View source for Panorama (British TV programme)

{{short description|BBC television current affairs programme}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image        = BBC Panorama.png
| caption      =
| alt_name     = Window on the World<br>The Window on the World<br>A Window on the World
| creator      =
| presenter    =
| opentheme    = [[Francis Lai]]'s {{lang|fr|Aujourd'hui C'est Toi}}
| country      = United Kingdom
| language     = English
| num_episodes = 1,233<ref>{{Cite web |title=Collections Search - Panorama|url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150778429 |website=[[British Film Institute]]}}</ref>
| runtime      = 30–60 minutes
| first_aired  = {{Start date|1953|11|11|df=y}}
| last_aired   = present
| company      = [[BBC]] Factual
| channel      = [[BBC One]]
}}

'''''Panorama''''' is a British [[current affairs (news format)|current affairs]] documentary news programme broadcast on the [[BBC]]. First broadcast in 1953, it is the world's longest-running television news magazine programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/07_july/18/panorama.shtml|title=Panorama returns to peak time on BBC ONE|website=BBC}}</ref>

''Panorama'' has been presented by many well-known BBC presenters, including [[Richard Dimbleby]], [[Robin Day]], [[David Dimbleby]] and [[Jeremy Vine]]. {{As of|2022}}, it broadcasts in peak time on [[BBC One]], without a regular presenter. The programme also airs worldwide through the [[BBC News (international TV channel)|international feed of the BBC News channel]] in many countries, and domestically via the [[BBC News (British TV channel)|UK feed]].

==History==
''Panorama'' was launched on 11 November 1953 by the [[BBC]]; it emphasises [[investigative journalism]]. ''[[Daily Mail]]'' reporter Pat Murphy was the original presenter,<ref>[[BBC Radio 2]], ''[[Steve Wright (DJ)|Steve Wright]] in the Afternoon'' 15 January 2006, [[Jeremy Vine]] interview</ref> who only lasted one episode after accidentally broadcasting a technical mishap. [[Max Robertson]] then took over for a year. The programme originally had a magazine format and included art features.

In September 1955, when [[Richard Dimbleby]] took over as presenter, it got the subtitle '''Window on the World'''.<ref name="First Richard Episode">{{Cite web |date=19 September 1955 |title=Panorama - Window on the World |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/562c62c0f1784d3a917e93297c82da42 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704110315/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/562c62c0f1784d3a917e93297c82da42 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 July 2023 |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=BBC Programme Index}}</ref><ref name="Conscientious Brand">{{Cite journal |last=McQueen |first=David |date=4 January 2011 |title=A Very Conscientious Brand: A Case Study of the BBC's Current Affairs Series Panorama |url=https://core.ac.uk/reader/4898275 |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=Core |series=Journal of Brand Management |volume=18 |issue=9 |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |pages=4–5 |publication-place=Bournemouth University Research Online |doi=10.1057/bm.2011.5|s2cid=167900487 }}</ref><ref name="Windows">{{Cite news |last=Paxman |first=Jeremy |date=29 October 2003 |title=Windows on the World |language=en-GB |work=BBC News - Panorama |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/3218681.stm |access-date=4 July 2023}}</ref> He presented the show until his death in 1965.

His son, [[David Dimbleby]], later presented the programme on 11 November 1974—the 21st anniversary of the show. Other past presenters include: [[Sir Robin Day]], [[Sir Ludovic Kennedy]], [[Sir Charles Wheeler]] and [[Jeremy Vine]]. On 13 December 2010, it was announced that the programme would be relaunched during the new year with no regular presenter.

===International versions===
''Panorama'' set an example for the [[Panorama (German TV program)|German magazine series of the same name]], which is produced by [[Norddeutscher Rundfunk]], and broadcast by [[Das Erste]]. ''Panorama'' started there in 1961 and is one of the leading political magazine shows.

===Theme music===
The original theme music was an excerpt from ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (Sibelius)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'' by [[Sibelius]], which was followed a few years later by a composition by [[Robert Farnon]] entitled "Openings & Endings".<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_7682000/7682434.stm ''Panorama'''s theme tune BBC website 10 Dec 2008]</ref> From 1968, an extract from [[Symphony No. 1 (Rachmaninoff)|Rachmaninov's Symphony No.1]] in D Minor, 4th Movement was used, followed in 1971 by an adaptation of [[Francis Lai]]'s {{lang|fr|Aujourd'hui C'est Toi}} ("Today It's You"). The latest version was arranged in 2023 by Bojan Andic.

==Team==
===Editors===
* [[David Webster (broadcasting executive)|David Webster]] (1967-1969)<ref>{{cite news |last=Rowland |first=Robert |title=David Webster |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/aug/12/broadcasting.bbc |work=The Guardian |date=12 August 2003 |access-date=14 October 2025}}</ref>
* [[Rachel Jupp]] (September 2016 –)

===Presenters===
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* Patrick Murphy (1953)
* [[Max Robertson]] (1953–1954)
* [[Richard Dimbleby]] (1955–1965)
* [[Robin Day]] (1966–2000)
* [[Alastair Burnet]] (1972–1974)
* [[David Dimbleby]] (1974–1982)
* [[Robert Kee]] (1982–2013)
* [[Jeremy Vine]] (January 2007 – 2010)
* no regular presenter (since December 2010)
{{div col end}}

===Investigators===
{{Unreferenced|section|date=November 2025|reason=No information given about when they were/are with the show, no sources provided}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Hilary Andersson]]
* [[Richard Bilton]]
* [[Jane Corbin]]
* [[Alys Harte]]
* [[Tom Heap]]
* [[John Humphrys]]
* [[Andrew Jennings]]
* [[Shelley Jofre]]
* [[Paul Kenyon]]
* [[David Lomax (journalist)|David Lomax]]
* [[Gerry Northam]]
* [[Monika Plaha]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Inside the secret world of trading nudes |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62564028 |website=BBC News |access-date=10 October 2022 |date=22 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Samantha Poling]]
* [[Chris Rogers (journalist)|Chris Rogers]]
* [[Raphael Rowe]]
* [[George Edwin Scott]]
* [[John Sweeney (journalist)|John Sweeney]]
* [[Peter Taylor (journalist)|Peter Taylor]]
* [[Jeremy Vine]]
* [[Nick Wallis]]
* [[John Ware (TV journalist)|John Ware]]
* [[Vivian White]]
* [[Benjamin Zand]]
{{div col end}}

==Notable programmes==

===Mescaline===
{{expand section|date=November 2025|reason=why is this notable|small=no}}
In 1955, ''Panorama'' filmed [[Christopher Mayhew]] taking [[mescaline]] under medical supervision.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopaedia of Abnormal Psychology|year=2000|publisher=Anmol|location=New Delhi|page=315|isbn=81-261-0475-9|first=A.K.|last=Sharan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Time and Timelessness: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of the Varieties of Temporal Experience|isbn=978-0-8236-6545-7|first=Peter|last=Hartocollis|publisher=International Universities Press|year=1983|page=131}}</ref> The resulting programme was never broadcast, though the footage and transcripts were later released.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Psychedelics Encyclopedia|first=Peter|last=Stafford|location=Berkeley, CA|publisher=Ronin|year=1992|isbn=0-914171-51-8|pages=147–148}}</ref>

===Spaghetti tree===
{{expand section|date=November 2025|reason=why is this notable?|small=no}}
''Panorama'' broadcast a famous [[spaghetti tree hoax|hoax film about the harvesting of the spaghetti crop]] on [[April Fool's Day]], 1957.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Television's Strangest Moments|first1=Quentin|last1=Falk|first2=Ben|last2=Falk|year=2005|publisher=Robson Books|location=London|pages=20–21|isbn=1-86105-874-8}}</ref>

===Salvador Dalí===
{{expand section|date=November 2025|reason=why is this notable?|small=no}}
Broadcast on 4 May 1955, [[Malcolm Muggeridge]] talked with [[Salvador Dalí]], the Spanish [[surrealist]] artist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00nw1ls|title=BBC One - Panorama, Salvador Dali|website=BBC}}</ref>

===Maggie's Militant Tendency===
In January 1984, ''Panorama'' broadcast an episode which claimed that three [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MPs ([[Neil Hamilton (politician)|Neil Hamilton]], [[Harvey Proctor]] and [[Gerald Howarth]]) had links to [[far-right]] organisations both in Britain and on the continent.{{clarify|date=November 2025|reason=Which continent?}}<ref>Charles Moore, ''Margaret Thatcher, Volume Two: Everything She Wants'' (London: Allen Lane, 2015), p. 532.</ref>

The programme was based on an internal Conservative Party report compiled by Phil Pedley, Chairman of the [[Young Conservatives (UK)|Young Conservatives]]. ''Panorama'' confirmed its status with a senior Conservative Party vice chairman.{{who|date=November 2025}} The report was formally presented to the party in the week before the programme was aired. During the making of the programme, attempts to contact some of the named MPs for comment were unsuccessful. (Hamilton's wife Christine later described how "Neil and I had devised a method for making sure that ''Panorama'' personnel would not be in a position to say that Neil had refused to speak".)<ref name="Richard Lindley p.254">Richard Lindley 'Panorama' Politico's 2002 p.254.</ref> The programme was vetted prior to transmission by the BBC's lawyers, by the head of currents affairs television, and by the chief assistant to the director general, Margaret Douglas.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

Two of the MPs named in the programme (Hamilton and Howarth) sued the BBC and the programme-makers. The [[Director-General of the BBC|director-general]], [[Alasdair Milne]], reviewed the BBC's own legal advice, and that of his chief assistant, and declared the programme to be "rock solid". The [[Board of Governors of the BBC|board of governors]] also gave their backing for the programme to be defended in court. Stuart Young died in August 1986, two months before the libel case against ''Panorama'' came to trial. A new chairman, [[Marmaduke Hussey, Baron Hussey of North Bradley|Marmaduke Hussey]], had been appointed but had not formally arrived at the BBC when the trial opened on 13 October 1986. Hussey nevertheless spoke with the BBC's barrister, Charles Grey. Hussey says in his memoirs that "Grey thought it unlikely the BBC would win". Sir Charles Grey disputes this statement, saying that "my junior and I both thought the case was winnable".<ref name="Richard Lindley p.254"/>

The first four days of the trial were given over to opening statements from Hamilton and Howarth and their lawyers, which received wide press coverage. On the evening of the fourth day the BBC's assistant director general [[Alan Protheroe]] informed the BBC's legal team and the named defendants that the governors now wished to settle the case immediately. This prevented the BBC's defence from being put to the court, or known to the public.<ref>Richard Lindley 'Panorama' Politico's 2002 p.255.</ref>

Hamilton and Howarth were each awarded £25,000 in damages. Costs amounted to £240,000. They dropped their case against Phil Pedley.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

There was controversy over the editing of the programme: it juxtaposed shots of Howarth wearing a train driver's uniform at a steam railway enthusiasts' rally with the claim that he had attended a fascist meeting in [[Italy]], suggesting that the uniform he was wearing was a fascist one.<ref name="Moore, Volume Two, p. 533">Charles Moore, ''Margaret Thatcher, Volume Two: Everything She Wants'' (London: Allen Lane, 2015), p.  533.</ref>

===Diana, Princess of Wales interview===
{{Main|An Interview with HRH The Princess of Wales}}
Arguably the best-known ''Panorama'' programme is the 1995 interview of [[Diana, Princess of Wales]] by [[Martin Bashir]]. Conducted following Diana's separation from [[Charles, Prince of Wales]], the interview openly discussed the rumours about her personal life. Its filming and planning was subject to extreme secrecy, with [[Richard Ayre]], the controller of editorial policy, authorising a series of clandestine meetings between Bashir and Diana.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/50th_birthday/3198149.stm|title=50 Facts about Panorama|website=BBC News| date=29 October 2003 }}</ref>

A quarter-century later, it was revealed that Bashir had used journalistically unethical practices in gaining the interview. In late 2020, the BBC director general [[Tim Davie]] apologised to [[Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer|Earl Spencer]], Diana's brother, for the use of highly dubious methods.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Urwin|first=Rosamund|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/bbc-says-sorry-to-dianas-brother-earl-spencer-for-interview-deceit-ghfjqbbbx|title=BBC says sorry to Diana's brother Earl Spencer for interview 'deceit'|work=The Sunday Times|date=1 November 2020|access-date=12 November 2020}} {{subscription required}}</ref> The Earl, who had introduced Diana and Bashir, rejected the apology and demanded an inquiry.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/04/diana-brother-earl-spencer-demands-inquiry-deceit-bbc-interview|title=Diana's brother demands inquiry over 'deceit' that led to BBC interview|work=The Guardian|last=Waterson|first=Jim|date=4 November 2020|access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref> Former Justice of the Supreme Court [[John Dyson, Lord Dyson]] conducted an independent inquiry into the issue.<ref name="Gdn20201119">{{cite news|last=Waterson|first=Jim|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/nov/18/bbc-appoints-ex-judge-to-investigate-martin-bashir-princess-diana-intervew|title=Prince William welcomes BBC's investigation into Diana interview|work=The Guardian|date=19 November 2020|access-date=19 November 2020}}</ref><ref name=RTE2020-11-18-01a>{{cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/uk/2020/1118/1179010-bbc-diana-interview-investigation/|title=BBC announces investigation into 1995 Diana interview|publisher=[[RTÉ]]|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]|date=18 November 2020|access-date=18 November 2020}}</ref> Dyson's inquiry found Bashir guilty of deceit and breaching BBC editorial conduct to obtain the interview.<ref name="Guitly-Inquiry">{{cite news|last1=Mendick|first1=Robert|last2=Yorke|first2=Harry|last3=Ward|first3=Victoria|title=Princess Diana interview probe to find BBC's Martin Bashir guilty of deceit |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/19/princess-diana-interview-probe-find-bbcs-martin-bashir-guilty/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/19/princess-diana-interview-probe-find-bbcs-martin-bashir-guilty/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|date=19 May 2021|access-date=19 May 2021|work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Booth|first1=William|title=BBC reporter used 'deceitful behaviour' to secure 1995 Princess Diana interview, investigation concludes|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/princess-diana-martin-bashir/2021/05/20/21513188-b973-11eb-bc4a-62849cf6cca9_story.html|date=20 May 2021|access-date=20 May 2021|quote=The former judge found that Bashir carried out a sophisticated ruse and lied to his bosses about it, and that the BBC, having been alerted to his behavior, mostly papered over it and sought to evade scrutiny on the topic.|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

===Omagh bombing===
One of the most controversial broadcasts of recent time was the "Who bombed Omagh?" programme, which named those suspected of involvement in the [[Omagh bombing]]. [[Deputy Assistant Commissioner]] Alan Fry of [[Scotland Yard]]'s anti-terrorist unit [[SO13]] said that the [[Real IRA]] [[2001 BBC bombing|attack on the BBC Television Centre]] could have been a revenge attack for the broadcast.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Real IRA blamed for BBC bombing|first1=John|last1=Steele|first2=David|last2=Millward|date=5 March 2001|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1325074/Real-IRA-blamed-for-BBC-bombing.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1325074/Real-IRA-blamed-for-BBC-bombing.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=3 October 2010|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===Scientology===
In 1987, the ''Panorama'' programme "Scientology: The Road to Total Freedom?" for the first time exposed on broadcast television the secret upper-level doctrines of the [[Church of Scientology]], and featured an animated retelling of the [[Xenu]] incident of Scientology doctrine.<ref>{{Cite episode| title = Scientology – The Road to Total Freedom?
| series = Panorama| airdate = 27 April 1987}}</ref>

On 14 May 2007, an episode titled "[[Scientology and Me]]" was broadcast. The journalist [[John Sweeney (journalist)|John Sweeney]] presented the edition, showing how the Church reacted to his journalistic investigations, including its reaction when he stated to members that some people describe the organisation as a "cult". At one point during an interview, the presenter lost his temper with the Church's international spokesman; an edited portion of this incident was released subsequently by the Church on YouTube and DVD in an attempt to publicise it and raise controversy. However, the 2007 Scientology episode was ''Panorama''{{'}}s greatest audience since it moved to Monday evening.<ref>{{cite web |first=Joanne |last=Oatts|title= Journalist's ''Panorama'' (Gibraltar) outburst brings in 4.4m |work=Digital Spy | date=15 May 2007 |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/a46624/journalists-panorama-outburst-brings-in-44m.html|access-date=15 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/may/15/overnights.uknews|title=Panorama rant boosts ratings|work=The Guardian |location=UK |date=15 May 2007|first=John|last=Plunkett}}</ref>

A follow-up programme, "[[The Secrets of Scientology]]", was broadcast on 28 September 2010, presenting proof that the Church had harassed Sweeney during the making of the earlier documentary, with the specific intention of making him react in the way he eventually did. The episode also included numerous interviews with former high-ranking members of the organisation who had been subject to harassment.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_9032000/9032278.stm John Sweeney revisits the Church of Scientology] BBC News, 26 September 2010</ref>

===''Panorama'' and Seroxat===
Since 2002, ''Panorama'' has made four programmes about the anti-depressant [[Seroxat]] (paroxetine / Paxil):
"The Secrets of Seroxat" (2002);<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/2310197.stm|title=The secrets of seroxat|website=BBC News| date=10 October 2002 }}</ref> "Seroxat: Emails from the Edge" (2003);<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/2982797.stm|title=Seroxat: Emails from the edge|website=BBC News| date=28 April 2003 }}</ref> "Taken on Trust" (2004)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/3677792.stm|title=Taken on trust|website=BBC News| date=21 September 2004 }}</ref> and "Secrets of the Drug Trials" (2007).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/6291773.stm|title=Secrets of the drug trials|website=BBC News| date=29 January 2007 }}</ref>

"The Secrets of Seroxat" elicited a record response from the public as 65,000 people telephoned the BBC helpline and 1,300 people emailed ''Panorama'' directly.<ref name=MIND>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mind.org.uk/News+policy+and+campaigns/Campaigns/SSRIchron.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051103002825/http://www.mind.org.uk/News%2Bpolicy%2Band%2Bcampaigns/Campaigns/SSRIchron.htm|url-status=dead|title=Campaigning on Seroxat and other SSRI antidepressants – a chronology|archive-date=3 November 2005|website=www.mind.org.uk}}</ref>

The major mental health charity [[Mind (charity)|Mind]] collaborated with ''Panorama'' in a survey of those who emailed the programme. Anonymous findings from the 239 responses were sent to the [[Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency]] (MHRA).<ref name=MIND/>

The second ''Panorama'' programme on Seroxat, "Emails from the Edge", included a report of the survey to which the 239 people responded. It showed widespread experiences of suicidal feelings and other severe reactions, very bad withdrawal symptoms and lack of warnings from doctors. After the broadcast users/survivors and Mind protested outside the offices of the MHRA.<ref name=MIND/>

On 29 January 2007, the fourth documentary of the series about the drug Seroxat was broadcast. It focused on three [[GlaxoSmithKline]] paediatric clinical trials on depressed children and adolescents. Data from the trials show that Seroxat could not be proven to work for teenagers. Not only that, one clinical trial indicated that they were six times more likely to become suicidal after taking it. In the programme, ''Panorama'' revealed the secret trail of internal emails which show how GlaxoSmithKline manipulated the results of the trials for its own commercial gain. Access to the documents has been gained as GlaxoSmithKline fights a fraud trial in the US.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

Some of these previously secret Glaxo documents featured in the programme were leaked into the internet after the programme's broadcast.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://seroxatsecrets.wordpress.com/2007/01/29/want-to-see-some-of-the-documents-that-glaxo-dont-want-you-to-see/|title=Want to see some of the documents that Glaxo don't want you to see?|website=Seroxat Secrets| date=29 January 2007 }}</ref>

===Undercover: Football's Dirty Secrets===
{{more sources section|small=no|date=November 2025}}
{{Main|2006 English football corruption investigation}}
On 19 September 2006 ''Panorama'' showed a documentary called "Undercover: Football's Dirty Secrets", which alleged payments in English football contrary to the rules of [[the Football Association]], involving:
* That [[Bolton Wanderers]] manager [[Sam Allardyce]], and his agent son Craig were implicated for taking "bungs" (a [[bribe]] or kickback) from agents for signing certain players. Two agents, Teni Yerima and Peter Harrison, were secretly filmed, each claiming separately that they had paid Allardyce through his son. Allardyce denies ever taking, or asking for, a bung.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5360700.stm|title=Agents claim manager was bribed| website=BBC News| date=19 September 2006 }}</ref> The programme was aired on the same night that Bolton beat [[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]] 3–1 in the [[Carling Cup]], so Allardyce missed the original showing.
* [[Portsmouth F.C.|Portsmouth]] manager [[Harry Redknapp]] is secretly filmed discussing the possibility of buying the [[Blackburn Rovers]] captain [[Andy Todd (footballer, born 1974)|Andy Todd]] with agent Peter Harrison, which is against [[Football Association]] rules.
* Then Portsmouth first-team coach [[Kevin Bond (English footballer)|Kevin Bond]], who was first team coach of [[Newcastle United]] at the time of broadcast, is secretly recorded admitting he would consider discussing receiving payments from a proposed new agency involving agent Peter Harrison. Consequently, Bond was relieved of his duties at Newcastle.
* [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] director of youth football [[Frank Arnesen]] is secretly filmed making an illegal approach or "tapping up" [[Middlesbrough F.C.|Middlesbrough]]'s England youth star 15-year-old [[Nathan Porritt]]. Arnesen offers a fee of £150,000 spread over three years as an incentive to relocate. Both of these allegations are against FA rules.
* Agent Peter Harrison told the undercover reporter that, to secure transfer deals with Bolton, he bribed Sam Allardyce by offering to pay his son Craig. Harrison is a [[FIFA]]-listed agent who is based in the north-east of England.
* That three different Bolton transfer signings involved secret payments from agents to Craig Allardyce, some when he was contractually banned from doing any Bolton deals. ''Panorama'' alleged Bolton's transfer signings of defender [[Tal Ben Haim]], midfielder [[Hidetoshi Nakata]] and goalkeeper [[Ali Al-Habsi]] involved secret payments from agents to Craig Allardyce. Allardyce's son quit the agency business in summer 2006, and has admitted in newspaper interviews that his working as an agent might have cost his father the chance of becoming England manager.

===Sex Crimes and the Vatican===
{{no sources section|small=no|date=November 2025}}
{{Main|Sex Crimes and the Vatican}}

On 1 October 2006, ''Panorama'' broadcast an episode on [[Crimen Sollicitationis]], a church "instruction" approved by [[Pope John XXIII]] in 1962, which establishes a procedure for dealing with [[Catholic Church sexual abuse cases|child sex abuse scandals]] within the [[Catholic Church]]. It was enforced for 20 years by [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Joseph Ratzinger]] before he became the [[Pope]]. It instructs bishops on how to deal with [[Catholic sex abuse cases|allegations of child abuse against priests]]. Critics claim the document has been used to evade prosecution for [[Sex and the law#Sex crimes|sex crimes]].

===Daylight Robbery===
{{Further|Allegations of misappropriations related to the Iraq War}}

''Panorama'' investigated claims that as much as $23&nbsp;billion (£11.75&nbsp;billion) may have been lost, stolen or not properly accounted for in Iraq.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/7438372.stm|title=Daylight Robbery|website=BBC News| date=9 June 2008 }}</ref>

The [[United States Department of Justice]] has imposed gagging orders that prevent discussion of the allegations.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7444083.stm|title=BBC uncovers lost Iraq billions|website=BBC News| date=10 June 2008 }}</ref> US and other media have reported little on this issue.<ref>[http://www.disinfo.com/content/story.php?title=BBC-Uncovers-Lost-Iraq-Billions-%E2%80%94-Called--Largest-War-Profiteering-in-History-1 The BBC Uncovers Lost Iraq Billions – Called 'The Largest War Profiteering in History']{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Disinformation, 11 June 2008</ref>

===Death in the Med===
In a programme broadcast in 2010, [[Jane Corbin]] investigated what really happened on the ship ''[[MV Mavi Marmara]]'', when Israeli commandos seized the ship as part of the [[Blockade of the Gaza Strip|blockade of Gaza]].

Abbas Al Lawati, a reporter for ''[[Gulf News]]'', who was on the ''[[Mavi Marmara]]'' during the [[2010 Gaza flotilla raid|Gaza flotilla raid]], criticised ''Panorama'''s reporting of the raid in the documentary, "Death in the Med", stating that it was either a result of "weak journalism" or "deep bias".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/bad-journalism-at-best-1.672617 |title=Bad journalism at best |work=Gulf News |date=25 August 2010|access-date=31 August 2010}}</ref> Nobel Peace Laureate [[Mairead Maguire]], who had also participated in the [[Free Gaza flotilla]], has also accused the programme of a "lack of truth" and "bias" in a letter to the BBC, describing its effects on the families of those who died as a "grave injustice".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=18574|title=BBC failed responsibility to tell truth about Gaza Flotilla attack|website=Muslim News}}</ref>

"The [[BBC Trust]] has ruled that a ''Panorama'' documentary about the Israeli boarding of the Mavi Marmara was "accurate and impartial" overall..."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/apr/19/bbc-film-gaza-aid-flotilla |title=BBC film on Gaza aid flotilla praised by trust despite breaching guidelines| work=The Guardian| date=19 April 2011|location=London|first=Tara|last=Conlan}}</ref>

=== FIFA's Dirty Secrets ===
{{main|FIFA's Dirty Secrets}}
On 29 November 2010, three days before voting for the [[2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bids|2018 FIFA World Cup]], ''Panorama'' broadcast an investigation into bribes by senior FIFA officials.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11873907|title=Fifa chief Issa Hayatou denies bribery claims| work=BBC News | date=December 2010 }}</ref>

===Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed===
{{Main|Winterbourne View hospital abuse}}
On 31 May 2011 ''Panorama'' aired an investigation into physical and psychological abuse suffered by people with [[learning disabilities]] and challenging behaviour at Winterbourne View private hospital in [[Bristol]]. It showed a number of patients being repeatedly punched, kicked, slapped, pinned down and given cold punishment showers – then left outside in near-zero degree temperatures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011pwt6|title=BBC One - Panorama, Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed|website=BBC}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=November 2025}}

Local social services and the national regulator had received various warnings but the mistreatment continued. One senior nurse three times contacted the national regulator saying he wanted to talk about "abuse" – but heard nothing back.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-14181646|title=Winterbourne View 'failed to protect people'| work=BBC News | date=18 July 2011 }}</ref> The hospital was shut down.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-13891855|title=Winterbourne View 'abuse' hospital closes on Friday| work=BBC News | date=24 June 2011 }}</ref>

On 21 June 2011, 86 people and organisations wrote to prime minister, [[David Cameron]] about the revelations, "We are aware of the various actions currently being taken within and outside government – such as the [[Department of Health and Social Care|DH]] review and [[Care Quality Commission|CQC]] internal enquiry. We hope to make submissions to those both individually and collectively. However, on their own these will not be enough and a clear programme is needed to achieve change."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dimensions-uk.org/news-media/|title=Experts available for comment|website=Dimensions}}</ref>

The prime minister responded saying he was "appalled" at the "catalogue of abuses" ''Panorama'' had revealed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ndti.org.uk/news/archive-news/news-stories-from-2011/prime-minister-responds-to-letter-demanding-action-after-winterbourne-view/|title=Prime Minister Response|website=NDTi}}</ref>

In June 2011 the Association of Supported Living issued a press statement, which was followed up in writing to every member of parliament in the United Kingdom, calling for community-based assisted living services to replace institutional services for people with learning disabilities.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

The national regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) did a nationwide check on facilities owned by the same company – as a result, three more institutions have been closed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cqc.org.uk/media/regulator-announces-third-castlebeck-service-close|title=Third Castlebeck Closes, CQC|website=CQC|access-date=13 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027090534/http://www.cqc.org.uk/media/regulator-announces-third-castlebeck-service-close|archive-date=27 October 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The CQC also inspected 132 similar institutions and a [[Serious Case Review]] was commissioned — some of the roughly ten local and national enquiries were carried out to examine what went wrong, including one by [[NHS South West]] which was one of the first to be published and list many of the others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southofengland.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Final-Report-for-publication-Report-of-the-NHS-Review-of-Commissioning-of-Care-and-Treatment-at-Winterbourne-View-30-July-2012.pdf|title=NHS Southwest Report|website=NHS|access-date=13 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915032053/http://www.southofengland.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Final-Report-for-publication-Report-of-the-NHS-Review-of-Commissioning-of-Care-and-Treatment-at-Winterbourne-View-30-July-2012.pdf|archive-date=15 September 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-15092330|title=Other Home Close| work=BBC News | date=28 September 2011 }}</ref>

The head of the Care Quality Commission resigned ahead of a critical government report, a report in which Winterbourne View was cited.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cynthia Bower Resigns|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/feb/23/nhs-watchdog-cynthia-bower-resigns | location=London | work=The Guardian|first=Denis|last=Campbell|date=23 February 2012}}</ref>

Eleven people plead guilty to criminal offences of neglect or abuse as a result of evidence from Undercover Care and six of them were jailed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/LocalPages/NewsDetails.aspx?nsid=25947&t=1&lid=2|title=Eleventh Guilty Plea|website=Avon and Somerset Police|access-date=13 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611092722/https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/LocalPages/NewsDetails.aspx?nsid=25947&t=1&lid=2|archive-date=11 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-20092894| title=Winterbourne View: Care workers jailed for abuse| work=BBC News| date=26 October 2012}}</ref> Immediately after the eleventh person pleaded guilty, the Serious Case Review was published, revealing hundreds of previous incidents at the hospital and missed warnings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southglos.gov.uk/NR/exeres/DDE51D39-E8AC-4343-8DDA-7F08B03CBA10|title=Serious Case Review|website=South Gloucestershire Council|access-date=13 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810012622/http://www.southglos.gov.uk/NR/exeres/DDE51D39-E8AC-4343-8DDA-7F08B03CBA10|archive-date=10 August 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Report-Winterbourne-View-identifies-sustained/story-16661739-detail/story.html|title=Serious Case Review|website=Bristol Post|access-date=13 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031042425/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Report-Winterbourne-View-identifies-sustained/story-16661739-detail/story.html|archive-date=31 October 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Mencap published a report warning that similar abuse could be going on elsewhere and calling for the closure of all large institutions far from people's families.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mencap.org.uk/outofsight|title=Mencap Report|website=Mencap}}</ref>

The film has also won a number of awards including the RTS Scoop of the year and a BAFTA.<ref>{{cite news|title=BAFTA Win|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-18235868 | work=BBC News | date=28 May 2012}}</ref>

''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' said, "It is impossible to read the details of what went on at Winterbourne View, a care home for the severely disabled in [[Gloucestershire]], without feeling repelled. In the wake of an exposé from the BBC's Panorama, 11 members of staff were convicted of almost 40 charges of neglect and ill-treatment of those in their care."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/9459049/Reform-the-regulators.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/9459049/Reform-the-regulators.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Telegraph Leader|website=The Daily Telegraph|date=7 August 2012 }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bild.org.uk/news-and-whats-on/winterbourne-view/|title=Responses to Winterbourne View, a page of information from BILD, the British Institute of Learning Disabilities|website=BILD}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.learningdisabilitycoalition.org.uk/|title=LD Coalition Campaign|website=Learning Disability Coalition}}</ref>

===Euro 2012: Stadiums of Hate===
[[File:UEFA Euro 2012, Poland-Russia, 12.06.2012 DSC 1738.JPG|thumb|Police in [[Warsaw]] on 12 June 2012]]
On 28 May 2012 ''Panorama'' examined the issues of [[racism]], [[antisemitism]] and [[football hooliganism]] which it stated were prevalent among Polish and Ukrainian fans.<ref name="campbell">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18192375| title=Sol Campbell warns fans to stay away from Euro 2012| work=BBC News| date=28 May 2012}}</ref> The programme, titled "Euro 2012: Stadiums of Hate", included recent footage of fans chanting various antisemitic slogans and displays of [[white power]] symbols and banners. The documentary recorded antisemitism and monkey noise taunts of black players in [[Poland]].<ref name="campbell"/> In [[Ukraine]], the documentary recorded [[Nazi salute]]s and [[FC Metalist Kharkiv]] fans violently assaulting a group of [[Asia]]n students at the [[Metalist Oblast Sports Complex]], one of the stadiums hosting matches in Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18233736|title=Asian fans racially abused in Euro 2012 stadium| work=BBC News | date=28 May 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/steer-clear-of-euro-2012-warns-former-england-defenders-sol-campbell-7792616.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/steer-clear-of-euro-2012-warns-former-england-defenders-sol-campbell-7792616.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Steer clear of Euro 2012, warns former England defenders Sol Campbell|website=The Independent| date=28 May 2012 }}</ref> ''Panorama'' filmed former England defender [[Sol Campbell]] watching these clips, and then asked him whether he would recommend families go to the Championship. He responded: "Stay at home, watch it on TV. Don't even risk it... because you could end up coming back in a coffin."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18192375|title=Sol Campbell warns fans to stay away from Euro 2012| work=BBC News | date=28 May 2012 }}</ref>

The report was then followed up by most of the British media, which published a large number of articles accusing Poles and Ukrainians of racism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/12520/|title=Euro 2012: are Ukrainians still Untermenschen? &#124; Brendan O'Neill &#124; spiked|website=Spiked-online.com}}</ref>

The documentary was criticised as sensationalist, unbalanced and unethical. Jonathan Ornstein, Director of the Jewish Community Center<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jcckrakow.org/|title=JCC – Strona główna|website=Jcckrakow.org}}</ref> in [[Kraków, Poland]], and who was interviewed for the film said: "I am furious at the way the BBC has exploited me as a source. The organization used me and others to manipulate the serious subject of anti-Semitism for its own sensationalist agenda... the BBC knowingly cheated its own audience – the British people – by concocting a false horror story about Poland. In doing so, the BBC has spread fear, ignorance, prejudice and hatred. I am profoundly disturbed by this unethical form of journalism."<ref>{{cite news|author=Eastern approaches Ex-communist Europe |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/06/ugly-spectre |title=An ugly spectre: Euro 2012 is overshadowed by accusations of racism and anti-Semitism |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=14 November 2012 |date=6 June 2012}}</ref> The BBC rejected Ornstein's criticism, however, saying: "The context of the programme was made clear to Mr Ornstein both before and during the interview which he kindly agreed to do with the programme makers. ''Panorama'' disagrees in the strongest terms that his interview was misrepresented." The BBC reproduced the text of Ornstein's interview, including those parts which were not broadcast, and also pointed out that Ornstein "contacted the programme makers two days after it was broadcast in the UK on 28 May and immediately thereafter running on [[YouTube]]. He made none of the comments featured in his statement of Wednesday 6 June. We note that his statement was made following the programme's broadcast on Tuesday 5th June on Polish TV."<ref>{{Cite news|title=The BBC's statement on its ''Panorama'' programme Euro 2012|date=7 June 2012|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|location=London|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/06/bbc-panorama-statement|access-date=29 April 2014}}</ref>

Another source used in the film, anti-racism campaigner Jacek Purski said: "The material prepared by the BBC is one-sided. It does not show the whole story of Polish preparations for the Euros. It does not show the Championship ran a lot of activities aimed at combating racism in the "Respect Diversity" campaign. For us the Euro is not only about matches. The event has become an opportunity to fight effectively against racism and promote multiculturalism. There is no country in Europe free from racism. These are the facts."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://krakow.gazeta.pl/krakow/1,44425,11824886,Wszyscy_jestesmy_odpowiedzialni_za_pseudokibicow.html|title=Wszyscy jesteśmy odpowiedzialni za pseudokibiców|website=Krakow Gazeta}}</ref>

Black Polish MP [[John Godson]] said: "The documentary was biased, one-sided and rather sensational. I have received information that there were also interviews that were omitted by the BBC—for example, interview with the Polish police."<ref name="economist.com">{{cite news|author=Eastern approaches Ex-communist Europe |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/06/poland-and-bbc |title=Poland and the BBC: Stitch up unstitched—updated (again) |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=14 November 2012 |date=13 June 2012}}</ref>

A reporter from ''[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]'', Poland's most popular [[left-wing]] newspaper, questioned ''Panorama''{{'}}s practices and said: "I am becoming more and more surprised with what the BBC says. So far it has denied two situations I witnessed. I would not be surprised if the BBC prepared a statement saying that the ''Panorama'' crew has never been to Poland."<ref name="economist.com"/>

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman [[Oleh Voloshyn]] responded that the allegations were an "invented and mythical problem",<ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-euro-ukraine-racism-idUKBRE84S0J120120529|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109093741/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-euro-ukraine-racism-idUKBRE84S0J120120529|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 January 2016|title=Ukraine says UK press racism allegations "invented"|website=Reuters| date=29 May 2012 }}</ref> and that "Nazi symbols can be seen at ... any match in England".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/18253420|title=Euro 2012: Ukraine hits back after Sol Campbell warns fans| work=BBC Sport }}</ref> Polish Prime Minister [[Donald Tusk]] stated: "Nobody who comes to Poland will be in any danger because of his race. This is not our custom, as is not pointing out similar incidents in other countries."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/sports-news/Football/Unfair-say-organisers/Article1-863192.aspx |title='Unfair' say organisers |work=Hindustan Times |date=29 May 2012 |access-date=14 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201153444/http://www.hindustantimes.com/sports-news/Football/Unfair-say-organisers/Article1-863192.aspx |archive-date=1 December 2012 }}</ref>

''[[The Guardian]]'' reported: "Other sources have come forward to say that an interview with a Jewish Israeli player was also cut from the programme because he failed to confirm ''Panorama''{{'}}s "anti-semitism" thesis. The BBC interviewed midfielder [[Aviram Baruchyan|Aviram Baruchian]], who plays for the Polish team [[Polonia Warsaw]]. One source who was present said the ''Panorama'' journalists had complained afterwards that the interview was "useless". ''Panorama'' strongly denies this. It says the interview was not used because Baruchian had only played in the Polish league since January.<ref>{{cite news|author=Luke Harding in Kiev and Kamil Tchorek in Warsaw |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/13/ukraine-bbc-euro-2012-panorama?INTCMP=SRCH |title=Ukraine attacks BBC Panorama documentary as 'provocation' |work=The Guardian |access-date=14 November 2012 |location=London |date=13 June 2012}}</ref>

''Panorama'' responded to the criticism, saying:

{{blockquote|England Fans, the official England Supporters' Club, travelling to Euro 2012 called the programme unhelpful and some Poles in the UK have expressed concern that they have been labelled as racist. But amid all of these accusations against ''Panorama'' and the BBC, there is a real fear that the key issue has been missed – the overt and frightening racist and anti-Semitic abuse and violence of the kind broadcast by ''Panorama'' is both wrong and deeply upsetting to those on its receiving end. That was the point of the programme. We set out to highlight a wrong. Were the beatings that the students from India sustained in Ukraine's Metalist stadium somehow "exaggerated"? Was the fact that they said the police were of "no use" as they walked off bruised and alone into the Ukrainian night somehow "made up"? Were the monkey chants hurled at the black players we filmed in Poland somehow "sensationalised"?|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2012/06/stadiums_of_hate_legitimate_an.html|title=The Editors: 'Stadiums of Hate': Legitimate and fair|website=BBC}}</ref>}}

England football coach [[Roy Hodgson]] said the racism allegations were "the biggest negativity in England... As a result, I think we've lost a lot of fans who didn't come because of a lot of horror stories about how life would be in the Ukraine and Poland." Hodgson added that he had nothing but positive impressions of Poland and Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.ria.ru/sports/20120620/174133954.html |title=Hodgson: Ukraine 'Horror Stories' Deterred Fans &#124; RIA Novosti |publisher=En.ria.ru |date=20 June 2012 |access-date=14 November 2012}}</ref>

Jessica Elgot wrote an article in ''[[The Jewish Chronicle]]'' headlined "I went all the way to 'racist' Kiev and all I got was love", reporting how "By-and-large, no one understood why we were going. Friends raised their eyebrows in horror, before inquiring if we had seen "that Panorama programme". My grandmother politely inquired why we wanted to go to "that shmatte place". As I left for the airport, I got a sweet good-bye text from my house-mate. "Have a lovely trip. Please don't get Jew-bashed."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/comment/69117/i-went-all-way-racist%E2%80%99-kiev-and-all-i-got-was-love |title=I went all the way to 'racist' Kiev and all I got was love|work=The Jewish Chronicle |date=21 June 2012 |access-date=14 November 2012}}</ref>

The deputy mayor of Kraków,{{who|date=November 2025}} referring to the incidents of racism and anti-Semitism broadcast by ''Panorama'', said: "We believe that, step by step, the clubs will also take more responsibility for this kind of activity at stadiums". Adam Bulandra, project coordinator of the Interkulturalni Foundation and co-author of Kraków's new anti-racist strategy said: "The local community does not react properly to this problem, it does not actively oppose the incidents that happen, that's why they are so visible, and we want to change this situation." A spokesperson for Poland's Ombudsman for Citizens' Rights, noted that while there may seem to be only a small number of racist incidents in Poland, that 80 per cent of racist crimes go unreported in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/102917,Krakow-to-launch-pioneering-antiracism-strategy|title=Clubs must do more to stop racism at stadiums, says Krakow deputy mayor – Thenews.pl :: News from Poland|website=Thenews.pl}}</ref>

In 2014, ''Jewish News'' and other news organizations reported that during the making of the documentary, host [[Chris Rogers (journalist)|Chris Rogers]] had been filmed giving a [[Nazi salute]] while marching in front of the crew. Rogers was reprimanded by the BBC, apologized and had not been re-hired by the ''Panorama'' program for two years after the incident.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/presenter-apologises-hitler-salute/|title=Panorama presenter apologises for Hitler salute|work=Jewish News|location=London}}</ref>

===The Mind Reader: Unlocking My Voice===
This ''Panorama'' Special broadcast on 13 November 2012 showed the pioneering work being done by scientists to help patients who have suffered severe brain injuries. The film told the stories of a group of patients and their families, and showed the revolutionary efforts made to help them communicate with the outside world. The film included the story of Scott Routley, a Canadian man in a [[persistent vegetative state]] for more than a decade who was able to tell doctors he is not in any pain.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20268044|title=Vegetative patient Scott Routley says 'I'm not in pain'|work=BBC News |date=9 November 2012 }}</ref>

===North Korea Undercover===
"North Korea Undercover" was filmed in [[North Korea]] in late March 2013 by a three-person team that accompanied a group of students from the [[London School of Economics]]. The trip was organised through the Grimshaw Club – an international relations club affiliated with LSE – by Tomiko Sweeney, the wife of [[John Sweeney (journalist)|John Sweeney]]. The North Koreans, who require permission for entry by journalists, and who have jailed journalists who have attempted unauthorised entry, were not informed of the BBC team and failed to recognise John Sweeney, calling him "professor". The degree to which the students were informed led to a difference of opinion between the institutions later, with the BBC maintaining that less than full disclosure was a measure taken to protect the students in the event of discovery.<ref name=NYT41513>{{cite news|title=BBC Tactics in Covering North Korea Are Faulted|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/world/europe/undercover-bbc-trip-to-north-korea-is-criticized.html|access-date=15 April 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 April 2013|first=Ravi |last=Somaiya}}</ref> Sweeney and his wife were accompanied by a BBC cameraman.<ref name=Guardian41512>{{cite news|title=LSE students contradict BBC claims over North Korea trip: Some say they only became aware of presence of Panorama journalists when they arrived in the capital, Pyongyang|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/15/lse-students-bbc-claims-north-korea|access-date=16 April 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 April 2013|first=Josh |last=Halliday|author2=Tara Conlan|location=London}}</ref>

Subsequently, however, a public statement signed by six of the 10 LSE student participants on the trip said that "We feel that we have now been put in more risk than was originally the case, as a result of the LSE's decision to go public with their story".<ref>{{cite news |author=Josh Halliday |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/apr/17/north-korea-students-criticise-lse |title=Students say LSE has placed them at 'more risk' from North Korea |work=The Guardian |access-date=22 October 2013}}</ref> They also indicated that they had no objection to the broadcast of the BBC ''Panorama'' documentary and that they were satisfied with how the BBC handled the trip.

According to Gianluca Spezza, an informed critic and one of the directors of ''[[NK News]]'', the documentary was of low quality, comparable to many of the videos frequently taken by tourists and posted to YouTube. In addition, according to Spezza, the undercover filming had a detrimental effect on responsible efforts to engage in legitimate cultural exchange and development of mutual understanding.<ref name=NKN41713>{{cite news|title=Undercover in North Korea: Making It Harder For Serious Researchers To Do Their Job |url=http://www.nknews.org/2013/04/undercover-in-north-korea-making-it-harder-for-serious-researchers-to-do-their-job/|access-date=18 April 2013|work=NK News|date=17 April 2013|author=Gianluca Spezza}}</ref>

===Contaminated Blood: The Search for the Truth===
Originally broadcast on 10 May 2017, the one-hour special episode "Contaminated Blood: The Search for the Truth" examined some of the events surrounding the [[Infected blood scandal in the United Kingdom|contaminated blood scandal]] of the 1970s and 1980s, whereby [[haemophilia]]cs were infected with [[Hepatitis C]] and [[HIV]] via [[Factor VIII (medication)|Factor VIII medicine products]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08qhmhc|title=Contaminated Blood: The Search for the Truth, Panorama – BBC One|website=BBC|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref>

The programme featured former health ministers [[Andy Burnham]] and [[David Owen]], both were critical of successive governments roles in the scandal, with the former suggesting it was "criminal". Professor John Cash (former Director of the [[Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service]]) told the programme that the truth about the scandal in England and Wales "[had] not yet been told".{{cn|date=November 2025}}

One of the victims' sons, Jason Evans, told the programme he was taking legal action, which was subsequently billed by the press as a "landmark legal case", calling for a public inquiry into records and documents of the scandal, with allegations that some records could have been destroyed at the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/tainted-blood-scandal-victim-son-jason-evans-nhs-government-hiv-hepatitis-cover-up-jonathan-a7728016.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/tainted-blood-scandal-victim-son-jason-evans-nhs-government-hiv-hepatitis-cover-up-jonathan-a7728016.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Tainted blood scandal victim's son to sue amid cover-up allegations|website=The Independent|date=10 May 2017 }}</ref> The case, entitled ''Jason Evans & Others v Secretary of State for Health'', is ongoing {{as of|February 2022|lc=y}}; an inquiry into the scandal, also ongoing {{as of|February 2022|lc=y}}, was announced by prime minister [[Theresa May]] shortly after the programme aired.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

===Is Labour Anti-Semitic?===
{{POV section|date=May 2020}}

The hour-long episode "Is Labour Anti-Semitic?" premiered on 10 July 2019 and explored allegations of [[antisemitism in the Labour Party]].<ref name=indyantisem>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-labour-antisemitism-panorama-documentary-whistleblower-a8999441.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-labour-antisemitism-panorama-documentary-whistleblower-a8999441.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Jeremy Corbyn's team repeatedly intervened in antisemitism cases, claim Labour whistleblowers|last=Kentish|first=Benjamin|date=10 July 2019|website=The Independent|access-date=11 July 2019}}</ref> During the programme, eight former members of Labour party staff said that senior Labour figures had intervened to downgrade punishments handed out to members over antisemitism.<ref name=indyantisem/> The [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] criticised the programme prior to broadcast<ref name=indyantisem/> and issued the following statement afterwards:

<blockquote>
"The ''Panorama'' programme was not a fair or balanced investigation. It was a seriously inaccurate, politically one-sided polemic, which breached basic journalistic standards, invented quotes and edited emails to change their meaning. It was an overtly biased intervention by the BBC in party political controversy. An honest investigation into antisemitism in Labour and wider society is in the public interest. The Panorama team instead pre-determined an answer to the question posed by the programme's title."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/news/105223/labour-goes-war-bbc-over-panorama-probe-anti|title=Labour goes to war with BBC over Panorama probe into anti-semitism in party|last=Schofield|first=Kevin|date=11 July 2019|website=PoliticsHome.com|access-date=11 July 2019}}</ref>
</blockquote>

The programme was presented by [[John Ware (TV journalist)|John Ware]] and produced by Neil Grant, both of whom also worked on a 2015 ''Panorama'' programme, "Labour's Earthquake". Grant, who had been a teacher at [[JFS (school)|JFS]]<ref name="thejc.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/winning-a-bafta-is-just-as-tough-as-teaching-at-jfs-says-award-winning-filmmaker-1.56787|title=Winning a Bafta is just as tough as teaching at JFS says award-winning filmmaker|website=Jewish Chronicle |date=11 May 2016 }}</ref> and London Labour Party activist,<ref name="thejc.com"/> also produced a 2016 ''[[Dispatches (TV programme)|Dispatches]]'' programme, "Battle for the Labour Party". Both programmes were strongly criticised by supporters of party leader [[Jeremy Corbyn]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/dispatches-momentum-channel-4-documentary-slammed-by-jeremy-corbyn-fans_uk_57dfdc3ee4b05d791370688c|title=Dispatches Momentum Channel 4 Documentary Slammed Over Claims Of Production Company's 'Bias'|website=Huffington Post|date=19 September 2016 }}</ref> [[Ken Loach]] called it "probably the most disgusting programme I've ever seen on the BBC. Disgusting because it raised the horror of racism against Jews in the most atrocious propagandistic way, with crude journalism ... and it bought the propaganda from people who were intent on destroying Corbyn."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/10/ken-loach-sorry-we-missed-you-interview-poverty-homelessness-inequality-privatisation?CMP=share_btn_twhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/10/ken-loach-sorry-we-missed-you-interview-poverty-homelessness-inequality-privatisation?CMP=share_btn_tw|title=Ken Loach: 'The airwaves should be full of outrage'|last=Chakrabortty|first=Aditya|date=10 October 2019|access-date=12 October 2019|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

The Labour Party submitted a formal complaint about the programme to the BBC, which received around 1,600 complaints in total.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/labour-submits-complaint-to-bbc-over-panorama-expose/|title=Labour submits complaint to BBC over Panorama expose |date=26 July 2019 |access-date=23 May 2020 | website=Jewish News}}</ref> The BBC's Executive Complaints Unit rejected these complaints.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/oct/31/bbc-to-reject-labour-complaint-panorama-antisemitism-episode |title=BBC to dismiss Labour complaint over Panorama antisemitism episode |last=Waterson |first=Jim |date=31 October 2019|access-date=23 May 2020|work=The Guardian}}</ref> Over 20 complaints of bias were taken to [[Ofcom]], who ruled that the programme had been "duly impartial" and had given appropriate weight to Labour's position.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/190030/panorama-complaint.pdf |title=Ofcom FOI Response on Panorama's 'Is Labour Anti-Semitic?' |publisher=Ofcom |access-date=23 May 2020}}</ref>

After the episode aired, a party spokesman accused staff featured in the documentary of being "disaffected former officials... who have always opposed Corbyn's leadership, worked to actively undermine it, and have both personal and political axes to grind."<ref name=gwhistle>Rowena Mason and Jessica Elgot, [http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/15/labour-staffers-letter-jeremy-corbyn-whistleblowers "Corbyn under fire from staff and Labour peers over antisemitism"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 15 July 2019, accessed 21 July 2019)</ref> Labour Party staff represented by the [[GMB Union]] voted 124–4 to demand the party apologise to the former staff<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-vote-condemn-antisemitism-documentary-response-corbyn-a9011046.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-vote-condemn-antisemitism-documentary-response-corbyn-a9011046.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Labour staff members vote overwhelmingly to condemn party's response to Panorama documentary on antisemitism|last=Woodcock|first=Andrew|date=18 July 2019|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=21 July 2019}}</ref> and [[John Cryer]], chair of the [[Parliamentary Labour Party]], said that attacking former Labour staff who appeared on the documentary was "a gross misjudgment".<ref name=gwhistle /> Five of the staff featured announced their intention to sue the party, claiming that Labour's response breached its commitment to protect the rights of whistleblowers and 'defamed' them.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/09/22/former-labour-employees-set-sue-party-libel-anti-semitism/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/09/22/former-labour-employees-set-sue-party-libel-anti-semitism/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Former Labour employees set to sue party for libel over anti-Semitism |last=Tominey|first=Camilla|date=22 September 2019|access-date=23 May 2020|work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In July 2020, the Labour Party, now under the leadership of [[Keir Starmer]], retracted in full the allegations it had made about both [[John Ware (TV journalist)|John Ware]] and the participants in the ''Panorama'' documentary, which it conceded were false, issued a formal apology, and agreed to pay damages and costs, estimated to be around £600,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/22/labour-pays-out-six-figure-sum-and-apologises-in-antisemitism-row|title=Labour pays out six-figure sum and apologises in antisemitism row|date=22 July 2020|website=The Guardian}}</ref>

In 2022, an ''[[Al Jazeera]]'' documentary called ''The Labour Files'' depicted the ''Panorama'' episode as highly misleading and showed it had spliced together different parts of a whistleblower's statement, falsely rendering it as accusing Labour members of praising Hitler "every day" in her presence.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Monbiot |first1=George |date=15 February 2023 |title=This senseless lawsuit could bankrupt the Labour party and let the Tories win again |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/15/sunak-labour-keir-starmer-labour-party |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230215080520/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/15/sunak-labour-keir-starmer-labour-party |archive-date=2023-02-15 |access-date=15 February 2023 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> In December 2022, the BBC published a clarification stating that if the episode were to be re-broadcast, the whistlerblower's "additional comments" would be shown.<ref>{{cite website|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/helpandfeedback/corrections_clarifications/archive-2022/|title=Corrections and Clarifications - Archive 2022|website=BBC}}</ref> In a public letter to ''The Guardian'', Ware and ''Panorama'' Executive producer Neil Grant admitted this clip was mishandled, though still defending the overall merit of the episode.<ref name=let /> ''Labour Files'' producer Richard Sanders commented in his own letter to ''The Guardian'' that it "was always extremely improbable" that Labour members would have praised Hitler, citing approvingly [[Peter Oborne]]'s comment in the ''Al Jazeera'' episode that by "the summer of 2019… you could say whatever you liked about Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party", to explain the BBC's editorial attitude.<ref name=let>{{cite news|date=17 February 2023 |title=Questions raised about BBC Panorama episode on Labour and antisemitism|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/feb/17/questions-raised-about-bbc-panorama-episode-on-labour-and-antisemitism|website=The Guardian}}</ref> Sanders additionally slammed the BBC's clarification as obviously disingenuous.<ref name=let />

The [[The_work_of_the_Labour_Party's_Governance_and_Legal_Unit_in_relation_to_antisemitism,_2014–2019#Forde_Report|Forde Report]], commissioned under Starmer's leadership, also came to the conclusion that the presentation ''Panorama'' made of the controversy was "entirely misleading."<ref name=mee>{{Cite web|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/labour-antisemitism-forde-rejected-remove-bbc-panorama-criticism|title=Labour racism report author rejected BBC request to remove criticism of Panorama # |date=16 March 2023|website=Middle East Eye}}</ref> The report's author, Martin Forde KC, received a request from the BBC and Ware to amend the report's approach to the ''Panorama'' episode, with Forde decribing an email Ware sent him as "quite aggressive in tone", but ultimately deciding against any such changes.<ref name=mee />

===Has the government failed the NHS?===
Broadcast on 27 April 2020, the episode "Has the government failed the NHS?", presented by reporter Richard Bilton, investigated the [[British government response to the COVID-19 pandemic|UK government's alleged failure]] to stockpile critical equipment such as [[personal protective equipment]] (PPE), and the impact this had on the management of [[COVID-19]] within the [[NHS]] during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|pandemic]]'s early months.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/key-ppe-items-not-in-government-s-pandemic-stockpile-when-coronavirus-hit-uk-investigation-finds-a4425531.html|title=Key PPE items 'not in pandemic stockpile when coronavirus hit UK'|first=Sean|last=Morrison|date=28 April 2020|website=www.standard.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hr3y|title=BBC One - Panorama, Has the Government Failed the NHS?|website=BBC}}</ref> The investigation also examined the reversal of the designation of COVID-19 as a "High consequence infectious disease" (HCID) and the simultaneous downgrading of PPE guidance. It was argued that the decision-making was fuelled, in part, by the lack of suitable equipment in the stockpile.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-52440641|title=Coronavirus: UK failed to stockpile crucial PPE|work=BBC News |date=28 April 2020}}</ref>

Among the interviewees was public health expert [[John Ashton (public health director)|John Ashton]], who described the findings as "breathtaking" and said "The consequence of not planning; not ordering kit; not having stockpiles is that we are sending into the front line doctors, nurses, other health workers and social care workers without the equipment to keep them safe".{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

===The Missing Princess===
In February 2021, ''Panorama'' released a full-fledged investigative documentary, ''The Missing Princess'', about the daughter of [[Dubai]] ruler Sheikh [[Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum]], [[Princess Latifa]], who attempted to flee her home country in 2018. However, she was captured and brought back to Dubai from international waters. In 2019, a family court in the UK ruled that Sheikh Mohammed had ordered the abduction of Princess Latifa, who was publicly seen only once since, in December 2018 during the visit of former [[United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]], [[Mary Robinson]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56085734|title=Princess Latifa timeline: The failed escapes of Sheikh Mohammed's daughters|work=BBC News |date=16 February 2021 |access-date=16 February 2021}}</ref><ref name=Latifa>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sspm|title=Panorama: The Missing Princess|access-date=16 February 2021|website=BBC}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=November 2025}}

''The Missing Princess'' was released in 2021, after ''Panorama'' received a video message secretly recorded by Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum from her bathroom in 2018. The messages were sent by Princess Latifa's friends, who were not able to get in touch with her for a long time. The Princess accused her father, Sheikh Mohammed, of holding her "hostage". She also gave details of her abduction, where she was drugged and brought back by Emirati soldiers on a boat and then a private jet. Saying that she feared for her life, Latifa complained about being tired in the [[solitary confinement]] without any medical and legal assistance.<ref name="Latifa" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56075528|title=Princess Latifa: 'Hostage' ordeal of Dubai ruler's daughter revealed|work=BBC News |date=16 February 2021 |access-date=16 February 2021}}</ref>

Release of the documentary prompted the [[United Nations]] to intervene in the matter, where the organisation questioned the [[United Arab Emirates]] about Princess Latifa and asked for a proof that she is alive.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56126759|title=Princess Latifa: UN asks for proof that Dubai ruler's daughter is alive|work=BBC News |date=19 February 2021 |access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref>

===Trump: A Second Chance? editing controversy and BBC resignations===
{{further|2025 BBC editorial bias allegations}}
The episode titled "Trump: A Second Chance?" aired on 28 October 2024 in the run up [[2024 United States presidential election]]. It looked at the reasons why supporters of candidate for [[President of the United States]] [[Donald Trump]] wanted him to return to the [[White House]] and why Trump continued to be a popular choice for voters in general. The episode sparked major controversy as it featured two small snippets relating to the [[January 6 United States Capitol attack|6th January 2021 attack on the US Capitol building]] edited to sound like a single quote: "We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell”. The two snippets of speech used in the edit were actually spoken almost an hour apart from each other. The BBC was heavily criticised by viewers for making it appear as though Trump had incited the attacks, omitting the sections of Trump's speech where he called for a peaceful protest. On 9 November 2025, over a year after the episode first aired, [[Director-General of the BBC|BBC Director-General]] [[Tim Davie]] and the BBC's CEO of news [[Deborah Turness]] both resigned from their posts as a result of the controversies caused by this Trump-themed episode and the subsequent documentary programme ''[[Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone]]'', which was not part of ''Panorama'' (as it was commissioned by the BBC for ''[[This World (TV series)|This World]]'').<ref>{{cite news |last1=Phillips |first1=Aleks |last2=Bushby |first2=Helen |title=BBC director general and News CEO resign over Trump documentary edit |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vn25d5dq7o |access-date=10 November 2025 |work=BBC News |date=9 November 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Michael |title=BBC accused of selectively editing Trump clip from day of Capitol attack |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/nov/03/bbc-accused-selectively-editing-trump-clip-capitol-attack |access-date=10 November 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=3 November 2025}}</ref> Trump has subsequently threatened the BBC with legal action as a result of the programme.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oliver |first=Holmes |date=2025-11-10 |title=Trump threatens BBC with $1bn legal action over edit of speech in documentary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/10/trump-bbc-legal-action |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251110183057/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/10/trump-bbc-legal-action |archive-date=2025-11-10 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> The same day, [[BBC Chairman|BBC chairman]] [[Samir Shah]] publicly apologised for an "error of judgment" in the way the speech by Trump was edited.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Courea |first1=Eleni |last2=Elgot |first2=Jessica |last3=Rawlinson |first3=Kevin |date=2025-11-10 |title=BBC chair apologises for Trump speech edit but defends corporation against bias claims |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/nov/10/bbc-resignations-internal-coup-says-former-sun-editor-david-yelland |access-date=2025-11-12 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Shah acknowledged that the editing "did give the impression of a direct call for violent action."<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC resignations latest: Downing Street coy on future of licence fee - as Trump 'threatens to sue' over speech edit |url=https://news.sky.com/story/bbc-resignations-director-general-tim-davie-and-ceo-of-bbc-news-issue-statements-after-resigning-13467560 |access-date=2025-11-10 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref>

==Programme influenced by security services==
In December 2011, it was revealed that former BBC Director General Sir [[Ian Trethowan]] had met in 1981 with the chiefs of [[MI5]] and the [[Secret Intelligence Service]] about an episode of ''Panorama'' dealing with the security services.<ref name=bbc-panorama-security>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16358075|title=Secret service pressed BBC to censor Panorama – papers|first=Gordon|last=Corera|date=30 December 2011|website=BBC News}}</ref> He showed a video recording of the original programme to [[Bernard Sheldon]], legal adviser to MI5,<ref name=bbc-panorama-security/> who suggested cuts to the programme. Trethowan asked the head of BBC News to reduce the programme to half its length, including the cuts suggested by MI5.<ref name=bbc-panorama-security/>

==Scheduling==
The scheduling of ''Panorama'' has, since the 1980s, often been a subject of media debate and controversy, due to the duties of the BBC to provide both, on the one hand, entertaining programming that appeals to a mass audience, and on the other serious journalism that might have a narrower audience. In February 1985, with the programme being watched by an average audience of just 3.5&nbsp;million viewers, Controller of BBC One [[Michael Grade]] moved the programme from its traditional prime time 8.10&nbsp;pm slot on Monday evenings back to 9.30&nbsp;pm, after the ''[[BBC Nine O'Clock News|Nine O'Clock News]]''.<ref name="85move">{{Cite news|title=Birds of a Feather puts Panorama to flight as Sharon and Tracey displace BBC flagship|work=The Guardian |location=UK|first=Andrew|last=Culf|date=8 May 1997}}</ref> Despite many protests about this move in the media,<ref name="85move"/> ''Panorama'' remained in this slot until 1997, although two of Grade's successors, [[Alan Yentob]] and [[Michael Jackson (television executive)|Michael Jackson]], were known to be unhappy about running 70 continuous minutes of news from 9&nbsp;pm.<ref name="85move"/> In May 1997 the Acting Controller of BBC One, [[Mark Thompson (media executive)|Mark Thompson]], did move ''Panorama'' back half an hour to 10&nbsp;pm, to make way for the sitcom ''[[Birds of a Feather (TV series)|Birds of a Feather]]'', which opened the BBC to criticism that it was sidelining serious content in favour of lighter programming.<ref name="85move"/>

In 2000, the programme was moved again, with the 10&nbsp;pm timeslot no longer available due to the transferring of the BBC News from 9&nbsp;pm to the later slot. ''Panorama'' was moved to Sunday nights, after the news, usually shown at around 10.15&nbsp;pm – labelled by some critics as a "graveyard slot".<ref name="2000move">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/BBC/Story/0,,383701,00.html|title= 1 m viewers lost as BBC shifts Panorama to Sunday 'graveyard' slot|work=The Guardian |location=UK |first=Matt|last=Wells|date=17 October 2000|access-date=20 January 2007}}</ref> The number of editions made per year was also reduced, which attracted press criticism for the BBC in general and its [[Director-General of the BBC|Director-General]] [[Greg Dyke]] in particular, as Dyke was the driving force behind the schedule changes.<ref name="shameful">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2000/may/22/mondaymediasection.bbc|title=A shameful decision|work=The Guardian |location=UK |first=David|last=Elstein|author-link=David Elstein|date=22 May 2000|access-date=21 January 2007}}</ref><ref name="aaronovitch">{{Cite news|title=You cannot be serious!|work=The Independent |location=UK|first=David|last=Aaronovitch|author-link=David Aaronovitch|date=16 May 2000}}</ref> The incoming Controller of BBC One, [[Lorraine Heggessey]], defended the move, claiming that the programme's audience would have "dwindled" had it remained on Monday nights.<ref name="2000move"/>

In January 2007 Heggessey's successor, [[Peter Fincham]], moved ''Panorama'' back from Sunday nights to a prime time Monday evening slot at 8.30&nbsp;pm, reduced to half an hour. This decision was at least partly in response to a demand from the [[Board of Governors of the BBC]] for the channel to show more current affairs programming during prime time.<ref name="2007move">{{cite news |last=Sherwin |first=Adam |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/panorama-to-take-on-itv-soap-sqcclrmvkn2 |title=Panorama to take on ITV soap |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |location=UK |date=19 June 2006 |access-date=30 March 2025 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250330162908/https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/panorama-to-take-on-itv-soap-sqcclrmvkn2 |archive-date=30 March 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Archive ==
A series of ''Panorama'' transcripts, dating between 1958 and 1961, are housed at the [[British Library]]. The papers can be accessed through the British Library catalogue.<ref>[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS032-003459637 Panorama Transcripts]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, archives and manuscripts catalogue, the British Library. Retrieved 15 May 2020</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|BBC}}
* ''[[This World (TV series)|This World]]''
* ''[[Dispatches (TV programme)|Dispatches]]'' ([[Channel 4]], 1987–)
* ''[[World in Action]]'' ([[ITV (TV channel)|ITV]], 1963–1998)
* ''[[This Week (1956 TV programme)|This Week]]'' (ITV, 1956–1979, 1986–1992)
* ''[[Unreported World]]'' (Channel 4, 2000–)

==References==
{{Reflist|20em}}

==Bibliography==
* Richard Lindley (2002), ''Panorama: Fifty Years of Pride and Paranoia'', Politico's, {{ISBN|1-902301-80-3}}

==External links==
* {{BBC programme}} (BBC One)
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/n13xtmgg ''Panorama''] (BBC World News)
* [http://www.museum.tv/eotv/panorama.htm Panorama] – ''[[Encyclopedia of Television]]''
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5190608.stm ''Panorama'' returns to prime-time TV] BBC News, 18 July 2006
;"Scientology and Me"
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/6647285.stm Scientology and Me: transcript], ''Panorama'', BBC News, 11 May 2007

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