Panorama: 1981
Season 29 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 Panorama Season 28.
- 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 29 Progress Shield
Whatever Happened To Afghanistan?
Jan 5, 1981
A year ago rumble of Russian tanks invading Afghanistan was met by a chorus of condemnation from around world.
Italy's Other Earthquake
Jan 12, 1981
Money is now pouring in to rebuild lives and homes of survivors of Italy's earthquake.
How the Left Won
Jan 19, 1981
This week, at a special conference at Wembley, Labour Party will decide how to choose its leader.
The Politics of Hunger
Feb 2, 1981
Before the year 2000, the world is likely to face famine on a scale hitherto unknown. Today .more than half the African countries still face severe food shortages, despite the mill
Who's Afraid of Rupert Murdoch?
Feb 16, 1981
At 49, the Australian millionaire is set to become one of the world s most powerful press tycoons. His critics say he makes and breaks politicians, he fires editors who don't fit,
The Right to Privacy - The Need to Know
Mar 2, 1981
How far should the state look into our lives, and what should be done with the information that is collected? Computers now contain millions of records and intelligence files; the
Has the Lady Turned?
Mar 9, 1981
After two years in pursuit of a radical economic experiment, has the Government now decided to change course? The capitulation to the miners, the massive injections of cash into Br
The Last of the Big Spenders?
Mar 16, 1981
The Conservative Government has told local authorities to cut back and spend less. The highest-spending council in Britain is Camden in London. It is now in a financial crisis. The
Gold and Diamonds - The Kremlin Connection
Apr 6, 1981
'You can carry enough diamonds on your naked body to set you up for life,' said Ian Fleming. Diamonds and gold - the most precious substances known to man - excite the imagination.
France's Seven-Year Itch
Apr 27, 1981
For seven years Giscard d'Estaing has been the dominant force in French politics, and French prosperity has been the envy of Europe. But his critics say he has become arrogant and
The Re-arming of America
May 18, 1981
The United States, in keeping with President Reagan's election promise, has just begun the largest and most expensive peace-time military build-up in its history. The Pentagon is e
The DPP
Jun 8, 1981
Sir Thomas Hetherington is the Director of Public Prosecutions, the man who has to decide whether to prosecute in important or difficult cases, which charges to lay and whether it
South Africa: To the Last Drop of Blood
Jun 15, 1981
Peter Taylor reports from within South Africa on the black opposition - an opposition which is becoming increasingly frustrated and violent. The thousands of Soweto youths who left
The PLO - The Road to Respectability
Jun 29, 1981
The Palestinian Liberation Organisation, responsible for some of the world's worst acts of terrorism, has found a new respectability. Less than a decade after the slaying of Israel
Crash - Whatever Happened To Flight 1008?
Jul 6, 1981
In April 1980, Dan Air Flight 1008 crashed en-route from Manchester to Tenerife, claiming 146 lives. The programme covers the disaster from as many angles as possible, interviewing
The Islamic Bomb
Aug 10, 1981
After the Israeli raid on Iraq's nuclear reactor, Pakistan alone is developing the Islamic worlds first nuclear weapon. With millions of pounds from Libya's Colonel Gaddafi, the Pa
The Class of 81
Sep 7, 1981
For-the past 12 months Panorama has been following the fortunes of the 250 school leavers at Craig-bank Secondary School in Glasgow. John Stapleton follows what happened to them In
The Provo's Last Card
Sep 21, 1981
Panorama's Peter Taylor reports from the Maze prison during the hunger strike campaign and addresses the political and military consequences.
Labour: Which Direction Will the Party Go?
Sep 28, 1981
Labour's choice of a deputy leader is the culmination of a momentous struggle for the party's future.
KGB -Russia's Secret Service in the West
Oct 19, 1981
Soviet Intelligence has a huge presence in every Western country; some four out of every ten Russian diplomats are KGB officers. They wage war by clandestine means. Their methods -
How Many More Skeletons?
Nov 2, 1981 · 50 min
In this report from a longer programme, Tom Mangold speaks to Leo Long, one of the men whom Anthony Blunt recruited into his Cambridge spy ring.
Libya: Trading in Terror
Nov 23, 1981
In Britain, Libyan hit squads murder Colonel Gaddafi's exiled opponents. All over the world the Libyans back terrorist groups - including the IRA. Now Panorama reveals the key men
Trade Unions and the Law
Nov 30, 1981
Panorama tonight examines the Government's controversial proposals to limit the power of trade unions. The Rt Hon Norman Tebbit , mp, Secretary of State for Employment, explains wh
Experimenting with Life
Dec 14, 1981
Next year there'll be a boom in test tube babies. Laboratory fertilisation is becoming commonplace, and human embryos are now being frozen for future use. Margaret Jay examines the