Throng

Thursday, January 21 on 4

This Dispatches Special , screening as part of Channel 4's Indian Winter season, reveals the brutal reality of life on the streets and in the slums of Mumbai, following the daily struggles of four young children to survive over the course of three months and throughout the treacherous monsoon season. Dispatches provides a deeply moving portrait of the lives of India's real slumdogs, blighted by substance abuse, hardship and heartache, yet proof of the infinite resilience of children, and forced to reach adulthood long before they should.

Monday, December 7 on 4

As banks and building societies close their doors to all but the least "risky" borrowers, Dispatches reporter Jane Moore investigates a highly-lucrative financial industry that has stepped in to provide loans to the millions of people denied credit elsewhere. She discovers that many of the loans offered by some of these doorstep operators, payday lenders, and rent-to-buy companies come with sky-high interest rates that can financially overwhelm families already steeped in debt. And the sting in the tail is that these loans are entirely legal.

Monday, November 30 on 4

Dispatches investigates the elusive Russian oligarchs who have been trying to buy up our football teams, newspapers and car companies. Reporter Antony Barnett examines the relationship between Russia's richest men and Britain's political elite. He discovers that members of the House of Lords are a prized attraction in Moscow.

Monday, November 23 on 4

A year ago a BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning Dispatches told the story of how children in Africa's Niger Delta were being denounced by Christian pastors as witches and wizards and then killed, tortured or abandoned by their own families. The film forced the Nigerian authorities and the UN to act. Now Dispatches reveals what happened to some of the children and church leaders who originally featured, and discovers that even now children as young as two are still being stigmatised as witches and treated as outcasts.

Monday, November 16 on 4

Dispatches investigates one of the most powerful and influential political lobbies in Britain, which is working in support of the interests of the State of Israel. Little is known about the individuals and groups which collectively are known as the pro-Israel lobby. Political commentator Peter Oborne sets out to establish who they are, how they are funded, how they work and what influence they have, from the key groups to the wealthy individuals who help bankroll the lobbying. He investigates how accountable, transparent and open to scrutiny the lobby is, particularly in regard to its funding and financial support of MPs.

Monday, October 19 on 4

Dispatches has been given exclusive access to the Metropolitan Police to find out what training officers are given to deal with public demonstrations. The programme looks at how the police are taught to judge the level of force required to suppress disorder, and examines controversial crowd control tactics like "containment", which brings protestors face-to-face with heavily-protected and armed police officers. Dispatches asks why, if the vast majority of protests pass off peacefully, police training still focuses on the worst-case scenario of riots and petrol bombs.

Monday, October 5 on 4

This week's Dispatches lifts the lid on the pensions' crisis. The programme names some of the blue-chip companies that have abandoned final salary pension schemes. It shows how widespread the problem of underperforming pensions is, and how difficult it is to get full compensation if things go wrong. Dispatches also reveals the extent to which public sector pensions are under threat, and how far private pensions have failed to deliver in the recession. The programme asks whether the government has failed to protect pensions, and examines their ideas for tackling the crisis in the future.

Monday, September 21 on 4

Seven years after they were introduced, there are now 16,500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) walking the "beat", costing the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds per year. Filming with PCSOs at work on the streets of Lancashire, Dispatches investigates whether PCSOs have proven to be a policing success story or an expensive mistake. Featuring interviews with the officers themselves, an exclusive survey of more than 1,000 PCSOs, and information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Dispatches uncovers widespread confusion over their role, both among the public and within the police service itself.

Monday, September 14 on 4

As the number of unemployed people approaches 2.5 million, Dispatches examines one of the biggest surprises of this recession: middle-class unemployment. From company directors to university graduates, this film follows the experience of several people who have found themselves out of work and desperately in search of a job, with some going to extraordinary lengths to try to secure one. Set against the backdrop of the government's declared efforts to help the unemployed, Dispatches highlights the practical realities of trying to find work, even when armed with a degree or a glowing CV.

Monday, September 7 on 4

As the number of British soldiers returning from Afghanistan in coffins exceeds 200, award-winning filmmaker David Modell examines the devastating trauma suffered by so many surviving soldiers that leaves no visible scars but great psychological injury. Dispatches documents the lives of four soldiers who have been left with serious psychiatric problems as a result of their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. This film provides an intimate portrait of their devastating impact on the lives of individual soldiers and raises serious questions about the adequacy of existing support structures.
An interview with film-maker David Modell is available on the press website at Programme Info/ Future Highlights/ September.

Monday, July 27 on 4

This week's Dispatches investigates how Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF party are still clinging on to power in Zimbabwe; and focuses on the businessmen who are benefiting from or supporting his campaign of political violence. According to opposition politicians in Zimbabwe, those businessmen include well-known figures and companies based in the City of London. Despite the power-sharing "National Unity Government", Dispatches reporter Aidan Hartley discovers that Mugabe has maintained his grip on the police, army and central bank, carrying out violence and corruption on a vast scale.

Monday, July 20 on 4

Dispatches goes undercover to investigate one of Britain's least loved but booming industries - the debt collection business. Presented by Jane Moore, the programme reveals some of the tactics deployed to get debtors to pay up, and talks to those unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of this treatment. And Dispatches reporter Tom Randall gets a job as a debt collector inside one of the UK's fastest-growing agencies.

Monday, July 13 on 4

A child is killed by their parent or carer every seven days in the UK. Peter Oborne presents the results of a six-month investigation by Dispatches into over 160 child killings since 2004, revealing how the majority of them might have been prevented. The failures in child protection reach beyond the realms of just social work departments to include police forces, health services and even the family court system. Oborne also meets some of the bereaved families, ripped apart by the murder of a child, and hears harrowing accounts of how the children lost their lives.

Monday, June 22 on 4

In the wake of two recent, high-profile cases in which young women were brutally attacked and raped by groups of young men, Dispatches investigates gang rape in the UK. Journalist Sorious Samura investigates why such violent forms of assault - which he has always associated with war crimes - are now happening in Britain. Four young victims describe their traumatic experiences and the events leading up to them and the film features an interview with the parents of a victim of gang rape whose attackers have so far escaped conviction.

Monday, June 15 on 4

As America apologies for the killing of civilians in US airstrikes in the Farah province of Afghanistan last month, Dispatches examines the effect these operations are having on US-Afghan relations. Directed by Emmy and Bafta award-winning film-maker Tom Roberts, this edition of Dispatches investigates a similar American assault on the village of Azizabad last year in which scores of civilians, including dozens of women and children were killed. The film looks at how, despite evidence to the contrary, the US army remains robust in denying any wrongdoing.