About this season
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.
Episodes (30)
1. Olympic Tickets for Sale
Aired 13 February 2012
A look at who got tickets for the London 2012 Olympic games and whether private companies are profiting.
2. The Great Ticket Scandal
Aired 23 February 2012
An investigation into two major 'fan-to-fan' ticket exchange websites to investigate who is selling via their websites and why so many tickets appear at over the face value so soon after the box office sells out.
3. Watching the Detectives
Aired 14 May 2012
Revealing how easy it is to buy our most personal and confidential information.
4. Beating the Recession - Cash vs Cards
Aired 21 May 2012
Investigating whether cutting up our credit cards and paying for everything in cash could leave us with more money in our pockets
5. The Real Mr & Mrs Assad
Aired 28 May 2012
Investigates the extent of the Assad family's culpability and the chains of command that link the President and select inner circle to the brutal crackdown.
6. Murdoch, Cameron and the £8 billion deal
Aired 11 June 2012
Investigates just how close the Prime Minister got to the Murdoch empire. Did the Tories agree to help the mogul secure a business deal worth £8 billion?
7. Let Our Dad Die
Aired 18 June 2012
Tony Nicklinson had a catastrophic stroke, which has left him utterly paralyzed. He has what is known as 'locked in syndrome' and cannot move, talk, feed himself or perform even the most basic function without help.
8. Undercover Undertaker
Aired 25 June 2012
Lifts the lid on the funeral industry.
9. Cashing in on the Games
Aired 2 July 2012
Reporter Morland Sanders goes in search of the people cashing in on the 2012 London Olympic Games, and questions whether the overall economic benefits of hosting the event have been oversold.
10. Secrets of the Taxman
Aired 9 July 2012
An investigation into tax avoidance.
11. Myths About Your 5 a Day
Aired 16 July 2012
Dispatches investigates what's happened to the five-a-day campaign, which was designed to get us all eating more fruit and veg. Reporter Jane Moore reveals how this vital health message has been hijacked as a marketing tactic.
12. Can You Trust Your Bank?
Aired 23 July 2012
Jon Snow travels around the UK, meeting consumers, businesses and bankers, to ask whether we can trust our banks.
13. Britain on the Sick
Aired 30 July 2012
Investigates the controversial processes used to assess whether sickness and disability benefit claimants should be declared fit for work.
14. Britain's High Street Gamble
Aired 6 August 2012
A look at the rise in high street betting shops and the social effect they have.
15. Tricks of the Dole Cheats
Aired 13 August 2012
Investigates Jobcentre Plus, the organization tasked with getting Britain back to work and cracking down on dole cheats.
16. Property Nightmare: The Truth About Leaseholds
Aired 20 August 2012
Investigates allegations of private landlords, councils, and housing associations overcharging leasehold homeowners for housing works and maintenance.
17. The School Dinner Scandal
Aired 10 September 2012
Tazeen Ahmad examines evidence that strategies to improve the food served in all our schools are fast coming undone.
18. Secrets of Poundland
Aired 17 September 2012
As other High Street retailers struggle for survival, discount leader Poundland is booming. Its pre-tax profits are up an astonishing 50% in a year. Dispatches' Harry Wallop asks how Poundland sells so cheaply, yet makes so much money.
19. Undercover Retirement Home
Aired 24 September 2012
Investigating the multi-million pound retirement property industry.
20. Cruises Undercover: The Truth Below Deck
Aired 1 October 2012
Investigate the reality of life below deck for the multi-national workforce who toil behind the scenes of luxurious ocean going holidays.
21. Secrets of Your Boss's Pay
Aired 8 October 2012
Follows the former Greggs chief executive Sir Michael Darrington as he launches a campaign to call a halt to corporate greed.
22. Do You Know Your Partner's Past?
Aired 22 October 2012
Tina Nash investigates 'Clare's Law', a new pilot scheme in which men and women are warned by the authorities about their partners' history of violence.
23. Getting Rich on the NHS
Aired 29 October 2012
Morland Sanders examines whether the rapid handover of services to private contractors is really good for the public purse, and good for patient care.
24. Nuclear War Games
Aired 5 November 2012 • 45 min
Provides unprecedented insight into Israel's internal tensions concerning an attack between Israel and Iran which, if escalates, could have major implications for global stability.
25. Chinese Murder Mystery
Aired 12 November 2012
A look at the life and death of Neil Percival Heywood and whether he was actually murdered. His death, virtually unnoticed at the time, has gone on to shake China's Communist Party to the core.
26. MPs: Are They Still at It?
Aired 19 November 2012
Two years after the MPs expenses scandal, Dispatches examines whether our parliamentarians are still abusing the system. The investigation discovers a system still with problems and a lack of transparency.
27. Where Has Your Aid Money Gone?
Aired 26 November 2012
Jonathan Miller travels to Rwanda - the jewel in the crown of British overseas aid - to investigate what British taxes have paid for, and to ask what our government has achieved with the influence our aid supposedly buys us.
28. The Chinese Are Coming
Aired 3 December 2012
As China continues to flex its financial muscle by buying into British airports, water and breakfast cereals, Dispatches investigates growing Chinese power in the UK.
29. How Safe is Your Cash?
Aired 10 December 2012
Reporter Morland Sanders investigates whether security procedures that our banks tell us are impenetrable really are? He meets customers who say they have lost thousands of pounds through chip and pin fraud.
30. The American School Massacre
Aired 17 December 2012
Matt Frei reports from the scene of one of America's worst mass shootings, unravelling the chain of events and asking whether this latest tragedy will lead to a real change in America's attitude to guns.