The BEST episodes of Dispatches season 2023
Every episode of Dispatches season 2023, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Dispatches season 2023!
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 - Boris, the Lord and the Russian Spy
Season 2023 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/27/2023
The full story of Boris Johnson's friendship with press baron Evgeny Lebedev and his former KGB spy father, Alexander Lebedev. Including exclusive interviews with intelligence officials and senior political figures who warned the former Prime Minister against the friendship, knowing it would put him 'in a direct line of being able to be influenced and compromised'. Despite being told by both Britain's security services and the House of Lords Appointments Commission that the friendship was dangerous, Johnson ignored this advice and became the first Prime Minister to over-rule intelligence advice related to national security for a parliamentary nomination.
#2 - Russell Brand: In Plain Sight
Season 2023 - Episode 7 - Aired 9/16/2023
Dispatches investigates Russell Brand's treatment of women.
#3 - Strippers, Spies & Russian Money
Season 2023 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/12/2023
The extraordinary story of Russia's covert attempts to corrupt British politics, influence government policy and undermine our democracy in the years before the invasion of Ukraine. Over the past 12 years, donors with links to Russia have poured millions into the coffers of the ruling Conservative Party. Dispatches reveals how senior politicians ignored the warnings about President Putin to the detriment of our national security, how political activists were encouraged to visit a Moscow strip club, and hears allegations concerning a Russian 'diplomat' seeking information from a government minister over a pint in a pub.
#4 - Undercover Ambulance: NHS in Chaos
Season 2023 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/9/2023
Secret footage filmed over the winter reveals ambulance workers battling the odds and A&E departments overwhelmed as patients suffer needless harm and death.
#5 - Locked Away: Our Autism Scandal
Season 2023 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/24/2023
A film by award-winning autistic director Richard Butchins in which, for the first time, autistic patients housed within mental health units relate their experiences in their own words. Some have been incarcerated for years in unsuitable wards and hospitals across the UK. The videos, made secretly by patients and sent to Butchins, paint a stark portrait of a healthcare system in crisis.
#6 - Less for More: The Truth About Food Prices
Season 2023 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/12/2023
Harry Wallop investigates Britain's soaring food prices as Christmas quickly approaches and discovers how some products have been secretly reformulated with cheaper ingredients. Plus, how some big brands have managed to sustain and even increase profit margins despite their rising costs and how loyalty-card discounts are really funded.
#7 - Hunting Russia's Lost Boys
Season 2023 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/12/2023
The intimate, emotional story of the Russian women taking huge risks fighting for the truth about their sons, husbands and brothers missing in Ukraine
#8 - Britain's Forgotten Pensioners
Season 2023 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/7/2023
Dispatches follows four pensioners through winter, as they struggle to make ends meet. Their stories put a human face on the isolation, loneliness and stress that comes with living life on the brink. John, 76, lives alone in Sunderland in the home he used to share with his parents and siblings and spends his nights sat in darkness, afraid his energy bills are too high to turn the lights on. Sixty eight-year-old Doreen has had only two visitors in the 38 years she has lived in her home and goes to bed early to stay warm. In rural Leicestershire, 82-year-old Harry and his wife 77-year-old Christine skip dinner as a desperate attempt at cutting costs.
#9 - Sri Lanka's Easter Bombings
Season 2023 - Episode 6 - Aired 9/5/2023
A Dispatches special reveals shocking new evidence on Sri Lanka's deadly Easter bombings of 2019. High-placed whistle blowers allege top-level complicity by officials inside the Sri Lankan government.
#10 - The Hunt for Ukraine's Stolen Children
Season 2023 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/13/2023
A team of investigators search for evidence to prosecute Russian President Putin for the deportation and brainwashing of thousands of Ukrainian children. Dispatches has exclusive access to the team as they travel the dangerous borderlands of Ukraine, speaking to newly rescued children and trying to trace others who've disappeared from orphanages and schools during the Russian occupation.
#11 - Secrets and Power: China in the UK
Season 2023 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/29/2023
An investigation of China's relationships with the UK and its institutions, including allegations about treatment of dissidents and critics on UK soil.
#12 - How Safe is Your Turkey?
Season 2023 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/8/2023
In the run-up to Christmas, nine million turkeys will be sold across Britain. Dispatches investigates food safety concerns at one producer.