2008
2008 · 57 episodes
Episodes
1. One Click from Danger
January 7, 2008
An update to our film 'One Click from Danger' about internet paedophiles exploiting vulnerable youngsters online.
2. Destination UK
January 14, 2008
Paul Kenyon follows the most dangerous illegal immigration route into Europe, used by tens and thousands of migrants a year seeking a better life, and revisits the survivors whose epic journey ended with them marooned on a tuna net in the middle of the Mediterranean.
3. Britain's Protection Racket
January 21, 2008
Panorama goes undercover to expose the flaws in Britain's seven-billion-pound security industry.
4. Cocaine: Alex James in Colombia
January 28, 2008
Former cocaine-using Blur bassist Alex James travels to Colombia. He meets the drug farmers, sellers and enforcers, and hears the message that every gram is tainted in blood.
5. Bursting the House Price Bubble
February 4, 2008
Investigation into sharp practice in the housing market which has kept house prices artificially high and plunged homeowners into negative equity.
6. No More Mandelas
February 11, 2008
After witnessing the end of apartheid, Fergal Keane returns to South Africa to find out what happened to the hope from that time.
7. Bottled Water - Who Needs It?
February 18, 2008
Reporter Tom Heap sets out to discover if the popularity of bottled water is merely a triumph of marketing over common sense.
8. On Whose Orders?
February 25, 2008
Jeremy Vine interviews Tony Blair's Attorney General Lord Goldsmith and General Sir Mike Jackson, asking how rules preventing abuse and torture of prisoners in Iraq were overturned, and analysing new claims that could bring disgrace to the Army.
9. Taking Back The Streets
March 3, 2008
Richard Bilton examines the dilemma of Garry Newlove, the father beaten to death in the streets. Is a new community action the answer to teenage gangs?
10. Shaken Babies?
March 10, 2008
Investigates the row behind shaken-baby syndrome. Last year, childminder Keran Henderson was convicted of shaking an 11-month-old baby to death. Her friends and family say she couldn't have done it, despite medical reports suggesting otherwise.
11. Teenage Sex For Sale
March 27, 2008
Gerry Northam investigates ruthless gangs who are targeting teenage girls and offering drugs and excitement. Within weeks, the children are made to work as prostitutes - having sex with a queue of men. This isn't Eastern European people trafficking but British girls on British streets.
12. Jersey - Island of Secrets
March 31, 2008
Current affairs programme with Jeremy Vine. It is six weeks since police started their search of Haut de la Garenne children's home on Jersey. Other homes and careworkers now being named by alleged abuse victims and many believe there has been a deliberate cover up.
13. Divide and Rule
April 7, 2008
Ten years on from the Good Friday Agreement, Panorama examines what power-sharing has done for those living with Northern Ireland's deep sectarian divisions.
14. Feeling the Pinch
April 14, 2008
Credit crunch, rising fuel prices and talk of recession - we've been warned of a tough year ahead. But how will we really be affected? Declan Curry discovers if we have what it takes to weather the storm of the global forces buffeting our economy.
15. Something in the Air
April 21, 2008
Pilots almost passing out at the controls; passengers who say they've been made ill by toxic fumes. Can polluted air on board planes damage your health? Panorama carries out its own tests to discover just what's in the air we breathe when we fly.
16. How Clean is Your Hospital?
April 27, 2008
Sally Magnusson goes inside a trust which lost 90 patients to the superbug c.difficile, which accounts for four times as many deaths as MRSA.
17. Mission Impossible
April 28, 2008
The UN polices conflicts around the world, but can it police itself? Raphael Rowe reveals how the organisation is struggling to eradicate the rot at its core.
18. Prisons Unlocked
May 5, 2008
Panorama investigates claims that unsuitable and dangerous convicts are being sent to open prisons to help solve the overcrowding crisis.
19. Tested to Destruction
May 12, 2008
Current affairs. Are schoolchildren in England given too many exams? Vivian White reports.
20. The Challenge of the 60s
May 15, 2008
Experts and diplomats including Lord Hurd, Christopher Mallaby and Bernard Lovell assess the predictions made about the world's future in an edition of Panorama from 1960.
21. Britain on the Sick
May 19, 2008
Current affairs programme presented by Jeremy Vine. Shelley Jofre examines the Government's tough new benefit rules.
22. One Click from Capture
May 26, 2008
A look at how Panorama's simple experiment of putting a young girl's details onto social networking websites ended with the arrest of an online predator.
23. The Property Game
June 2, 2008
Vigorous investigation of a topical issue. Richard Bilton meets the winners and losers in the property market. Is the British love affair with home ownership over?
24. What Happened After Taking On the Taliban?
June 9, 2008
Current affairs. Panorama meets the soldiers featured in last year's Taking On the Taliban special, to find out what they're doing now.
25. Daylight Robbery - What happened to the $23billion?
June 10, 2008
Jane Corbin investigates the cases which threaten to reveal the corruption behind the past five years of war in the Middle East.
26. Young Gunmen
June 23, 2008
Current affairs. Panorama investigates the rise of armed teenage street gangs, speaking to former gangsters, the police and the young gunmen themselves.
27. Primark: On the Rack
June 23, 2008
Panorama puts Primark's claims that it can deliver cheap, fast fashion without breaking ethical guidelines to the test.
28. Taking Back The Streets
June 30, 2008
Panarama investigates the rise of armed teenage street gangs and discovers how shockingly ingrained the culture of guns and violence is in Britain.
29. NHS for Sale
July 7, 2008
Sally Magnusson investigates the creeping privatisation of the NHS.
30. China's Secret War
July 14, 2008
Panorama provides evidence of how China is supplying the Sudanese government with arms to enable it to wage a campaign of violence in Darfur - all for oil.
31. Friends in High Places
July 21, 2008
Panorama investigates the government's proposals for a third runway at Heathrow which, critics argue, will have a dramatic effect on the environment.
32. Can We Afford to Fill Up?
July 28, 2008
With the price of fuel rocketing at the pumps, Jane Corbin reports on how fuel prices are affecting Britain and what alternatives might be available.
33. Racing's Dirty Secret
July 30, 2008
Panorama investigates horse racing and reveals why those running the sport are so concerned about gamblers betting on horses not to win, but to lose.
34. China's Olympic Promise
August 4, 2008
As the Games approach, award-winning journalist John Sweeney travels across China to discover whether foreign journalists are being allowed to report freely.
35. Notes on a Dirty Island
August 11, 2008
Travel writer Bill Bryson presents a personal and passionate account of how Britain has become a rubbish tip since his arrival from the USA in 1972.
36. The NHS Postcode Lottery: It Could Be You
August 18, 2008
Shelley Jofre takes a road trip around the UK and discovers how the quality of treatment from the NHS very much depends on where you live.
37. True Brits
August 25, 2008
Current affairs with Jeremy Vine. An investigation into how factors such as mass immigration and devolution are forever changing the concept of 'Britishness'.
38. How the Economy Got Personal
September 1, 2008
Current affairs. Jeremy Vine presents personal stories of regular Britons affected by the credit crunch.
39. Can Money Grow on Trees?
September 8, 2008
Panorama asks whether the money markets can achieve what campaigners and law enforcement have so far failed to, and make trees more valuable alive than dead.
40. Terror in the Skies?
September 9, 2008
Peter Taylor uncovers the inside story of the operation which thwarted a terrorist plot to cause explosions and led to increased security at British airports.
41. Omagh: What the Police Were Never Told
September 15, 2008
Peter Taylor uncovers the inside story of the operation which thwarted a terrorist plot to cause explosions and led to increased security at British airports.
42. How Safe is my Money?
September 22, 2008
Jane Corbin looks at how the crisis facing the world's financial insitutions could impact on the nation's banks, mortgages, insurance and pensions.
43. You Can Run...
September 26, 2008
But can you hide? Simon Boazman investigates how much information is held on him, whether it is secure and if he can reduce his data trail.
44. Next Stop, Downing Street?
September 29, 2008
Nick Robinson accompanies Conservative Party leader David Cameron to Birmingham as he attempts to persuade voters he is prime minister material.
45. The Secret Policeman Returns
October 6, 2008
In the wake of the resignation of Britain's top police officer, Panorama investigates racism in Britain's police force. Mark Daly - who exposed racism amongst police recruits in The Secret Policeman five years ago - returns to uncover the truth about being a Black Ethnic Minority Cop today.
46. Should We Be Scared of Russia?
October 10, 2008
Mark Franchetti meets Vladimir Putin's inner circle in an attempt to decipher Russia's intentions on domestic and international fronts.
47. Obama and the Pitbull: An American Tale
October 13, 2008
Matt Frei investigates Barack Obama's rise in the opinion polls, and asks if the current financial crisis has put him on the home straight.
48. Britain in the Red - Your Questions Answered
October 16, 2008
Jeremy Vine asks why our economy ran into trouble, and who is to blame for the credit crunch and banking crisis which threatens to affect us all.
49. Three Bloody Summers
November 3, 2008
The British Commander on the ground admits the war against the Taliban cannot be won by force alone in this eye-opening assessment of the Afghanistan conflict.
50. Can't Pay, Won't Pay
November 10, 2008
With the credit crunch affecting everyone, Panorama reveals the lengths some lenders are now going to in order to get borrowers to pay off their debts.
51. What Happened to Baby P?
November 17, 2008
A six-month investigation by the programme reveals the mistakes and missed opportunities that led to the death of a 17-month-old boy known only as Baby P.
52. Addicted to Aid
November 24, 2008
Reporter Sorious Samura visits Uganda and his home country of Sierra Leone to reveal how aid money is lost, stolen and frittered away.
53. Comeback Coal
December 1, 2008
An investigation into the Government's support of a new wave of opencast coal mining, in spite of fierce opposition from local communities.
54. Shannon: The Mother of All Lies
December 4, 2008
Panorama presents the inside story on the disappearance of Shannon Matthews, as it investigates the events that led to Karen Matthews being convicted for the kidnap of her own daughter.
55. I'll Die When I Choose
December 8, 2008
Politician and Parkinson's sufferer Margo MacDonald uncovers the truth about assisted dying, meeting those with illnesses like hers who are desperate to die.
56. Britain's Terror Heartland
December 15, 2008
Jane Corbin makes the hazardous journey to the frontline in the War on Terror, the remote and forbidding mountains along the Pakistan-Afghan border.
57. The Year Britain's Bubble Burst
December 22, 2008
It has been a cataclysmic year for our banks and economy, and a year in which the role of the BBC's Business Editor has been in the spotlight as never before. With exclusive interviews with the major players, Robert Peston reflects on how these momentous events will affect us all.