The BEST episodes of Panorama season 2021

Every episode of Panorama season 2021, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Panorama season 2021!

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: 5/8/2025Network: BBC OneStatus: Continuing
Am I British?
star
10.00
1 votes

#1 - 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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Who's Protecting Our Kids?
star
9.00
1 votes

#2 - Who's Protecting Our Kids?

Season 2021 - Episode 30 - Aired 9/6/2021

Mariella Frostrup meets teenage girls who say they have been abused, assaulted or raped by teenage boys, and asks whether we should be doing more to protect our children. With exclusive new data from police forces, she reveals how reports of abuse have risen sharply in the past four years, despite government promises to tackle the problem. She asks if social media and pornography could be to blame, and if schools could be handling the problem better.

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Dirty Secrets of the Cigarette Business
star
8.50
2 votes

#3 - 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.

Vaccines: The Disinformation War
star
8.40
5 votes

#4 - 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

#5 - 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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Hunting the Social Media Fraudsters
star
8.00
3 votes

#6 - Hunting the Social Media Fraudsters

Season 2021 - Episode 27 - Aired 8/16/2021

Reporter Kafui Okpattah investigates how cyber scammers use social media to promote fraud, and speaks to victims.

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Crisis in Care: Follow the Money
star
8.00
1 votes

#7 - 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.

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Are You Scared Yet, Human?
star
7.67
3 votes

#8 - Are You Scared Yet, Human?

Season 2021 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/26/2021

As artificial intelligence changes our world, it has sparked a new arms race between China and the US. Experts warn that without urgent regulation, we could lose control of AI.

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The Electric Car Revolution: Winners and Losers
star
7.67
3 votes

#9 - The Electric Car Revolution: Winners and Losers

Season 2021 - Episode 41 - Aired 11/24/2021

Tesla is now worth more than all the other major car makers put together, but how ethical is its supply chain? Darragh MacIntyre meets the African nuns who say Elon Musk's company must do better.

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Cameron and the Missing Billions
star
7.50
2 votes

#10 - Cameron and the Missing Billions

Season 2021 - Episode 26 - Aired 8/9/2021

David Cameron was paid to promote Greensill Capital’s financial products around the world. Now that Greensill has collapsed, Panorama investigates how much the former prime minister knew about it?

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Return of the Taliban
star
7.50
4 votes

#11 - Return of the Taliban

Season 2021 - Episode 28 - Aired 8/23/2021

The speed of Afghanistan's fall to the Taliban has shocked the world, but what sort of country will it become? Panorama asks what is at stake for the Afghans.

Online Pimps Exposed
star
7.50
4 votes

#12 - Online Pimps Exposed

Season 2021 - Episode 40 - Aired 11/9/2021

The sex industry has been transformed by the internet, and most sex workers now meet their customers through online sites. Bronagh Munro investigates the online pimps who traffic vulnerable women.

Coca-Cola's 100 Billion Bottle Problem
star
7.25
4 votes

#13 - Coca-Cola's 100 Billion Bottle Problem

Season 2021 - Episode 38 - Aired 10/25/2021

Coca-Cola sells more than 100 billion throwaway plastic bottles each year. Panorama investigates Coca-Cola's promises to crack down on plastic waste.

Football's Broken Dreams
star
7.00
2 votes

#14 - Football's Broken Dreams

Season 2021 - Episode 32 - Aired 9/20/2021

Reporter Rory Carson, himself a former professional player, investigates the system that has produced some of the England team’s brightest stars.

I Can't Breathe: Black and Dead in Custody
star
7.00
2 votes

#15 - I Can't Breathe: Black and Dead in Custody

Season 2021 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/18/2021

Panorama investigates why black men in the UK are more likely than white men to have force used on them by police and to die in police custody. Reporter Mark Daly follows the family of Kevin Clarke on their search for justice. Mr Clarke repeatedly said, 'I can’t breathe' as he was restrained by police on the ground for 14 minutes during a mental health crisis. He died soon afterwards, his words mirroring those of George Floyd, whose death in the US triggered a global debate on race and policing. The programme also reveals fresh evidence in Scotland’s most high-profile death in custody. Sheku Bayoh died in 2015 after being restrained by up to six officers.

Writer: Mark Daly
The River Pollution Scandal
star
7.00
1 votes

#16 - The River Pollution Scandal

Season 2021 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/12/2021

Panorama investigates the scandal of our polluted rivers. Reporter Joe Crowley obtains data that reveals how some big water companies have been illegally dumping untreated sewage. He meets local people campaigning for a wholescale clean-up and exposes one company discharging sewage without a permit.

Hospital Secrets Uncovered
star
7.00
1 votes

#17 - Hospital Secrets Uncovered

Season 2021 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/19/2021

Panorama investigates what happens when care goes wrong in hospitals and reveals how some NHS trusts keep critical reports hidden from the regulator and the public.

Delivering Christmas: What's in Store?
star
7.00
1 votes

#18 - Delivering Christmas: What's in Store?

Season 2021 - Episode 42 - Aired 12/1/2021

As we gear up for Christmas, Jane Corbin asks if the UK's supply chains will be able to deliver in time.

Salmond v. Sturgeon
star
6.67
3 votes

#19 - Salmond v. Sturgeon

Season 2021 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/18/2021

The inside story of the most sensational break-up in recent political history. Once close friends and allies, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon took the SNP from nowhere to government, and Scotland to the brink of independence. Now sworn enemies, former first minister Salmond accuses some of those he once led of plotting to have him imprisoned. Reporter Mark Daly investigates and asks what the split could mean for the future of Scotland and of the United Kingdom.

Writer: Mark Daly
The Dark Side of Horse Racing
star
6.60
5 votes

#20 - The Dark Side of Horse Racing

Season 2021 - Episode 25 - Aired 7/19/2021

Horse racing is an extremely profitable sport, a £5 billion industry in the UK and Ireland followed by millions. Darragh MacIntyre investigates what can happen to racehorses when their careers end.

Online Abuse: Why Do You Hate Me?
star
6.50
2 votes

#21 - Online Abuse: Why Do You Hate Me?

Season 2021 - Episode 37 - Aired 10/18/2021

Panorama investigates the rise of online abuse against women and asks why the police, the government and social media companies aren’t doing more to stop it. BBC reporter Marianna Spring discovers how social media algorithms are promoting hate and tracks down the trolls who send her abuse daily. She meets global politicians, Love Island contestants and a doctor on the frontline to explore the impact of online hate on women who use social media to do their job.

Princess Diana, Martin Bashir and the BBC
star
6.33
3 votes

#22 - Princess Diana, Martin Bashir and the BBC

Season 2021 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/20/2021

The inside story of how Martin Bashir obtained his career-defining interview, and how the BBC responded when it discovered he'd faked bank statements and shown them to Diana's brother, Earl Spencer.

The Virus vs. the Vaccine
star
6.33
3 votes

#23 - The Virus vs. the Vaccine

Season 2021 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/11/2021

With the country locked down again in the battle against coronavirus, Panorama reporter Clive Myrie asks what it will take to get through this latest, deadly stage of the pandemic. Hospitals are under pressure, with many said to be at breaking point. Once again, we’re being told to ‘stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives’. With schools shut and most exams cancelled, Panorama assesses the impact on young people’s mental health. The arrival of a vaccine offers hope, but its rollout is now in a race with a new, highly contagious strain of the virus.

Writer: Clive Myrie
Rubbish Dump Britain
star
6.25
4 votes

#24 - Rubbish Dump Britain

Season 2021 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/1/2021

Fly-tipping is a national problem that is ruining our towns and countryside. There are more than a million incidents each year of illegally dumped rubbish in the UK. So why are so few people prosecuted for damaging the places we love? Reporter Richard Bilton investigates a crime that affects us all and meets some of those who are fighting back against the fly-tippers.

NHS: Wait or Pay?
star
6.00
1 votes

#25 - NHS: Wait or Pay?

Season 2021 - Episode 33 - Aired 9/27/2021

With the number of people on NHS waiting lists now at a record high of 5.61 million, Victoria Derbyshire speaks to some of those who see no alternative but to go private.