#12 - Brexit: Crisis on the Wards
Season 2017 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/13/2017
On the eve of Article 50 being triggered, Dispatches investigates the impact that Brexit is having on Britain's Health Service. Following the busiest winter on record, our hospitals are under pressure like never before. To make matters worse, the NHS is facing the largest nursing shortage in recent times: more than 20,000 vacancies nationwide. Morland Sanders investigates the scale of the looming staff crisis on our wards. He discovers NHS chiefs unable to recruit new staff from Europe and uncovers evidence that the Government's attempts to boost home-grown NHS staff recruitment are failing to fill the gaps.
Watch Now:Amazon#13 - Inside Britain's Airports
Season 2017 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/27/2017
Each year Britain's airports rake in over £4 billion, and almost half of that doesn't come from flights, but from the hundreds of shops selling to the millions of passengers as they pass through the terminals. So what are the secrets of these mammoth businesses? For Dispatches, journalist Harry Wallop investigates just how Heathrow and other airports make their money. Going undercover, Wallop reveals the tricks we should all be prepared for and asks whether we are really getting a good deal from our biggest airports.
Watch Now:Amazon#14 - Undercover: Britain's Cheap Clothes - Part 1
Season 2017 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/23/2017
Dispatches goes undercover to investigate the textile factories in the UK making clothes for some of the biggest brands, and discovers what Made in Britain really means. In 2010 reporter Tazeen Ahmad exposed poor conditions in clothes factories located in the heart of Britain. Now she returns to find out if things have improved. She discovers workers being paid less than half the national living wage and working conditions that pose a serious fire risk. Secret cameras capture one textile boss revealing that he considers he's in direct competition with Bangladesh to meet the orders. Tazeen also meets a new breed of shopper who never leave their homes to get the latest designs quickly. The booming industry labelled Fast Fashion has changed the face of the textile market, and Dispatches discovers what it means for the workers who make the clothes.
Watch Now:Amazon#15 - Britain's Benefit Families
Season 2017 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/20/2017
Seyi Rhodes investigates the impact of the government's latest benefit cap on some of the families affected by it. Ministers introduced the cap because, they said, they wanted to make sure that work paid more than benefits; they wanted it to force people to change their lifestyles, to live on less money or go back to work. Rhodes discovers that, while some people are now changing their lifestyles, the cap's unintended consequences may mean pushing the benefits bill up in other ways.
Watch Now:Amazon#16 - President Trump's Dirty Secrets
Season 2017 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/16/2017
Dispatches investigates the controversial figures surrounding Donald Trump and their links to powerful corporations that could have far-reaching consequences beyond America
Watch Now:Amazon#17 - Supermarkets: Brexit and Your Shrinking Shop
Season 2017 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/20/2017
From Toblerone to Marmite, many of our favourite brands have been caught in the fallout from the Brexit referendum. Toblerone reduced the size of its chocolate bars and faced a revolt from outraged shoppers. The chocolate manufacturer blamed the change on rising costs. A Brexit price row led to a standoff between Tesco and Marmite. And these are by no means the only well-known products to be affected by the vote. For Dispatches, Harry Wallop, who first broke 'Marmitegate', trawls our supermarket shelves to reveal what other goods have been affected by 'shrinkflation', and the marketing tactics producers use. He examines how much prices have increased since Brexit, and the clever promotions used by the supermarkets. The programme investigates how leaving the European Union and the imposition of import taxes could affect the cost of our shopping and whether some of our favourite goods could even disappear altogether.
Watch Now:Amazon#18 - Secrets of Your New Car
Season 2017 - Episode 19 - Aired 8/28/2017
With new forms of finance driving Britain's thriving new car market, Morland Sanders investigates whether the bargains on offer in the showroom are all they seem. Finance schemes are making cars more affordable to more drivers than ever before. But as concern grows around household debt levels Dispatches asks whether the deals on offer are making the second biggest purchase you'll ever make a liability for your bank balance. Sanders asks if the car industry is being entirely straight with customers. Undercover filming exposes questionable sales patter and confusing advice. Sanders also talks to one driver who says she was caught out by the small print in her car finance deal. And the programme reveals one little-known way to get the car of your dreams at a lower price than the one quoted by most sales staff.
Watch Now:Amazon#19 - The Fight For Mosul
Season 2017 - Episode 25 - Aired 11/7/2017
In October 2016, an elite team of Iraqi Special Forces was tasked with leading the fight to defeat Isis in Mosul. It was the beginning of a brutal battle of attrition that was to last almost nine months. Filmed over the course of the whole campaign, this documentary follows the experiences of five young soldiers: Anmar, a college graduate seeking revenge after his father was the victim of a suicide attack; Hussein, a ruthless sniper and aspiring football player; Jamal, a wise-cracking sergeant; Naif, a sergeant juggling family life with the front line; and Amjad, a young recruit excited to be on the forefront in the basis against Isis. Full of hope and good intentions at the beginning of the campaign, the soldiers are forced to confront the reality of fighting an elusive and vicious enemy in a city of trapped civilians who are themselves fearful and suspicious of the army.
#20 - Who Deserves a Pay Rise?
Season 2017 - Episode 22 - Aired 10/23/2017
Dispatches investigates what life's like for front-line public sector workers following seven years of pay freezes and pay caps, and reveals how far salaries have fallen in real terms
#21 - How to Get a Pay Rise
Season 2017 - Episode 20 - Aired 10/16/2017
This is an era of stagnant wages: British workers are going through 15 years without any real-term pay rise. Morland Sanders investigates who's responsible and whether we can turn the tables on our bosses. Sanders reveals how much British workers have suffered from low wage growth and how we fail to properly negotiate pay rises with our employers. In this Dispatches with a difference, master negotiator Dan Hughes - the expert who's training the civil servants who are representing the UK at Brexit negotiations - reveals his top tips on how to prepare for that all-important pay discussion. Dan coaches two employees, who haven't had a rise for years, on tactics and negotiating skills to help them find the confidence to ask for more. They then approach their employers to discuss their pay; can they confidently negotiate their terms? And can Dan's masterclass teach us all how to get a pay rise?
#22 - Secrets of Britain's New Homes
Season 2017 - Episode 18 - Aired 7/10/2017
As the national spotlight falls on the need for Britain to build more high-quality affordable homes, a Dispatches investigation asks why so few affordable properties are being built at a time when housebuilders have been making record profits. Reporter Antony Barnett travels across the country revealing how property companies have failed to deliver new affordable homes and asks questions about the links between the government and the property industry. Airing in a week of programmes on Channel 4 and More4 exploring issues of housing and homelessness.
#23 - Secrets of Your Cruise
Season 2017 - Episode 17 - Aired 7/3/2017
Almost two million Brits took a cruise last year, fleeing our polluted cities and towns for amazing scenery and fresh sea air. But how clean is the air you breathe on these holidays of a lifetime? Dispatches goes undercover to investigate deep concerns about the impact some cruise ships could be having on the environment and public health. Travelling as a passenger on a European cruise, reporter Tazeen Ahmad discovers more about the pollution levels some customers could be exposed to and investigates the wider impact of cruising holidays, from waste flushed straight into the sea to on-shore pollution.
#24 - Brexit - How to Get a British Passport
Season 2017 - Episode 16 - Aired 6/26/2017
A year on from the referendum the Brexit talks are just starting. Top of the agenda will be the status of three million Europeans living here. Many of them and their children were born in the UK or have lived here most of their lives. You may have thought that being born here would immediately guarantee them a British passport, but that's not the case. For Dispatches, Datshiane Navanayagam investigates just how hard it can be to get a British passport and the real impact that the lack of a passport has on many people's lives. Navanayagam reveals that there are already 120,000 children and young people born or raised in the UK who think that they are British but will not automatically gain citizenship. She reveals some of the huge costs involved in applying for citizenship, examines how the Home Office assesses claims and asks whether Brexit will make the situation worse.
#25 - Bupa Care Homes Undercover
Season 2017 - Episode 15 - Aired 6/19/2017
As the way we care for our ageing relatives becomes an increasingly hot topic, Dispatches goes undercover to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect at specialist dementia care homes run by Bupa, the UK's biggest name in healthcare. Bupa promises to provide person-centred, high quality care but covert footage captured in one home over three months by a Dispatches reporter raises serious questions about that commitment. Jackie Long investigates evidence of over-stretched and under-resourced care staff, questionable treatment of residents and safety worries. It's a picture that raises serious questions about how society should look after an ageing population and the quality of care provided by one of Britain's biggest brands.