''Dispatches'' is a British current affairs

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

programme on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, first broadcast on 30 October 1987. The programme covers British

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, international current affairs and the environment, and often involves a spy who infiltrates organisations under journalistic investigation.

Awards

British Academy Television Awards

The

British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in ...

are presented in an award show hosted by the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

. They have been awarded annually since 1955.

British Academy Television Craft Awards

The

British Academy Television Craft Awards The British Academy Television Craft Awards is an accolade presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), a charitable organisation established in 1947, which: "supports, promotes and develops the art forms of the moving ima ...

are accolades presented by the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

, established in 2000 as a way to spotlight technical achievements.

RTS Awards

The

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Awards are the gold standard of achievement in the television community. Each year six awards recognise excellence across the entire range of programme making and broadcasting skills.

Notable episodes

''Young, Nazi and Proud''

This episode, produced in the UK by David Modell, covers the youth wing of the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...

(BNP). It was originally broadcast on 4 November 2002 as the eighth episode of the sixteenth season. The documentary won a

award in the 'Best Current Affairs' category. The programme focuses on then-chairman of Young BNP, Mark Collett. Interviews highlighted the ideological background of Collett, particularly his sympathetic stance towards the policies of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

''MMR: What They Didn't Tell You''

Broadcast on 18 November 2004, ''MMR: What They Didn't Tell You'' featured an investigation by ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' journalist Brian Deer into the campaign against the

MMR vaccine The MMR vaccine is a vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles), abbreviated as ''MMR''. The first dose is generally given to children around 9 months to 15 months of age, with a second dose at 15 months to 6 years of age, w ...

by British surgeon

Andrew Wakefield Andrew Jeremy Wakefield (born 3 September 1956) is a British fraudster, anti-vaccine activist, and disgraced former physician. He was struck off the medical register for "serious professional misconduct" due to his involvement in the fraudu ...

. Among a string of allegations, Deer revealed that, when Wakefield claimed a possible link between the vaccine and

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

, his own lab had produced secret results which contradicted his claims, and he had registered patent claims on his own single

measles vaccine Measles vaccine protects against becoming infected with measles. Nearly all of those who do not develop immunity after a single dose develop it after a second dose. When the rate of vaccination within a population is greater than 92%, outbreaks ...

. Following the programme, Wakefield, funded by the Medical Protection Society, sued Channel 4, ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', and Deer personally for libel, but sought to have his lawsuit stayed by the court, so that he did not need to pursue it. The case became high-profile when Channel 4 obtained a court order compelling Wakefield to continue with his lawsuit or abandon it. During two years of litigation, three High Court judgments were obtained against Wakefield from Mr Justice

David Eady Sir David Eady (born 24 March 1943) is a retired High Court judge in England and Wales. As a judge, he is known for having presided over many high-profile libel and privacy cases. He was called to the bar in 1966 and became a Queen's Counse ...

, including an order that the

General Medical Council The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of physician, medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the pu ...

was required to supply materials from its own investigations to defendants facing libel actions from doctors. In his first judgment, Eady said: In pleadings submitted to the court, Channel 4 spelt out what they said the programme had alleged. It said that Wakefield: # Had dishonestly and irresponsibly spread fear that the MMR vaccine might cause autism in some children, even though he knew that his own laboratory's tests dramatically contradicted his claims and he knew or ought to have known that there was absolutely no scientific basis at all for his belief that MMR should be broken up into single vaccines. # In spreading such fear, also acted dishonestly and irresponsibly, by repeatedly failing to disclose conflicts of interest and/or material information, including his association with contemplated litigation against the manufacturers of MMR and his application for a patent for a vaccine for measles which, if effective, and if the MMR vaccine had been undermined and/or withdrawn on safety grounds, would have been commercially very valuable. # Caused medical colleagues serious unease by carrying out research tests on vulnerable children outside the terms or in breach of the permission given by an ethics committee, in particular by subjecting those children to highly invasive and sometimes distressing clinical procedures and thereby abusing them. # Has been unremittingly evasive and dishonest in an effort to cover up his wrongdoing. In January 2007, Wakefield discontinued his claim and paid Channel 4's and Deer's costs.

''Undercover Mosque''

Undercover Mosque was first aired on 15 January 2007. The film attracted the attention of

West Midlands Police West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. The force covers an area of with 2.93million inhabitants, which includes the cities of ...

due to the content of the released footage. The documentary presents film footage gathered from 12 months of secret investigation into

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s throughout Britain. The police attempted to determine if criminal offences had been committed by those teaching or preaching at the mosques and other establishments. They presented their evidence to the

Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...

who advised that "a realistic prospect of a conviction was unlikely". This was disputed by Bethan David of the Crown Prosecution Services, who note that editing of speeches and a lack of interviewees could have introduced bias. Consequently, the matter was referred to the broadcasting regulator

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

. The resulting complaints were rejected by Ofcom on 19 November 2007, who found that Channel 4 had "accurately represented the material it gathered", and rejected further complaints from the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Cultural Centre, and from the

London Central Mosque The London Central Mosque (also known as the Regent's Park Mosque) is an Islamic place of worship located on the edge of Regent's Park in central London. Design and location It was designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, completed in 1977, and ...

. The documentary makers, along with Channel 4, sued the CPS and West Midlands Police for libel. The

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. The Soc ...

called for a public enquiry into the role of the West Midlands Police and the CPS in referring the matter to Ofcom in the first place.

''Undercover Mosque: The Return''

This programme is a sequel to

Undercover Mosque ''Undercover Mosque'' is a documentary programme produced by the British independent television company Hardcash Productions for the Channel 4 series ''Dispatches (TV series), Dispatches'' that was first broadcast on 15 January 2007 in the UK. ...

. The programme uses footage filmed by undercover reporters in UK Mosques and Islamic institutions as well as interviews with Muslim academics and prominent figures. One of the people quoted in the programme was Khalid Yasin. His videos were found to be on sale in the Regent's Park mosque bookshop espousing "extremist" views such as public beheadings, amputations, lashings and crucifixions. He is quoted in the programme as saying: "and then people can see, people without hands, people can see in public heads rolling down the street, people can see in public people got their hands and feet from opposite sides chopped off and they see them crucified, they see people get punished they see people put up against the pole? ... and because they see it, it acts as a deterrent for them because they say I don't want that to happen to me." He published a response to a letter from the producer of the programme calling them "hypocritical and exploitative bigots, 'you are''audacious liars and opportunistic media vermin" and "unethical 'and''merchants of journalistic vomit".

''Saving Africa's Witch Children''

This programme first aired 12 November 2008 and told the story of young children who had been labeled

witches Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

and wizards by their family and community and left abandoned, tortured, imprisoned or killed in the Akwa Ibom in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. The programme followed Sam Itauma, a Nigerian who started a school for the abandoned children called CRARN (Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network) and Englishman Gary Foxcroft who started the charity, to support the school. The programme suggests that the problem is caused by a combination of African traditional beliefs and extreme Christian Pentecostal groups. In particular the programme singles out Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries for producing a film called "End of the Wicked" which the charity workers blame for the increase in children being abandoned by their families.

''Undercover Teacher''

Broadcast in 2005, this episode was about a qualified science teacher, Alex Dolan, who went undercover in schools in Leeds and London to expose the "appalling teaching". One school in particular, Highbury Grove School, was shocked and angry at the programme's methods. Head-teacher Truda White said in an interview with the ''Guardian'': Following the broadcast, Dolan was found guilty of misconduct by the General Teaching Council.

''Ryanair Caught Napping''

Broadcast on 13 February 2006, this episode saw two undercover reporters obtain jobs as cabin crew, based at

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

's operations at London Stansted Airport, and spend 5 months secretly recording the training programme and cabin crew procedures. The documentary criticised Ryanair's training policies, security procedures and aircraft hygiene, and highlighted poor staff morale. It claims to have filmed Ryanair cabin crew sleeping on the job; using aftershave to cover the smell of

vomit Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pregna ...

in the aisle, rather than cleaning it up; ignoring warning alerts on the emergency slide; encouraging staff to falsify references for airport security passes; asking staff not to recheck passengers' passports before they board flights; and a captain of the airline saying that he would lose his job (or get demoted) if he allowed the cabin crew to serve complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and snacks to passengers, during a 3-hour delay in Spain. Staff in training were allegedly falsely told that any

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

(now no longer in service with Ryanair) impact would result in the death of the passenger sitting in seat 1A and that they should not pass this information on to the passenger. Ryanair denied the allegations and published its correspondence with ''Dispatches'' on its website. It also alleged that the programme was misleading and that promotional materials, in particular a photograph of a stewardess sleeping, had been faked by ''Dispatches''.

''Gaza: The Killing Zone''

This episode, broadcast in May 2003, follows five weeks in the lives of those living in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. Beginning two days after the killing of

Rachel Corrie Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American nonviolence activist and diarist. She was a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and was active throughout the Israeli-occupied terr ...

, an American member of the International Solidarity Movement, by an IDF bulldozer, the film includes footage of the aftermath of an Israeli

flechette A flechette or flèchette ( ) is a pointed, fin-stabilized steel projectile. The name comes from French (from \''wikt:flèche, flèche''), meaning "little arrow" or "Dart (missile), dart", and sometimes retains the grave accent in English: flè ...

attack in a densely populated area and documents the deaths of Tom Hurndall, a British ISM activist, and James Miller, the Channel 4 cameraman who was shot as he filmed

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i troops bulldozing Palestinian homes.

''Inside Britain's Israel Lobby''

Broadcast on 16 November 2009, this episode investigated what was argued to be "one of the most powerful and influential political lobbies in Britain", the Israel lobby, and in particular the

Conservative Friends of Israel Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party, which is dedicated to strengthening control over business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel, as well as ...

(CFI).The documentary claimed that donations to the Conservative Party "from all CFI members and their businesses add up to well over £10m over the last eight years". CFI disputed this figure and called the film "deeply flawed", saying that they had only donated £30,000 between 2004 and 2009, but accepting that members of the group had undoubtedly made their own donations to the party. ''Dispatches'' also covered the Israel lobby's alleged influence on the BBC and other British media and further claimed that many media outlets were frightened of broaching the lobby. The Conservative MP

Michael Mates Michael John Mates (born 9 June 1934) is a Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of East Hampshire from 1974 to 2010. He was a minister at the Northern Ireland Office from 1992 to 1993, resign ...

said: "The pro-Israel lobby ... is the most powerful political lobby. There's nothing to touch them." Ofcom received 50 complaints about the programme but cleared it of breaching broadcasting rules.

''How Councils Blow Your Millions''

Broadcast on 6 July 2015, this episode investigated the use of long term

lender option borrower option Lender option borrower option or lender's option borrower's option (LOBO) is a long term borrowing instrument available in the United Kingdom. They involve periodic interest re-fixings, which incorporates two linked options:How Councils Blow Your ...

loans by UK councils, provided by banks. The programme unearthed upfront profits made by the banks and high interest rates, with research from Debt Resistance UK.

''The Truth about Traveller Crime''

In April 2020, an episode focusing on crime in the Romanichal (English Traveller) community was broadcast. In the programme, Conservative MP

Andrew Selous Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (; born 27 April 1962) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2024, when the constituency was abolished. Selous stood for the new Dunstab ...

compared Travellers to the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

. In May 2020, Jeanette McCormick, the national police GRT lead, stated that there was no substance to the programme's central point that there is a link between higher crime and the presence of Traveller sites. The programme was described by Friends, Families and Travellers, a GRT advocacy group, as misleading and encouraging hatred against Travellers.

received over 7000 complaints about the programme, which it took 503 days to investigate, before finding no breaches of its code. In the month following the programme's broadcast, there was a spike in hate crimes towards Travellers, with the number of reports to Report Racism GRT almost trebling.

''Russell Brand: In Plain Sight''

In September 2023, comedian and actor

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and media personality. He established himself as a stand-up comedian and radio host before becoming a film actor. After beginning his career as a comedian and la ...

was accused by one woman of rape and by three others of sexual assaults, and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013 in a story published by the ''

'' following an investigation alongside the programme. Brand released a video denying "serious criminal allegations". This episode aired on 16 September 2023.

"Unknown episode"

In October 2024 a "Dispatches Special" with no description of its content on TV guides was scheduled for Saturday 19 October before being cancelled shortly before it was shown. It was then rescheduled to Saturday 26 October before being rescheduled a second time to Saturday 2 November. This led many to speculate about the idea of a scandal secretly rising with lawyers of people in the programme trying to prevent it from being broadcast. The episode aired on 2 November, entitled: "The King, the Prince & Their Secret Millions".

Web-exclusive broadcasts

* War Torn - Stories of Separation * I4I - Films by AJ NakasilaI4I: Films by AJ Nakasila
Channel 4 News

References

External links

* !-- http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches -->https://www.channel4.com/collection/dispatches ''Dispatches''at

*
''Dispatches''
at the British Film Institute (BFI) Film & TV Databasebr> archive
*
Episode guide archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dispatches (TV series) 1987 British television series debuts 1980s British documentary television series 1990s British documentary television series 2000s British documentary television series 2010s British documentary television series 2020s British documentary television series British television news shows Channel 4 documentary series Current affairs shows British English-language television shows International Emmy Awards Current Affairs & News winners