Dispatches — Season 2025

Investigative documentary covering issues in British society, politics, international current affairs, health, religion and the environment.

Dispatches reporter Ellie Flynn investigates Britain's obsession with skinny jabs and asks whether profits are being prioritised over patient safety. Undercover filming exposes the drugs being sold by a major high street chain to an under-age patient; and exposes registered NHS nurses prescribing the jabs without proper checks on patients. With an estimated half a million Britons currently being prescribed these drugs, Ellie talks to experts, who are concerned about the lack of oversight. 'Where there are huge profits to be made, unfortunately,' says one, 'that can lead to cutting of corners'. Ellie asks why there are so many patients living with obesity who are unable to get these jabs on the NHS, and reveals for the first time entire areas of the country where the NHS is not prescribing the drugs. 

For the first time, Dispatches investigates and tracks down the woman who facilitated Mohamed Al Fayed's sexual abuse of women at Harrods. Reporter Cathy Newman hears testimony from victims of the former Harrods owner who allege that a former senior employee of Harrods was instrumental in enabling and covering up their rape and abuse by the notorious billionaire over more than a decade. Newman hears how the woman would recruit young girls inside the world-famous store and even out on London's streets, then deliver them to Fayed. Afterwards, she would threaten and persuade the women to keep quiet about what happened to them. 

As the Government releases thousands of offenders early, to ease prison overcrowding - one of its most controversial policies - Dispatches is undercover inside Britain's biggest tagging company, Serco, which is supposed to monitor offenders in the community. Dispatches finds a system in disarray and serious failures that put the public at risk. 

Reporter Matt Shea goes on the trail of stolen cars to track down the thieves and recover the vehicles, meeting whistleblowers and criminals, and going undercover to expose the truth about Britain's car crime epidemic.

Political journalist Fraser Nelson goes beyond the headlines to explore the rise of Reform, assessing the impact of Nigel Farage and his young party on the existing political infrastructure. As Reform builds momentum, Nelson examines the deeper forces behind its support - disillusionment, identity and a hunger for disruption - and assesses whether Britain might be on the verge of a political earthquake. Is Reform merely the nation's biggest ever protest vote to date - or is it the start of a surge that will eventually see Farage become prime minister?

Drawing upon interviews from former US intelligence officials and White House insiders, this documentary highlights the factors apparently underpinning Donald Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin. Is it unchecked admiration for a fellow authoritarian, a bold geopolitical gambit to divide Russia and China - or could the American president really be a recruited Russian asset?

Undercover report from an overstretched 999 control room. With services facing a record level of demand, the programme reveals how patients face dangerous delays and having to choose between waiting for an ambulance or risking making their own way to hospital. Some callers are told an ambulance is being arranged when staff are actually deciding whether they need one. Targets are routinely missed. As winter approaches, Dispatches asks whether the Government is doing enough to fix the crisis in emergency care.

Millions of workers in the UK could lose their jobs because of the artificial intelligence revolution. According to experts the impact on a range of industries could be dramatic, with skilled work particularly affected. As AI develops rapidly, with claims it can outperform humans in most tasks, Dispatches undertakes a bold and unique experiment that pitches human against machine to find out how true that is. Four professionals are invited into a specially-created test centre to compete in a set of identical tasks against their AI counterparts: a GP; a fashion photographer; a trainee solicitor; and a composer. With reputations as well as jobs at stake, who comes out on top - humans or AI?

It's been reported that a key witness in Prince Harry's high-stakes case against the publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday has dramatically claimed that an earlier witness statement in his name was made up. Prince Harry and six other high-profile public figures, including Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, accuse the papers of law-breaking, including phone hacking and bugging, to obtain stories. Associated Newspapers says the allegations are 'preposterous smears'. With the trial due to start in the new year, Dispatches examines what's been going on - and what the case means for Harry's wider war with the press and his relationship with his family.

Every seven seconds a parcel is stolen in Britain. With Christmas just around the corner, Dispatches goes on a mission to catch the crooks behind the escalating crime wave. The eye-opening film reveals the stark reality of Britain's disappearing doorstep deliveries, showing how it's become big business for criminal gangs. Reporter Tir Dhondy meets victims frustrated that their parcels keep going missing, even though they have doorbell footage of the criminals at work.To investigate what happens with stolen deliveries, Tir hides tiny tracking devices in parcels and leaves them on doorsteps. When they're stolen, the thieves have no idea that Tir is secretly following on their tail, ready to challenge them. Tir finds out how one doorstep thief susses out which homes offer the prime pickings, and learns that parcel theft is no longer just a petty crime for opportunist thieves but a lucrative business model for criminal gangs, costing more than an estimated £650m a year. Tir also discovers the shocking reality of how violent organised gangs are hijacking delivery vans, sometimes with deadly consequences. And how stressed-out delivery drivers are frightened in their daily work. With exclusive access to a major police operation, Tir sees first-hand how the cops are tracking and tackling the organised gangs who are determined to pinch our festive purchases.