The very poor in Britain live at the margin. Any crisis, from a house burning down to something as everyday as a child needing new shoes, can push them over the edge. All they can turn to in an emergency is the Government's social fund.

Falling Through the Net

House Prices, Home Truths

Concrete v. Countryside

After fleeing the capital as revolutionary fervour spread, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were captured and returned to Bucharest to face the revolution's summary justice on Christmas Day 1989.

Triumph Over Tyranny

David Lomax reports on how patients are suffering as a result of the 1990 ambulance dispute.

Suffering for a Solution

Sinking Into Squalor

Every day this term more than 200,000 pupils will play truant from Britain's schools. In London alone a quarter of all 15-year-olds will be missing from class.

Bunking Off

As crises mount for President Gorbachev, what about the Russians - the people who will ultimately determine the fate of his revolution?

The Winter of Perestroika

Britain's police are facing a crisis of public confidence. In the wake of the Guildford Four case, the break up of the West Midlands Crime Squad and the Wapping report, there is a widespread fear that the police bend the rules.

The Police: In for Questioning

August's shooting of a young Catholic, Loughlin Maginn, was the 2,744th murder since the N. Ireland troubles began. But it will be remembered as the killing which triggered off a damaging row between the governments of London and Dublin.

Ulster's Regiment - A Question of Loyalty?

The Debriefing of Colonel G

East Germans vote next Sunday in their first free elections in over 50 years. But already the hundreds of thousands who have voted with their feet, moving to the west, have settled the issue in favour of 'One Fatherland'.

Who's Afraid of Germany?

In England and Wales 38 million people are about to receive their first poll tax bills - many will be higher than Government predictions.

Poll Taxing Their Loyalty

In the 90s, Britain will need new roads, houses and industrial developments if it is to prosper in Europe. But birds, plants and animals are under increasing pressure as the concrete spreads.

More than three million people have joined Britain's army of homeowners since Mrs. Thatcher came to power. But for many, high mortgage rates and the slump in property prices have turned the dream of home ownership into a nightmare.

The mighty Red Army that Lenin created to defend the Motherland is coming home from camps across Eastern Europe. But it is returning to an uncertain future.

The Red Army Revolution

18 months ago, the Gov't launched a radical reform of the NHS. It wanted to turn a £20 billion state monolith into an internal market that would offer its 'customers', the patients, a better service, choice, and better value for money.

Doctoring the Reforms

All over eastern Europe, dark secrets from the past are being unearthed. Many countries face the dilemma of what to do with the former communist dictators and their thugs from state security.

The Crimes of the Comrades

Steve Bradshaw reports on the effects of global warming.

The Big Heat

One self-confessed ringleader of the Strangeways riot has claimed to Panorama that the disturbance was originally planned as a protest against the prison regime.

Rioting for Rights?

As the Government's changes to the education system start to take effect, how well are Britain's schools coping? Roisin McAuley reports on the effects on one typical secondary, Campion School in Leamington, Warwickshire.

Selling Our Schools

With Westminster rife with pre-election fever and Labour ahead in the opinion polls, the Leader of the Opposition, the Rt Hon Neil Kinnock , MP, gives his first major television interview of the year.

Selling Socialism

After a rather difficult political year, the Conservatives are now preparing to fight their fourth election campaign under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. It looks as if it may be the toughest yet for her as well as for her party.

A Woman's Work

How did the west allow Saddam Hussein to build up his terrifying arsenal of weapons? Jane Corbin reveals the scale of Saddam's arms production network in Britain, Germany and America.

Saddam's Secret Arms Ring

To many Palestinians, Saddam Hussein is a new saviour. Panorama analyses the Saddam-fever that is sweeping through Jordan and the West Bank into Israel. Robin Denselow reports.

Saddam's Fifth Column

David Dimbleby and Tom Mangold report from America on the latest developments in the Gulf crisis. Is a compromise still possible? How long will the American people be prepared to support such a massive commitment of American forces?

Uncle Sam v. Saddam

Britain's defences were undergoing their most drastic review for over a generation when Iraq provoked the Gulf crisis. Fred Emery reports on the controversy raging inside the Ministry of Defence.

The Gulf in Our Defences

Reporter Steve Bradshaw investigates the legacy of Militant Tendency in Liverpool.

Labour's Liverpool Nightmare

Gavin Hewitt has been examining who actually pays for the Conservative Party. Why do individuals and companies give and what do they expect in return?

Who Pays for the Party?

An examination of the cause and effect of the savage violence which has been sweeping South Africa, a threat to the peace process which, in Nelson Mandela 's words, could leave the country 'drowning in blood'.

The White Tribe of Africa: Part 1 - Drowning in Blood

President F W de Klerk's promise to abolish all race laws and share power with the black majority has set white against white in South Africa. David Dimbleby meets some who are reconciled to change and others who are determined to resist.

The White Tribe of Africa: Part 2 - No Way Back

In an attempt to make the family a lasting commitment, the Government is changing the law to track down fathers who abandon their families so they can be forced to pay maintenance.

Sins of the Fathers

David Dimbleby in Potsdam presents a debate with representatives from several European countries on their adjustment to the new freedoms one year on from the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The Price of Freedom

The Chancellor of the Exchequer's decision to take Britain into the Exchange Rate Mechanism provoked short-lived euphoria. Now the British economy has to conquer inflation and compete in Europe with a fixed rate for the pound.

Mr. Major's Medicine

Battle for No.10

Fred Emery presents a Panorama special about the demise of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, looking at the final week of her premiership.

The Cruellest Thing

As the world marks international Aids day, Panorama reports on the relentless spread of the disease into the general population. The authorities are still not encouraging those who think they might have the virus to get tested.

International Aids Day

Anthony Howard accompanies former cabinet minister Nicholas Ridley on a journey around Europe, highlighting his opinions of the European Community in the light of recent political events.

Mr Ridley's Europe

The Department of Public Prosecutions is considering whether to prosecute a group of junior Surrey detectives who are alleged to have fabricated the confessions of some of the Guildford Four.

Guildford: The Untold Story

Current affairs programme, featuring interviews and investigative reports on a wide variety of subjects.

Falling Through the Net

Seasons74

Season 38 Episodes37

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