Dispatches: Season 3
Season 3 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Dispatches Season 2.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 3 Progress Shield
Return to Year Zero?
Jan 4, 1989
Documentary report on the risks to the area if the Khmer Rouge regains power in Kampuchea.
Gorbachev's Asylums
Jan 11, 1989
Documentary report about the changes in the Soviet Union's psychiatric system caused by Gorbachev's policy of "glasnost".
Cooking the Books
Jan 18, 1989
Investigation of Thatcher government's alleged misuse of official statistics.
The Spy Who Broke the Code
Jan 25, 1989
Documentary examining the continued significance for the USA and her allies, of John Walker, a US Navy Chief Warrant Officer and Soviet Spy.
Buckets of Money
Feb 1, 1989
Documentary investigation into high pressure shares salesmen. Exposes the 'bucket shops' where share dealers are cheating the small investor.
The Copper Seven Story
Feb 8, 1989
Documentary report abut the legal wrangle in Los Angeles involving G.D. Searle, manufacturers of a contraceptive coil which it was forced to withdraw from the American market.
Afghan
Feb 15, 1989
A four month Afghan report from the eyes and mouth of Jeff Harmon and Alexander Lindsay.
The Toxic Trail
Feb 22, 1989
Documentary on the legal debate surrounding a mother's wish to have sterilized her 35-year old daughter, who has a mental age of four.
Chico
Apr 5, 1989
A documentary about the Brazilian Chico Mendes, filmed over several years by Adrian Cowell, about the Brazilian campaigner against deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
The Most Neglected Crime
Apr 19, 1989
Four out of ten women had received an unwanted obscene phone call, but a police superintendent could not recall one individual being prosecuted for that offence in 23 years.
Not What the Doctor Ordered
May 17, 1989
Featuring David Willetts of the Centre for Policy Studies, and a new White Paper on health
Hungarians Not Comrades
Nov 22, 1989
Documentary profile of the people of Hungary, whose country has been the centre of world attention in 1989 with the return of democratic elections.
Twelve Days in November
Nov 29, 1989
Documentary report from Czechoslovakia on the recent political upheavals over the twelve days since Friday 17th November.