The BEST episodes of Panorama

Every episode of Panorama ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Panorama!

Investigative documentary series revealing the truth about the stories that matter.

Last Updated: 8/29/2025Network: BBC OneStatus: Continuing
Are the Net Police Coming for You?
star
10.00
29 votes

#1 - Are the Net Police Coming for You?

Season 2010 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/15/2010

Jo Whiley looks at how a proposed new law could end up disconnecting the millions of internet users who unlawfully download free music, films and TV.

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Poor America
star
10.00
29 votes

#2 - Poor America

Season 2012 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/13/2012

Panorama's Hilary Andersson comes face to face with the reality of poverty in America and finds that, for some, the last resort has become life in a tented encampment. Just off the side of a motorway on the fringes of the picturesque town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a mismatched collection of 30 tents tucked in the woods has become home - home to those who are either unemployed, or whose wages are so low that they can no longer afford to pay rent. Conditions are unhygienic. There are no toilets and electricity is only available in the one communal tent where the campers huddle around a wood stove for warmth in the heart of winter. Ice weighs down the roofs of tents, and rain regularly drips onto the sleeping campers' faces. Tent cities have sprung up in and around at least 55 American cities - they represent the bleak reality of America's poverty crisis.

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star
10.00
1 votes

#3 - Towards the Zero Hour

Season 2001 - Episode 33 - Aired 12/12/2001

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star
10.00
1 votes

#4 - England's Shame

Season 2000 - Episode 20 - Aired 6/20/2000

In a special investigation, Panorama goes undercover with English supporters at Euro 2000.

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star
10.00
1 votes

#5 - Violent Women

Season 1996 - Episode 33 - Aired 11/4/1996

Statistics show that British women are committing more and more violent crimes. Panorama investigates the shift in the traditional role of women as victims or accessories to crime to the aggressor. Su Pennington talks to women who get a thrill from their own brutality, and to some victims of the disturbing trend.

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Am I British?
star
10.00
1 votes

#6 - Am I British?

Season 2021 - Episode 17 - Aired 5/5/2021

Reporter Greg McKenzie meets young people born or brought up in the UK who say Home Office immigration policy treats them as second-class citizens.

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star
10.00
1 votes

#7 - Midwives Undercover

Season 2007 - Episode 17 - Aired 5/3/2007

The series looks at St Mary's hospital in Manchester and Barnet hospital in London. The show looks at the staff working in the maternity wards and the difficulties they face each day.

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Murdoch's TV Pirates
star
9.88
32 votes

#8 - Murdoch's TV Pirates

Season 2012 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/26/2012

As Rupert Murdoch faces accusations of law-breaking and corruption at his British tabloid newspapers, Panorama reveals fresh hacking allegations striking at the heart of News Corporation's pay-TV empire. The investigation examines the role of former senior police officers in recruiting people to break the law - in order to bring down Murdoch's commercial rival. Vivian White reveals fresh allegations of hacking at the heart of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, this time involving its pay-TV services. The investigation examines the alleged role of former senior police officers in recruiting people to break the law in order to bring down one of the media mogul's commercial rivals. Postponed from Monday March 12.

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White Fright
star
9.00
3 votes

#9 - White Fright

Season 2007 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/7/2007

The show looks at several communities which have been split by colour and religion.

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California 2000
star
9.00
1 votes

#10 - California 2000

Season 1966 - Episode 23 - Aired 8/18/1966

A look at California's technology industry and its potential impact on the future. The Californian technology industry is by far the most advanced and pioneering of its kind across the developed world. John Morgan investigates how this distinctly Californian industry developed and the questions it raises for Britain and Europe.

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Kony: Hunt for the World's Most Wanted
star
9.00
1 votes

#11 - Kony: Hunt for the World's Most Wanted

Season 2012 - Episode 29 - Aired 8/20/2012

Somewhere in the vast, dense jungles of central Africa, is hidden Joseph Kony, one of the world's most wanted men. For the past 25 years, Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army have waged one of the continent's darkest conflicts; using an army of abducted and brutalised children to kill and maim tens of thousands of people. But how has one man, said to take his orders from the spirit world, managed to escape capture for so long? In the wake of the infamous 'Kony 2012' internet campaign to bring him to justice this year, Bafta-winning reporter, Sorious Samura, investigates the myths surrounding Kony and travels to the front line of the fight to bring one of Africa's most bizarre and brutal leaders to justice.

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Dirty Secrets of the Cigarette Business
star
9.00
3 votes

#12 - Dirty Secrets of the Cigarette Business

Season 2021 - Episode 31 - Aired 9/13/2021

Panorama unveils new revelations about the corrupt practices deployed by one of Britain’s biggest companies. Six years ago, reporter Richard Bilton revealed how British American Tobacco made secret payments to politicians and civil servants in East Africa. Now the programme uncovers evidence of bribery in South Africa and Zimbabwe. It shows how the multi-billion pound British company secretly paid almost 200 informants as part of a covert operation to damage its competitors.

North Korea Undercover
star
9.00
29 votes

#13 - North Korea Undercover

Season 2013 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/15/2013

While North Korea's 'Supreme Commander' Kim Jong-Un has been threatening thermo-nuclear war against the United States, Panorama reporter John Sweeney spent eight days undercover inside the most rigidly-controlled nation on Earth. Travelling from the capital Pyongyang to the countryside beyond and to the de-Militarised Zone on the border with South Korea, Sweeney witnesses a landscape bleak beyond words, a people brainwashed for three generations and a regime happy to give the impression of marching towards Armageddon.

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Profits before Pupils? The Academies Scandal
star
9.00
1 votes

#14 - Profits before Pupils? The Academies Scandal

Season 2018 - Episode 30 - Aired 9/10/2018

More than 7,000 schools in England have been turned into academies and are now run by private trusts. The people in charge are not supposed to profit from children's education, but what's to stop them from cashing in? Reporter Bronagh Munro investigates a businessman whose companies have been paid millions from school budgets and asks whether it's the pupils who are paying the price.

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Election 2017: What Just Happened?
star
8.67
3 votes

#15 - Election 2017: What Just Happened?

Season 2017 - Episode 23 - Aired 6/12/2017

Theresa May's election gamble has resulted in a catastrophic outcome for the Conservatives, whilst Jeremy Corbyn has defied many expectations. Following the election that's changed the face of British politics, Nick Robinson asks how and why it happened.

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Sellafield's Nuclear Safety Failings
star
8.50
2 votes

#16 - Sellafield's Nuclear Safety Failings

Season 2016 - Episode 27 - Aired 9/5/2016

A special investigation into the shocking state of Britain's most hazardous nuclear site. With a high-level whistleblower, hundreds of leaked documents and exclusive access to former senior managers, reporter Richard Bilton uncovers the truth about Sellafield. He finds an ageing and run-down plant, where nuclear waste is stored in dangerous conditions and insiders fear a serious accident.

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Liverpool: Fighting Covid
star
8.50
2 votes

#17 - Liverpool: Fighting Covid

Season 2020 - Episode 43 - Aired 11/9/2020

Jane Corbin finds out how Liverpool coped with restrictions due to Covid-19 infection rates, hearing from residents worried about the second wave, business owners pushed to the brink of despair, and those who say that living under tier three rules just isn't possible.

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Return from ISIS: A Family's Story
star
8.40
5 votes

#18 - Return from ISIS: A Family's Story

Season 2020 - Episode 45 - Aired 11/23/2020

The extraordinary story of one family's journey from a small town in America to the heart of the Islamic State group and back.

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Vaccines: The Disinformation War
star
8.40
5 votes

#19 - Vaccines: The Disinformation War

Season 2021 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/15/2021

With millions now vaccinated, Panorama investigates the scare tactics of anti-vaxxers – who are they, and what are their motives for trying to deter people from getting the jab? Reporter Marianna Spring reveals the scale of a social media blitz that has targeted vulnerable people and is now reaching young generations yet to be called for their vaccination. We witness the reaction of a test group exposed to one anti-vax video, all under the watchful eye of one of the UK’s most respected doctors. Will they be influenced by disinformation, or will their plans to be vaccinated remain unchanged?

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The Jihadis from My Schooldays
star
8.20
5 votes

#20 - The Jihadis from My Schooldays

Season 2021 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/25/2021

Panorama reporter Olivia Davies went to school and college with three boys who later went to fight in Syria. She investigates why they abandoned the UK and what happened to them when they joined the barbaric Isis regime. Travelling to Syria for the first time, she tries to discover what turned three boys from ordinary families into brutal fanatics of the Islamic State group.

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The Secrets of Scientology
star
8.17
6 votes

#21 - The Secrets of Scientology

Season 2010 - Episode 36 - Aired 9/28/2010

Reporter John Sweeney's last investigation into the Church of Scientology resulted in an explosive confrontation with church officials. This time, in a Panorama Special, one of those officials has turned whistleblower to help him reveal the dark secrets of the church, which boasts Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its devotees.

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Next Stop, Downing Street?
star
8.00
1 votes

#22 - Next Stop, Downing Street?

Season 2008 - Episode 46 - Aired 9/29/2008

Nick Robinson accompanies Conservative Party leader David Cameron to Birmingham as he attempts to persuade voters he is prime minister material.

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Crisis in Care: Follow the Money
star
8.00
1 votes

#23 - Crisis in Care: Follow the Money

Season 2021 - Episode 43 - Aired 12/6/2021

Tens of thousands of elderly people live in care homes owned by international investors. Panorama asks how much money is being taken out of the system.

Britain's Wild Weather
star
8.00
1 votes

#24 - Britain's Wild Weather

Season 2020 - Episode 48 - Aired 12/7/2020

The UK's weather is getting wilder. This year has been a record breaker, with unprecedented rainfall, sunshine and sustained high temperatures. It's a sign that climate change is already happening in the UK – and it's going to get worse. Justin Rowlatt visits communities around Britain battered by this year's extreme weather to find out how they have coped. With access to Met Office data and experts explaining how hot and wet every part of the UK could become, he discovers a future of more heatwaves, intense storms and little snow for most of us, and asks whether we are ready for the even wilder weather that is coming.

Banking Secrets of the Rich and Powerful
star
8.00
2 votes

#25 - Banking Secrets of the Rich and Powerful

Season 2020 - Episode 36 - Aired 9/21/2020

Panorama uncovers secret reports that expose how banks have failed to tackle crime. Reporter Richard Bilton also exposes the business deals billionaires would rather you didn’t know about. It’s the leak that reveals the secrets of British banking. Panorama uncovers secret reports that expose how banks have failed to tackle crime and how terrorists, money launderers and crime bosses are able to use the same banks as us. Reporter Richard Bilton also exposes the double life of the man who funded the Brexit Party, secret deals at the top of British football and the business deals billionaires would rather you didn’t know about.