The BEST episodes of Panorama season 2020
Every episode of Panorama season 2020, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Panorama season 2020!
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme. First broadcast in 1953, it is the world's longest-running public affairs television programme.
#1 - 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.
#2 - 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.
#3 - 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.
#4 - 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.
#5 - Hunting the Neo-Nazis
Season 2020 - Episode 22 - Aired 6/22/2020
Panorama investigates a global network of neo-Nazis whose aim is to destroy society and discovers that it is recruiting in the UK. Last year, a 16-year-old boy from Durham became the youngest person ever convicted of planning a terrorist attack in the UK, prompting reporter Daniel De Simone to delve deeper into this shadowy world. Police say right-wing extremism is the fastest-growing terrorist threat in the UK and that the coronavirus pandemic may be leaving young people vulnerable to radicalisation. As Daniel investigates the Durham case, he notices certain names cropping up again and again. Working with investigative journalist Ali Winston in the US, he tracks down some of the movement's most influential figures and reveals how the network operates across the globe.
#6 - China's Coronavirus Cover-Up
Season 2020 - Episode 28 - Aired 7/27/2020
Did China hide crucial information about Covid-19 from the world? What began with a handful of mystery pneumonia cases in Wuhan late last year has now left more than half a million dead worldwide. Beijing says it has been open and transparent throughout, but former BBC China Editor Carrie Gracie investigates how it delayed reporting the initial outbreak and evidence that Covid-19 could be spread by people. It also silenced doctors who tried to speak out. Panorama also hears from one high-level insider who believes the animal market at the centre of the Wuhan outbreak should have been treated as a 'crime scene' and from experts who warn that this crisis may be a 'dress rehearsal' for an even more deadly pandemic in the future.
#7 - The Race for a Vaccine
Season 2020 - Episode 49 - Aired 12/14/2020
The inside story of the development of the Oxford vaccine against Covid-19. Fergus Walsh scrutinises the data that has come out of the trials, and examines the vaccination's efficacy and safety.
#8 - Fighting for an Education
Season 2020 - Episode 34 - Aired 9/7/2020
For any parent, making sure a child gets the best schooling is often a worry, but when your child has complex special educational needs and disabilities, it can cause real anxiety. As most children in England return to their classrooms, reporter Sean Dilley investigates the system for supporting young people with special educational needs. He meets families who, during lockdown, struggled without any support at all, and now, as their children head back to school, fear they may not get the right support to help them learn and stay safe in their classrooms. Sean discovers an adversarial system that was supposed to put the needs of children at its heart, but instead has created what some call ‘a treacle of bureaucracy’ for parents to navigate.
#9 - Is TikTok Safe?
Season 2020 - Episode 42 - Aired 11/2/2020
Tina Daheley investigates whether TikTok, the social media sensation of lockdown, is safe for the millions of young people who have signed up.
#10 - Hostage in Iran
Season 2020 - Episode 33 - Aired 8/24/2020
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held prisoner in Iran for more than four years after being convicted of trumped-up spying charges. Nobody knows how many other British citizens have been imprisoned by the Iranian authorities because the UK government refuses to say. Reporter Darragh MacIntyre meets the families of some of those who have been arbitrarily detained and asks whether the payment of a historic debt could set them free.
#11 - Has Lockdown Changed What We Eat?
Season 2020 - Episode 31 - Aired 8/10/2020
The way we eat is changing – and the way we shop for our food is too. Almost five months after the beginning of lockdown, Panorama reporter Tom Heap investigates the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Britain’s biggest manufacturing sector - food - and looks at how the way we shop, cook and consume has been transformed.
#12 - Stacey Dooley and the Lockdown Babies
Season 2020 - Episode 30 - Aired 8/3/2020
Almost a quarter of a million babies have been born in the UK since lockdown began. Stacey Dooley reports from Bradford Royal Infirmary to find out how the pandemic is transforming the way we deal with pregnancy and birth. She meets pregnant women terrified of getting the virus, women giving birth and new mums with coronavirus who have had to isolate themselves from friends and family. Stacey also speaks to midwives and doctors who reveal how their lives have changed in order to protect mothers, babies and themselves from the risk of infection.
#13 - Scandal at the Post Office
Season 2020 - Episode 20 - Aired 6/8/2020
Hundreds of postmasters were jailed or financially ruined after a computer system said money was missing from their branches. Now the Post Office has admitted that its Horizon computer system can make mistakes. But when did senior managers find this out, and did they continue to prosecute postmasters for stealing when they knew technology could be to blame? Reporter Nick Wallis investigates what could be Britain’s biggest ever miscarriage of justice scandal and uncovers evidence of a cover-up at the Post Office.
#14 - Coronavirus: Destination New York
Season 2020 - Episode 19 - Aired 6/1/2020
Reporter Hilary Andersson travels from her home in Vermont to the dark heart of America's coronavirus crisis, New York City. Meeting despairing doctors, health workers and community activists, she asks why more than 16,000 people have died in a city with some of the best health care in the world. Donald Trump insists his own handling of the pandemic saved thousands of lives despite initially hoping it would simply go away of its own accord. But the city's leaders face criticism too. Joining food queues in the Bronx, Hilary discovers how the city's poorest have suffered the most.
#15 - Coronavirus: When Will We Be Safe?
Season 2020 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/4/2020
As politicians decide how and when to lift the lockdown, Justin Rowlatt reports from the scientific frontline, finding out how science can help us defeat the virus. With access to key drug and vaccine trials, he reveals a race against time to help save lives, and he asks when are we likely to be able to return to a normal life.
#16 - George Floyd: A Killing That Shook the World
Season 2020 - Episode 21 - Aired 6/15/2020
Thousands of people have joined marches against racism after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Clive Myrie asks if this event could change race relations in America for good.
#17 - Escaping My Abuser
Season 2020 - Episode 32 - Aired 8/17/2020
Home isn’t always a safe place. Panorama investigates what the 'Stay at Home' pandemic rule meant for those trapped with an abusive partner. Reporter Victoria Derbyshire grew up with a violent father and understands the impact it can have on families. She reveals the scale of domestic violence at the height of the crisis and meets some of those who managed to escape during lockdown. And she asks if the government has done enough for those who were put in danger by having to stay at home.
#18 - Coronavirus Crisis: Europe's Migrant Camps
Season 2020 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/18/2020
Panorama investigates conditions inside Greek migrant camps, locked down as coronavirus spread across the world. Refugees and migrants filming on mobile phones reveal how vulnerable people have to share taps and toilets with those who have tested positive for the virus, risking onward transmission. Strict quarantine is enforced on camps where coronavirus cases are confirmed, leading to some shortages in food, water and medical care inside. Fear of the virus and anger at camp conditions have led to violence. Panorama hears from charity and public health experts who warn that any failure to control the spread of the virus inside the camps could lead to potentially dangerous outbreaks.
#19 - Britain's Coronavirus Gamble
Season 2020 - Episode 27 - Aired 7/20/2020
Politicians from the prime minister down have assured us their response to the coronavirus pandemic has been 'guided by the science’. But the science has been hotly contested. The World Health Organisation urged countries to stamp out infections as soon as they developed, but the UK government's initial scientific advice said the route out of the crisis was for most of us to catch the virus so we could develop herd immunity. Panorama reporter Dr Faye Kirkland asks whether this was a dangerous gamble with people’s lives or a sound scientific approach. Faced with a growing backlash and warnings that the NHS was close to being overwhelmed, politicians denied that herd immunity was the policy, and within a few days Britain pivoted to a new strategy – lockdown. Now, as we try to emerge from that lockdown, Panorama investigates what those early decisions could mean for our future.
#20 - Belly Mujinga: Searching for the Truth
Season 2020 - Episode 39 - Aired 10/12/2020
The death of transport worker Belly Mujinga, following reports she had been coughed and spat on by a customer at London’s Victoria Station, was described by the prime minister as appalling and has prompted two million people to join a Justice for Belly campaign. A police investigation wasn’t launched until five weeks after the mother of one had died from Covid-19 and concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone with a crime. Now, Panorama reporter Rianna Croxford goes back over the evidence and asks whether all available lines of inquiry were followed. She also examines claims that Belly could have been better protected at work and hears calls for the circumstances of Belly Mujinga’s death to be investigated at an inquest.
#21 - Has Covid Stolen My Future?
Season 2020 - Episode 41 - Aired 10/26/2020
Covid-19 has hit the whole country hard, but for the under-25s, the impact has been particularly difficult. In this programme, reporter Kash Jones investigates the long-term consequences of the pandemic on young people. He reveals exclusive research about the impact of Covid on them and the scale of the challenges ahead, meeting young adults trying to deal with the long-term impact on their education, job prospects and mental health. Many are now asking whether Covid-19 has stolen their future.
#22 - The Home I Can't Afford
Season 2020 - Episode 46 - Aired 11/25/2020
Panorama investigates the government's shared-ownership scheme, designed to get more people on the property ladder, but leaving some with escalating costs and huge debts.
#23 - How to Save the High Street
Season 2020 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/13/2020
Business journalist Adam Shaw investigates the government's plans to spend millions of pounds reviving run-down town centres. For more than a century, our high streets have been key to our communities, but now, with one in ten shops sitting empty, they are in crisis. In this programme, business journalist Adam Shaw investigates the government’s plans to spend millions of pounds reviving run-down town centres. He finds high streets across the country looking at other ways to remain part of their community and learns that to adapt and change on the scale that’s needed, they will have to have more than just money.
#24 - Can Biden Unite America?
Season 2020 - Episode 44 - Aired 11/16/2020
Joe Biden has won the battle for the White House. Reporter Hilary Andersson meets the Trump supporters who believe the election was stolen and asks whether they will ever accept their new president.
#25 - How Scotland Cut Violent Crime
Season 2020 - Episode 25 - Aired 7/13/2020
While the rest of the UK has struggled to contain rising levels of knife and gun crime, Scotland has dramatically reduced violent crime in the past 15 years. But how was it done? Kate Silverton films with Police Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit, which tries to prevent crime by offering more help and compassion to those at risk of offending. They call it a public health approach, which treats crime as a disease. Panorama weighs up the evidence to see whether it really works – and if it can be transferred to the rest of the UK.