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.

Last Updated: 11/8/2024Network: BBC OneStatus: Continuing
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Liverpool: Fighting Covid
star
8.50
2 votes

#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.

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

#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.

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On the NHS Frontline
star
8.00
2 votes

#3 - On the NHS Frontline

Season 2020 - Episode 14 - Aired 4/20/2020

Four weeks into the government’s lockdown to save lives and protect the NHS, Jane Corbin reports from the frontline to tell the inside story of a Coventry hospital coping with Covid-19. She hears from doctors and nurses saving lives and dealing with death every day and asks if there is enough protective equipment and testing to help protect them from the daily risks to their own health.

Watch Now:Amazon
Britain's Wild Weather
star
8.00
1 votes

#4 - 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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Spying on the Scammers
star
8.00
15 votes

#5 - Spying on the Scammers

Season 2020 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/2/2020

Panorama goes inside a criminal call centre to reveal how scammers cheat their victims. Hundreds of thousands of people fall victim to scams in the UK every year. Many are run from criminal call centres in India, where teams of fraudsters operate around the clock. Now Panorama has obtained hacked CCTV footage from inside one scam call centre that shows exactly how it works. Reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan tracks down the man behind the crime and the British victims who have been conned.

Watch Now:Amazon
Hunting the Neo-Nazis
star
7.89
9 votes

#6 - 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.

Amazon: What They Know About Us
star
7.75
8 votes

#7 - Amazon: What They Know About Us

Season 2020 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/17/2020

In a quarter of a century, Amazon has propelled Jeff Bezos from online bookseller to tech titan. He's the richest man on the planet, and the company he founded is one of the most powerful. Panorama investigates Amazon's rise to corporate superpower and asks whether there is a dark side to our love affair with the company. Former high-level insiders describe Amazon's huge, obsessive data-gathering operation, which enables the company to use what it knows about us to shape not only the future of retail but the workplace and technology too. On both sides of the Atlantic, politicians and regulators are beginning to question Amazon's power and to explore ways to rein it in. But some of Amazon's most senior executives say the company is a force for good, inventing new ways to serve customers and maintain their trust.

Lockdown UK
star
7.40
5 votes

#8 - Lockdown UK

Season 2020 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/30/2020

Is the disease that’s threatening our families also destroying the economy? Panorama investigates the financial impact of Covid-19. The programme follows workers, supermarkets and manufacturers struggling to survive as food runs short, jobs are lost and panic sets in. Reporter Richard Bilton tells the story of the fight to save the UK's economy from an unprecedented threat.

The Corrupt Billionaire
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7.33
3 votes

#9 - The Corrupt Billionaire

Season 2020 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/20/2020

Leaked documents reveal how an impoverished country was corruptly exploited by its former ruling family. Reporter Richard Bilton uncovers the dubious contracts and loans that were used to get hold of some of the country's most valuable assets. He then follows the money trail back to the UK and discovers how one of the suspicious deals was run from an office in central London.

Has the Government Failed the NHS?
star
7.33
3 votes

#10 - Has the Government Failed the NHS?

Season 2020 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/27/2020

Doctors and nurses have been warning for weeks that they don’t have enough protective kit to stay safe. So has the government let down the health workers leading the fight against the coronavirus? Reporter Richard Bilton investigates the delays and mistakes that may have put the lives of NHS staff at risk.

Race for a Vaccine
star
7.25
4 votes

#11 - 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.

Coronavirus: The Week That Changed Britain
star
7.14
7 votes

#12 - Coronavirus: The Week That Changed Britain

Season 2020 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/23/2020

It has been a week where life in Britain has changed beyond recognition. Schools have shut down, supermarket shelves have emptied, and we have all been told to stay at home where possible. Meanwhile, the number of deaths is rising, and hospitals are preparing for many more coronavirus patients. Panorama looks at how Britain is coping with its biggest crisis since the Second World War – and asks if the government has the right strategy to contain the virus.

Coronavirus: When Will We Be Safe?
star
7.00
3 votes

#13 - 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.

Scandal at the Post Office
star
7.00
4 votes

#14 - 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.

Coronavirus: Destination New York
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7.00
4 votes

#15 - 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.

Coronavirus: The Most at Risk
star
7.00
4 votes

#16 - Coronavirus: The Most at Risk

Season 2020 - Episode 13 - Aired 4/6/2020

More than one-and-a-half million people have been told they have to stay at home for at least the next three months because they are most at risk from coronavirus. The government has promised to do whatever it takes to support them. Richard Bilton hears from some of the most vulnerable about how their lives have changed and the people trying to help them.

Mo Farah and the Salazar Scandal
star
6.80
5 votes

#17 - Mo Farah and the Salazar Scandal

Season 2020 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/24/2020

The inside story of the downfall of Alberto Salazar, who coached Britain’s greatest track athlete to Olympic glory. Reporter Mark Daly first exposed doping at Salazar’s Nike Oregon Project in 2015. In this investigation he reveals fresh allegations about the disgraced coach and raises new questions about his relationship with Sir Mo Farah.

Britain's Bus Crisis
star
6.75
4 votes

#18 - Britain's Bus Crisis

Season 2020 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/16/2020

Across the UK, bus use has plummeted in recent years. Outside the capital, thousands of routes have been cut and bus pass use is down. The prime minister has pledged billions to revitalise the bus network, but is it enough? Panorama's Richard Bilton travels coast to coast across the north of England to see the reality of Britain’s battered bus network. From rising fares, congestion and abandoned services to hi-tech, green buses and overcrowding, Panorama finds out what people want to see changed.

Cashing in on the Housing Crisis
star
6.67
3 votes

#19 - Cashing in on the Housing Crisis

Season 2020 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/3/2020

Panorama meets some of the growing number of people living in temporary accommodation. With a shortage of council-owned properties, and a desire to keep people, especially young families, out of bed and breakfasts, local authorities are increasingly turning to the private sector for help. In 2013, a change in planning laws meant companies could buy up and convert old office blocks into homes without planning permission. Reporter Callum Tully explores life for residents living in these converted spaces.

Failed by the NHS: Callie's Story
star
6.50
2 votes

#20 - Failed by the NHS: Callie's Story

Season 2020 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/10/2020

Reporter Ellie Flynn talks to the family of Callie Lewis, who killed herself while in the care of the NHS, and uncovers the extent of the service's failure to provide adequate mental health care. Callie Lewis was just 24 years old when she took her own life. She had been in the care of the NHS, but fell through the cracks of an understaffed and overstretched system. For the last 16 months Panorama has been filming with her family as they try to understand what went wrong. Shortly before she died, they learned that Callie was a member of an online suicide forum, where she found detailed advice on how to kill herself. As reporter Ellie Flynn discovers, Callie's death comes at a time when many people with mental health issues continue to complain about their struggle to connect with the services they need.

Coronavirus Crisis: Europe's Migrant Camps
star
6.50
2 votes

#21 - 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.

Belly Mujinga: Searching for the Truth
star
6.50
2 votes

#22 - 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.

Has Covid Stolen My Future?
star
6.50
2 votes

#23 - 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.

Directors: Erica Jenkin
Writer: Kash Jones
The Home I Can't Afford
star
6.50
2 votes

#24 - 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.

How to Save the High Street
star
6.43
7 votes

#25 - 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.