Panorama is a British
investigative journalism programme, produced by the
BBC. They have a reputation for drawing attention to important issues such as the side effects of the anti-depressant
Seroxat and problems for those with mentally
handicapped children in the childcare system. They have had numerous successes in this field.
The programme started in 1953, with the first programme being broadcast at 8:15pm on
11th November. Poor reviews led to the programme being given a swift
revamp, and it returned a month later with a new presenter. The programme was relaunched again in 1955, with BBC
funeralist-in-chief Richard Dimbleby as presenter, giving a heavyweight feel to the programme. The infamous hoax, where for an April Fools prank an item was broadcast about spaghetti harvesting from Swiss trees, did little to dent this image-despite triggering an assault on BBC
switchboards.
In 1961, Panorama became the first programme to interview a member of the
Royal Family, after they broadcast an interview with the
Duke of Edinburgh-he would not be the last royal to be interviewed, though. They also managed interviews with the then-prime-minister
Harold Wilson.
In true BBC style, the programme angered governments around the world, from the
Iranian government (who threw out a BBC
correspondent who had nothing to do with Panorama at all in response) to the British government at home, after a programme was broadcast about the
Falklands War.
In 1995 Panorama pulled an amazing
coup, as
Martin Bashir interviewed
Princess Diana for the programme. This one interview pulled in 22.8 million people, around half of the total television viewing
populace. At the present time of writing the programme regularly garners 3 million viewers, despite having been shunted into the "
graveyard slot" at 10:15pm.