Dispatches is a British documentary news television series that premiered on Channel 4 on October 30, 1987. It stars David Harewood, Ghislaine Maxwell, Lady Victoria Hervey and Courtney Powell.
Long-running Channel 4 documentary series covering issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment. Known for featuring a mole inside organisations under journalistic investigation.
Premise
Long-running Channel 4 documentary series covering issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment. Known for featuring a mole inside organisations under journalistic investigation.
Investigating the black market in weapons grade uranium operated from Khartoum.
October 30, 1987
2
In The Red
Investigation of the alleged misuse of funds at three Labour Party Social Clubs in Dundee.
November 6, 1987
3
AIDS - The Unheard Voices
The program challenges the theory that AIDS is caused by the H.I.V. virus and discusses the social pressures on those diagnosed as H.I.V. positive.
November 13, 1987
Season 2 preview34 episodes total
Season 2 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
The Miner's Debate
A question of concern, doubt and safety of mine workers from around Britain.
January 8, 1988
2
Waiting for the Consultant
Documentary report which looks at the suitability of doctors' work practices to the needs of the modern National Health Service.
January 15, 1988
3
Danger! Men at Work
An investigation over sexual harassment at work, the women behind it and what had been done to justify as a court offense.
January 22, 1988
Season 3 preview39 episodes total
Season 3 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Return to Year Zero?
Documentary report on the risks to the area if the Khmer Rouge regains power in Kampuchea.
January 4, 1989
2
Gorbachev's Asylums
Documentary report about the changes in the Soviet Union's psychiatric system caused by Gorbachev's policy of "glasnost".
January 11, 1989
3
Cooking the Books
Investigation of Thatcher government's alleged misuse of official statistics.
January 18, 1989
Season 4 preview39 episodes total
Season 4 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
The Plunderers
January 3, 1990
2
When Porton Pays the Piper
January 10, 1990
3
Gamma Alarm
January 17, 1990
Season 5 preview35 episodes total
Season 5 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Giant of the Gulf
January 9, 1991
2
What Happened at Christmas Island
January 16, 1991
3
Mr Bush's Road to War
January 23, 1991
Season 6 preview34 episodes total
Season 6 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
The Audit Of War
January 8, 1992
2
Patent On Life
January 15, 1992
3
Mother Russia's Children
January 22, 1992
Season 7 preview34 episodes total
Season 7 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
One Man in Ten
January 6, 1993
2
The Fight Game
January 13, 1993
3
Preparing for Power
January 20, 1993
Season 8 preview34 episodes total
Season 8 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
A Greater Croatia
January 5, 1994
2
Down for the Count
January 12, 1994
3
Operation Domino
January 19, 1994
Season 9 preview26 episodes total
Season 9 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
The Torture Trail
January 11, 1995
2
Serving Two Masters
January 18, 1995
3
Murky Waters
January 25, 1995
Season 10 preview30 episodes total
Season 10 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Estate of Terror
Every year up to two hundred and forty thousand old people suffer form crimes committed by children. Overwhelmingly these crimes take the form of harassment. The elderly are verbally abused, stoned in the street and have their windows smashed. Sometimes the harassment escalates into burglary or even murder. At least 12 old people have been killed by juveniles in the last 4 years. Dispatches contacted all of the main national agencies who care for the elderly and without exception they were all unaware of the extent of the problem. Old people all over Britain are suffering in silence afraid to leave their houses whilst children control the streets.
January 10, 1996
2
The Veal Trail
January 17, 1996
3
Citizen Maxwell
January 24, 1996
Season 11 preview24 episodes total
Season 11 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
They're No Angels
January 9, 1997
2
A Question of Sleaze
January 16, 1997
3
Soccer's Foul Play
January 23, 1997
Season 12 preview28 episodes total
Season 12 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
The Force is Not with You
January 15, 1998
2
The Contamination Trail
January 22, 1998
3
Too Much Too Young
January 29, 1998
Season 13 preview27 episodes total
Season 13 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Male Victims of Domestic Violence
January 7, 1999
2
Bristol Doctors
January 14, 1999
4
Mission Impossible (II)
January 21, 1999
Season 14 preview20 episodes total
Season 14 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
For the Love of a Stranger
February 3, 2000
2
The Fight for a Child
February 10, 2000
3
Drug Wars
February 17, 2000
Season 15 preview10 episodes total
Season 15 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Bloody Foreigners
'Bloody Foreigners' is Andrew Smith's investigation into the British attitude towards asylum seekers and immigrants who live and work in the UK. It exposes the culture of hypocrisy under which xenophobia proliferates to such an extreme that asylum seekers are physically and verbally abused on a daily basis. It underlines the fact that these very people are working illegally for well under minimum wage, to line the pockets of seemingly legitimate British businesses. Part one reveals the scam behind a government-funded housing project in Liverpool. The owner receives millions from the council for ostensibly offering accommodation to asylum seekers. Yet the blocks of flats are in a shocking state of disrepair, conditions are freezing - not to mention the treatment the occupants receive from the locals. Secret camera footage shows the assault and harassment of inhabitants, regularly inflicted by neighbouring youths.
February 3, 2001
2
Bloody Foreigners: Part 2
Part two deals with illegal workers who are employed by apparently respectable companies as waitresses, cleaners, and builders, to name but a few, without any legal documents or insurance, and paid as little a £20 for a long day. The final section uses hidden cameras to show the trade in forged passports which is rife in Finsbury Park Mosque, north London.
February 10, 2001
3
Drugs: The Phony War
June 1, 2001
Season 16 preview10 episodes total
Season 16 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Secrets of the Saudi State
March 6, 2002
2
State of Terror
March 13, 2002
3
The Colombian Connection
May 26, 2002
Season 17 preview10 episodes total
Season 17 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Al-Qaeda UK
May 11, 2003
2
The Killing Zone
Dispatches revisits the Gaza Strip to focus on civilians caught in the crossfire of never-ending battles. We meet seriously injured children and their distraught families, and the International Solidarity Movement whose member Tom Hurndall is shot. Then it hits even closer to home, when previous Dispatches director and cameraman James Miller is shot dead while he and Saira Shah are making another of their films together.
May 18, 2003
3
The War We Never Saw: Blood and Revenge
June 1, 2003
Season 18 preview10 episodes total
Season 18 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
What Hutton Won't Tell You
April 5, 2004
2
Third Class Post
April 29, 2004
3
Keep Them Out
May 6, 2004
Season 19 preview28 episodes total
Season 19 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Dispatches Live Special: After the Tsunami
January 24, 2005
2
Undercover Angels
January 31, 2005
3
The NHS - Your Money or Your Life?
February 7, 2005
Season 20 preview26 episodes total
Season 20 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Ryanair: Caught Napping
A behind-the-scenes look at low budget airline Ryanair. Uncovering security and health and safety breaches, uncleaned aircraft and long staff working hours.