Dispatches (Season 2)

The Miner's Debate (Episode 1)

Air date: 1988-01-08

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: A question of concern, doubt and safety of mine workers from around Britain.

Waiting for the Consultant (Episode 2)

Air date: 1988-01-15

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary report which looks at the suitability of doctors' work practices to the needs of the modern National Health Service.

Danger! Men at Work (Episode 3)

Air date: 1988-01-22

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: An investigation over sexual harassment at work, the women behind it and what had been done to justify as a court offense.

Interview with John Stalker (Episode 4)

Air date: 1988-02-05

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Interview with John Stalker who recently resigned as Deputy Chief Constable of Manchester. He was removed from an investigation of police and army tactics in Northern Ireland, and has now written a book about his experiences.

Iran: A Widening Gulf (Episode 5)

Air date: 1988-02-12

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Tim Hodlin reports on Iran and it's current state.

Palau: Paradise Lost (Episode 6)

Air date: 1988-02-19

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary report on US policies in the Pacific island of Palau and the seeking of an agreement with the islanders, despite their non-nuclear constitution, to bring nuclear weapons to the island.

Working for Welfare (Episode 7)

Air date: 1988-02-26

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Report on the US system of making the unemployed work for their benefits, called Workfare

Radioactive Britain (Episode 8)

Air date: 1988-03-04

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: A report on the Radioactive Substances Act, which permits over 7000 premises throughout Britain to handle radioactive material.

The Lobby (Episode 9)

Air date: 1988-03-11

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Investigation in to the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), known as "The Lobby", in the United States.

Charity Fraud (Episode 10)

Air date: 1988-03-18

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Report into a number of case histories of alleged charity fraud, which leads to an examination of the loopholes in existing charity laws.

Single Union Deals With Employers (Episode 11)

Air date: 1988-03-25

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary about how the big unions present themselves to potential new employers in contests to sign single-union deals.

Cuba From Inside (Episode 12)

Air date: 1988-04-08

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: A report on human rights in Cuba

Talking to the Terrorists (Episode 13)

Air date: 1988-04-15

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary report in which former members of the West German terrorist group, the Red Army Faction, talk about their pasts and their hopes for an amnesty which will let them back into society.

Cancer Research (Episode 14)

Air date: 1988-04-22

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: A look at cancer research, and the lack of evidence that there has been much progress over the last 50-60 years. Some researchers think that there is no cure in sight. Why is so little research done into cancer prevention?

Freemasonry (Episode 15)

Air date: 1988-05-06

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: The Freemasons have invited cameras into the Grand Lodge at Covent Garden for the first time.

The P.L.O. (Episode 16)

Air date: 1988-05-13

Runtime: 45 min

War in the Desert (Episode 17)

Air date: 1988-05-20

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: The first documentary about a war that has been going on for 13 years in the Sahara Desert between Morocco and a rebel army known as the Polisario.

NATO's Nuclear Programme (Episode 18)

Air date: 1988-05-27

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary investigation into the nuclear capacity of NATO.

Illegal Betting (Episode 19)

Air date: 1988-06-03

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary report about illegal gambling, worth £400-600 million annually. Hidden cameras are used in pubs and clubs from London to Liverpool.

What's Best for the Children? : Coventry (Episode 20)

Air date: 1988-06-10

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary about a model system in Coventry which has been set up to deal with child abuse, and which it is hoped will avoid most of the problems that occurred in Cleveland.

The Raid on San Fernando: Communist Rebels in The Philippines (Episode 21)

Air date: 1988-06-17

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary made by Nick Downie about the time he spent with the Philippine Communist guerrillas, the New People's Army.

Milky Business (Episode 22)

Air date: 1988-06-24

Runtime: 45 min

The Hashish Connection (Episode 23)

Air date: 1988-07-01

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary filmed in the Bekaa valley about Lebanon's powerful drug clans.

Disciples of Chaos (Episode 24)

Air date: 1988-10-05

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary report about the National Front, which will be 21 years old this year. They now work mostly underground as a subversive organization. Also reports on Roberto Fiore in Italy.

Trouble on the Waterfront (Episode 25)

Air date: 1988-10-12

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Port employers and the government want to scrap the Dock Labour Scheme, but there is great opposition amongst dockers.

The Two State Solution (Episode 26)

Air date: 1988-10-19

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary report on the attitudes of Israelis and Palestinians to the future of the occupied territories. A look at the idea of forming two separate states, however, people on both sides are opposed to this.

Turkey: Trading with Torture (Episode 27)

Air date: 1988-10-26

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary report on the continued use of torture in Turkey, despite its desire to join the EEC, which bans such practices. Includes graphic personal accounts.

Exporting High Technology from West to East (Episode 28)

Air date: 1988-11-02

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary report about the measures taken by the United States to ensure that their high technology is not exported to the Soviet bloc.

Tibet - A Case to Answer (Episode 29)

Air date: 1988-11-09

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary examining the destruction of the landscape, and the rights and religion of the people of Tibet, which has been ruled by the Chinese for 40 years.

The Day the Dream Died (Episode 30)

Air date: 1988-11-16

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: 25 years after the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy, British Channel Four's Dispatches asks the following still unanswered questions: 1) Our evidence points to an inescapable conclusion - this casket is empty. The question is, why? 2) Lyndon B. Johnson - what did this man stand to gain from the death of President Kennedy? 3) Who was this man [at the scene]? 4) Why did all these witnesses have to die? 5) Why was Lee Harvey Oswald arrested so quickly? 6) Who set Jack Ruby up to kill Oswald? 7) Why was it necessary to alter Kennedy's body before the official autopsy in Washington? 8) Why did the Dallas doctors change their testimony the very next day? 9) Why was Kennedy's brain missing at the autopsy in Washington? 10) Why did the Warren commission deceive the world?

The Winds of Death (Episode 31)

Air date: 1988-11-23

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary report on the Iraqi army's poison gas attacks on Kurdish villagers

The Battle for Stone Bassett (Episode 32)

Air date: 1988-11-30

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary investigation into the controversy surrounding the plan to build a new 6000 houses town, Stone Bassett, in rural Oxfordshire.

The Countertraders (Episode 33)

Air date: 1988-12-07

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary examination of the growth of "Countertrade" deals - compensatory agreements made between a government and a foreign company to offset the effects of placing an order overseas.

A Very Polish Secret (Episode 34)

Air date: 1988-12-14

Runtime: 45 min

Overview: Documentary about the previously untold story of a 1945 massacre of Polish partisans by Russian troupes and pro-Russian Polish security forces.