Panorama

Panorama's Life After Woolies scoops RTS North West Award

2009-11-16T17:27:03Z

Hot on the heels of last week's Scottish Bafta win for Britain's Homecare Scandal, Panorama has picked up another gong.

Life After Woolies won the RTS North West for Best Current Affairs Programme. It followed former Woolies staff looking for work after the closure of the company's 807 outlets.

While making the film, the production team also came across "Mr Woolies" Paul Seaton who had collected a vast array of Woolies memorabilia and had launched an online community for ex-Woolies staff too. We made a short film about him below:

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Jack Straw orders review of police cautions after Panorama's Assault on Justice

2009-11-13T16:14:21Z

Cautions for serious offences including burglary and rape may be a thing of the past thanks to a Panorama expose. Monday's programme, Assault on Justice, found half of criminal cases were dealt with using cautions in 2008, including almost 40,000 cases of assault.

On the day of the programme, Jack Straw announced a review into the use of cautions and their different regional use by police forces in England and Wales. "I understand the concerns that have been raised," he said and the Ministry of Justice released a statement later that day.

It's a good result for a programme that has had such a strong reaction from viewers who contacted us directly after the programme and discussed it in the blogosphere.

PCbloggs supports Jack Straw's review, albeit somewhat tongue-in-cheek saying: "I seem to remember that a few people pointed out that maybe criminals should go to court when they commit crimes, and that they might not pay their fines or listen to warnings, and that the victims might not feel justice had been done."

However, he also suggests there could be reasons behind the statistics. "The most common use of the caution is when the victim has made a complaint and then refuses to follow it through by attending court or providing a written statement."

But the problem in using cautions as a form of 'instant justice' stands for Ramblings of a Scottish Student. "You essentially place the police and prosecutors in the position of judge, jury and executioner," he writes. "This form of justice is not done in public and is open to abuse, it ignores the essential separation of powers within the justice system to ensure that both victims and accused persons are treated fairly and respectfully."

But the overwhelming concern from viewers is saved for the victim, as expressed by Colette McAreavey who emailed the programme saying, "I have just watched your programme with a mixture of horror and disbelief. The penalties given were non-existent. A caution is a joke considering the severity of the assaults on all the victims featured in your piece. The police should not be judge and jury and the assaults you highlighted certainly merited, in my opinion, a custodial sentence. There was no justice for the victims, it was a total travesty. I have to say I felt very angry at how the victims were treated and congratulate you for bringing it not only to my attention but putting it in the public domain."

Jack Straw denies that cautions are being used to keep prison numbers down. His review into the use of cautions by the police should help ensure victims of serious crimes do get their day in court as all the people featured in the programme wanted.

Panorama homecare investigation wins Scottish Bafta

2009-11-09T14:39:49Z

A Panorama special has won a prestigious Scottish Bafta.

Britain's Homecare Scandal, which was broadcast last April, won the Bafta in the News and Current Affairs category.

Using undercover filming, the film highlighted the shocking quality of home care that some older people received, a situation branded as scandalous by the Government's Voice of Older People, Dame Joan Bakewell.

You can still watch Britain's Homecare Scandal and read further information on the story here.

1989: The Year of Revolutions

2009-11-06T16:23:39Z

Revolutionary fervour was spreading across Eastern Europe throughout 1989 as the Communist hold centred in Moscow continued to weaken.

In April 1989, BBC News Europe Editor Gavin Hewitt was reporting for Panorama from Prague, capital of the-then Czechoslovakia, and facing the possibility that he might witness a repeat of 1968's Prague Spring.

I spoke to him this week from Berlin and asked him about his experiences making that film.

"During our time filming in the-then Czechoslovakia in 1989, it seemed everyone we spoke to and everywhere we turned showed signs that the ruling Communist Party was on its last legs. It was an exhausted regime, recognising the need for reform but paralysed by the fear of losing control. The old certainties were fading away.

I think the moment we knew the end was near was during filming at a rally held by the old-guard party faithful. We had heard rumour that students and activists, eager for reform and a chance to taste 'civil society' as they called the West, were planning something. Signs of dissent against the system were unheard of - to do so on a large scale at a public rally was nothing short of revolutionary.

Sure enough, as the speakers began from the podium, cries of 'freedom' from the reformers began in the crowd. A sense of excitement and panic grew. The party's military guard moved to quell the dissenters and tear-gas was fired.

The military guards' attention turned to the Panorama film crew, thinking we were agitators, but the activists in the crowd moved to get us into a car and spirit us away. As we drove away I was left stunned by the boldness of the students and their courage in facing down the soldiers in helping us escape.

The demonstrations were to last for several more days before the crackdown came. The authorities made over 800 arrests.

Even so, the stomach for the fight had gone. The party no longer seemed to have the energy required to hold the regime in place. During our time filming in Prague we were followed by a minder. Usually a large part of their role was simply to spy on our activities and report it to the party. The minder seemed distracted and disinterested. Further evidence that the ties that held the system in place were steadily unravelling.

The cries of reform we heard on that first demonstration night highlighted the generational gap that was driving the move for change. For the first time since the end of the Second World War, the Czech youth had become aware of the freedom offered in the West and through a burgeoning media had become aware of the weakening of the influence of Moscow through Eastern Europe. They saw their chance.

Those driving the change had too much energy for those clinging to the orthodoxies of the past. Revolution was inevitable - not necessarily during those nights - but soon. The events of the Velvet Revolution of November 1989 were to prove them right."

Darlington teenager's death raises fears about internet safety

2009-10-29T15:29:07Z

A grieving mother has called on parents to warn their children of the dangers of meeting strangers through the internet after her daughter was found dead in a field.

Ashleigh Hall, 17, had said she was going to meet a friend and would be back the following day. When she didn't return her mother called the police. A man Ashleigh is thought to have met online has appeared in court charged with kidnap and manslaughter.

Panorama investigated the threats posed by internet predators in One Click From Capture and One Click From Danger. We spoke to two young people about their lucky escape from a convicted paedophile who approached them through a social networking site. Click here for theTeenage Guide to Internet Predators.

The BNP: From Pariahs to Panellists

2009-10-22T11:03:10Z

As the British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin prepares for his historic and controversial appearance on BBC Television's Question Time programme, Panorama has traced the origins of the UK's far-right organised groups from the late 1950s to the present day, from pariahs to panellists, through a video archive.

Panorama also created a special in-depth website, detailing the party's membership, activities, roots and profiling its leader, Nick Griffin when it broadcast its investigation 'Under the Skin of the BNP' in 2001. You can browse that website here.

It was not just the BBC's Panorama that has examined the BNP's track record.

In 2004, Jason Gwyne went undercover to infiltrate the party.

The result was the documentary The Secret Agent.

Jason spent six months undercover in Bradford and came back with some shocking footage.

The project began in December 2003 when the BBC was put in touch with a local BNP leader, Andy Sykes, who had joined the party after being concerned about asylum seekers but who had quickly become disillusioned with its actions and ideals.

Mr Sykes had been acting as a mole within the BNP since the time of the Bradford riots in 2001, passing on information about its activities to the Trades Union Congress. He agreed to introduce Jason to other BNP members as an activist and help him to film evidence of racism within the party.

You can read Jason's experiences of life undercover here and watch an abridged version of the film here.

The Secret Agent was originally broadcast on BBC One on 15 July, 2004.

Hooliganism: Football's Ugly Tradition

2009-10-15T17:09:20Z

The Football Association has set a deadline that gives West Ham United and Millwall until Monday, 19 October, to respond to charges made after crowd disturbances marred the Carling Cup match between the two sides at the end of August.

Though such high-profile disturbances are rare these days, both clubs have had problems with hooliganism in the past, as Panorama discovered when it filmed with Millwall in 1977.

West Ham United fans like to claim that they won the World Cup in 1966. That the two England goal scorers - Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters - and captain Bobby Moore played for West Ham at the time gives some credence to the tongue-in-cheek claim.

They have had relegations and last minute Cup Final agonies of late but the point stands - West Ham have a legacy. They have a pedigree.

Millwall on the other hand have generally played outside the top flight and - odd glory aside such as their run to the 2004 FA Cup Final - they have never enjoyed sustained success.

One area where Millwall do match West Ham though is when it comes to hooliganism.

When it comes to their hooligan support, Millwall and West Ham are pretty much peerless - they are Premier League contenders.

In the dark days of the 1970s Millwall's hooligan support was legendary. In the 1980s West Ham's 'Inter City Firm' continued the tradition.

Despite this, the violence which grabbed headlines after August's Carling Cup shocked many who thought that hooliganism had largely been consigned to the past.

A past that, in 1977, saw Panorama film with Millwall and some of the club's notorious hooligans in for the film 'F Troop, Treatment and the Half-Way Line'. The programme took its name from some of the supporter 'firms' Panorama filmed with.

Millwall supporters claim their violent reputation is undeserved, that they are no worse than any other club and any trouble associated with the club is caused by a small minority.

Back in 1977, Panorama applauded Millwall's openness as the only club to welcome the cameras in to film what was a widespread problem at the time.

That open access may have backfired somewhat as the film has achieved a small-scale cult status in the intervening years, specifically some of its more unsavoury characters like 'Harry the Dog' and 'Bobby the Wolf'. You can make up your own mind here:

That they are celebrated as anti-heroes, rather than condemned, is no surprise. These characters fit perfectly with a mythology which has grown-up around football hooliganism.

At least 40 hooligan-related memoirs pack bookstore shelves and the topic still fascinates online chatroom users. There has been a spate of movies on the subject of late, including Green Street, Awaydays, The Firm.

The issue of hooliganism also featured in a prominent story line on the BBC soap EastEnders in late 2007, sparking controversy of its own.

All of these modern references tap into a sense of nostalgia for a game long gone - football as it was before the rise of the Premier League, all-seater grounds and £50 tickets.

Even though hooliganism still thrives underground, it is on a drastically smaller scale, which is perhaps why events at Upton Park seemed so shocking.

And why the Football Association are intent that the hooliganism at Upton Park doesn't mark a resurgence comparable with the hooligans' heydays.

Margaret Haywood allowed to practice again

2009-10-12T15:29:57Z

Panorama's secret filming nurse, Margaret Haywood, is once again allowed to work
as a nurse after the decision by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to strike her off was reduced to a one-year caution.

The reduction in sanction was approved by the High Court after the NMC agreed on the settlement with Margy, who was supported in her appeal by the Royal College of Nursing.

Margy worked undercover for Panorama to make the 2005 film Undercover Nurse that went on to expose instances of neglect on a ward in Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

In April of this year, Margy once again featured in Panorama's Who'd be a NHS Whistleblower?

She was accused by her professional regulatory body of breaching patient confidentiality in working secretly for Panorama.

The move to strike Margy off led to an outpouring of support from members of the public, more than 43,000 of whom signed a petition calling for the decision to be reversed.

She was also recently nominated for a Patients' Choice award.

Speaking after the settlement was approved, Margy thanked the many members of the public who had supported her throughout her fight to continue to work as a nurse.

"I found it hugely comforting over this difficult period.

"I am proud to be a nurse and have always put patients' interests first. I am now looking forward to putting this behind me and getting back to nursing."

Margy's work for Panorama was the result of a three-month investigation, during which she wore a hidden camera during 28 shifts on an acute medical ward.

Panorama producer Liz Bloor said the past six months have been extremely difficult for Margy, who above all else wanted to get back to caring for patients.

"I'm absolutely delighted for Margy. I am just really pleased that she is able to get back to nursing, which is where she belongs and what she wants to do."

Margaret Haywood's most recent work for Panorama, Who'd be a NHS Whistleblower? is available to view here.

UK taken to court over sewage water pollution

2009-10-08T16:25:14Z

The European Commission (EC) has announced it is to take the United Kingdom to the European Court of Justice over non-compliance with European Union environment legislation.

The EC says that "the urban waste water collecting systems and treatment facilities in London and Whitburn in North East England are inadequate and a threat to human health".

The announcement comes just weeks after Panorama investigated the problems caused by combined sewage outflow pipes around the UK coastline and their impact on the state of bathing water quality in Britain's Dirty Beaches.

You can still watch the full programme here, as well as checking out our map to find out if there is a Combined Sewage Overflow affecting a beach near you.

New inquiry into British army abuse in Iraq vindicates Panorama

2009-10-02T15:54:29Z

Producer Arlen Harris was involved in the making of Panorama: On Whose Orders? - first broadcast in February 2008. Here he examines the possible impact of a recent High Court judgement on allegations of abuse levelled against British troops in Iraq in 2004 and the calls for a public inquiry.

Time can make a world of difference in an emotive, ongoing story.

More than a year ago the BBC succeeded in overturning a gagging order that would have made it impossible to report for Panorama on some of the most serious allegations of abuse by British soldiers to come out of the Iraq conflict.

Panorama's On Whose Orders? - first broadcast in February 2008 - centred around allegations made by captured prisoners following what was known as the Battle of Danny Boy near Majar al-Kabir on 14 May 2004.

The most serious allegations accuse British soldiers of murder and mutilation as well as abuse of detainees following the battle.

The MoD has vigorously denied wrongdoing by British soldiers and has said those who died in the three-hour gun battle had injuries consistent with the battleground after the British were ambushed by Medhi army insurgents.

Fast forward more than a year from that attempt to prevent Panorama's reporting on this story and, on 2 October, three High Court judges were openly discussing what form a full public inquiry into the claims of abuse should take.

The judges were critical of the Ministry of Defence for what they labelled "lamentable" behaviour and said there had been "serious breaches" in the MoD's duty of candour over the failure to disclose key information.

The hearing at the High Court is a part of a judicial review brought by six Iraqis who claim British soldiers murdered and assaulted prisoners captured during the fighting. Their lawyers have demanded a full public inquiry.

Panorama's On Whose Orders? probed those allegations after interviewing both British soldiers and Iraqi detainees. Producer David Monaghan had first sent a team out to Iraq in 2006 to examine the claims.

Reporting on such serious claims of abuse by British soldiers in conflict - soldiers who have seen close colleagues wounded or killed in the line of duty - was always going to produce strong views and reactions.

In the week before On Whose Orders? was broadcast and without having seen the completed programme, the Sun newspaper's coverage of the upcoming broadcast labelled the BBC the "Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation" and wrote: "Beeb 'Slurs' On Iraq Heroes".

The Daily Mail headline was more restrained:"Fury as human rights lawyers accuse British soldiers of executing up to 20 Iraqi prisoners in cold blood".

On the Friday before broadcast, solicitors Phil Shiner and Martyn Day held a press conference. They set out their clients' case and called for a public inquiry. The following day's Guardian headline read: "British Soldiers accused of Executing Civilians".

A lengthy inquiry by the Royal Military Police (RMP) into the claims of murder, mutilation and abuse had earlier found British soldiers did not have a case to answer.

But in their judgement last week, the High Court stated: "In our view, the RMP investigation in 2004/5 was not thorough and proficient."

They said that the RMP investigations did not start until five weeks after the alleged events and they failed to identify or interview all the people dealing with detainees at the British base.

The judges said the RMP also failed to seize all contemporaneous records or to ask the detainees what happened on the night of the incident.

The judges were critical of the Deputy Provost Marshal (investigations) of the RMP, Colonel Dudley Giles, for not disclosing relevant army documents in his witness statement in July 2008.

They referred in particular to army documents suggesting that more live prisoners may have been arrested on the battlefield than were later released from Camp Abu Naji.

The judges said Colonel Giles was an "unsatisfactory witness" who "lacked the necessary objectivity, proficiency and reliability". They further stated that "his evidence was seriously flawed" and suggested that in future proceedings "any court" should approach his evidence with "the greatest caution".

Colonel Giles was a principle witness for the MoD at the High Court hearing into allegations of abuses on 14 and 15 May 2004.

In July, the High Court ordered an independent public investigation into the allegations.

This followed the discovery of e-mails and memos to the Armed Forces Minister in late May 2004 describing evidence of possible mistreatment of the detainees which were not disclosed to the Iraqi claimants.

When it does begin, this will mark the second expensive public inquiry investigating claims of abuse in Iraq.

Both inquiries will have been preceded by lengthy investigations by the RMP - a situation that has led some lawyers and former military personnel to question the ability of soldiers to objectively investigate allegations against other soldiers.

In revisiting these allegations through public inquiries, the entire system of military justice will inevitably be called into question.

The MoD robustly argues that there is no evidence to support the allegations against British soldiers but Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has conceded the need for a public examination of what happened around the Battle of Danny Boy.

The High Court hearing was adjourned until 16 October when a decision as to terms of reference of the inquiry and who might be heading it could be decided, bringing answers for the Iraqi claimants one step closer.

You can view a clip of On Whose Orders? here:

More fees from Ryanair, the airline Britain loves to hate

2009-10-01T16:46:14Z

From Thursday, all Ryanair passengers face a £5 charge for the now mandatory online check-in as airport check-in desks are eliminated.

This latest move from Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary is bound to get customers hot under the collar, but will the airline we love to hate really suffer as a result?

Panorama's Vivian White has been out meeting the people who fly Ryanair as well as those who've worked for the airline. Here he gives a sense of what to expect when Panorama's Why Hate Ryanair? is broadcast on BBC One on 12 October at 8.30pm:

Rare view of Libyan role in ending migration

2009-09-30T12:17:34Z

Panorama has returned to West Africa to once again pick up the trail of migrants who are willing to risk everything for the chance of a new life in Europe.

Following on from my work in Destination Europe in September 2007 and Destination UK in January 2008, I have kept a travel log of the team's experiences.

Over the weeks leading up to our programme, Europe or Die Trying
- which was broadcast on Monday, 14 September on BBC One - I blogged about everything from the palpable emotion of a cave that was once used to process slaves being shipped to America, to the delicate negotiations of dangerous border crossings, to a treacherous trip through the barren Sahara that claims the lives of desperate migrants on a near-daily basis.

My work on this topic continues, with Panorama's next installment of the story, Migrants, Go Home! due for broadcast on BBC One on Monday, 5 October. In this programme, we examine the Libyan role in halting the flow of migrants to Europe.

The Libyan border and the armed people's region.

There are footsteps on the sand near a common crossing point. The Libyans employ desert nomads who can read tracks like this. "Six o'clock this morning," they say, "three men".

We drive further, and the dunes are like none I've seen before. We ask four of the pickups to drive towards them, thinking the foot of the dunes is about 400 metres away and it'll make a good shot. They head off, and keep going and going until they're almost gone. They are tiny ants on the dune.

It's difficult to film. If you shoot a close up, there is just a wall of sand behind them and you can't tell how vast the dunes are. If you shoot a wide, the vehicles are so small you can't see them at all.
Such is the scale of the Sahara.

In the afternoon there is a radio message. Another unit has made a discovery. We race off again and there on a plain is a group of Africans.

They were caught crossing the border. There limbs are pipe-cleaner thin and they are being given water by the Libyan border patrols. They say they are farmer from Niger.
One of the men looks like a grandfather, with folds of skin around his throat and over his eyes. I ask him how old he is, and he shows me an identity card. He is 41.

It's unclear whether any of them were heading for Europe. They are so exhausted all they can do is sit and wait for the trucks which will take them to a Libyan detention centre.

We have been given rare permission to visit one of these detention centres before we return to Tripoli.

Tough choices in 1968

2009-09-28T15:30:23Z

After months of delay and denial, politicians of every hue are now telling us that spending cuts in public services are imminent. As Panorama discovers this week though, they're not quite as keen to tell us specifically where these cuts might be.

We are being told that doing nothing is not an option, given a budget deficit that is expected to top £175bn this fiscal year.

So as Panorama attempts to look forward and predict what services might be under threat, we also find ourselves in similar territory if we look back more than 40 years.

In January, 1968, Britain had a Labour Government under the leadership of Harold Wilson that was struggling with a deficit running at £800m.

Much of the debt had been inherited from the previous Conservative government, but difficulties like the closure of the Suez Canal during the Arab-Israeli war and the disruption caused to exports by dockyard strikes meant that Wilson's government could do little to keep debt levels in check. The international value of sterling plummeted. No-one wanted to buy it.

After months of denial and a desperate rearguard action including tax rises and a halt on public building works, on 19 November 1967, Wilson announced the devaluation of sterling on the foreign currency markets.

He attempted to quell concern and confusion in a television broadcast by stating: "It does not mean the pound here in Britain, in your pocket, in your purse or bank has been devalued." His message did not succeed.

Devaluation was primarily an attempt to boost British exports, but domestically economic problems continued.

In Panorama's 1968 programme, 'Where Will the Axe Fall?' the options on the table were laid bare. You can watch a clip here:

The re-introduction of NHS prescription charges, abolition of free milk in secondary schools and the postponing of raising the school leaving age to 16 were just some areas where public spending was reined in.

Fast-forward 40 years and huge public debt is once again forcing Whitehall to make agonising choices on where that axe may fall.

As Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England said rather aptly last week in the final part of 'The Love of Money' when discussing the latest global recession, there is "no new paradigm here at all, this is something we've seen on many occasions over several hundred years, but the fact that we've seen it in the past and not been able to improve things is a worry. People who think the world has changed, I'm afraid, have not read history."

Revisiting the assisted suicide debate

2009-09-23T09:56:40Z

Last year, Panorama examined the issue of assisted dying through the eyes of Margo MacDonald, the Member of Scottish Parliament who herself suffers from degenerative Parkinson's disease and who advocates legislation permitting doctors to assist in suicides.

In I'll die when I choose Ms MacDonald offered a deeply personal take on the issue and her own desire to decide how and when her life should end.

As new guidelines are issued for England and Wales by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms MacDonald wrote her thoughts for Panorama's blog to once again add her voice to this emotive debate.

She is clear that she believes the law on assisted dying need to be decided by legislation, not by court-ordered guidance.

The new guidance comes after the Law Lords ruled that Debbie Purdy, a multiple sclerosis sufferer from Bradford, had the right to know whether her husband Omar Puente would be prosecuted if he helped her travel abroad to die.

Here are Ms MacDonald's thoughts:

"I'm glad for Debbie Purdy and her husband Omar following the DPP's commitment to "clarify" the laws surrounding assisted suicide. But the matter is not sorted.

Debbie and Omar can relax a bit more, although I won't be surprised if their campaign continues, because the law is inequitable and needs to be changed.

Other people in roughly their position cannot go to Switzerland because they don't have the money. Only primary legislation can provide everyone with the same range of choices, and autonomy, should they find their lives to be intolerable.

It is cowardly and cruel to retain the present inequality, and less than admirable to allow another country to provide facilities.

How many of the estimated 115 people who've been helped to end their lives in a Dignitas facility wanted to die in those circumstances, separated from family, friends, familiar things and memories?

As the programme inspired by Dr Anne Turner's experience made poignantly clear, people facing the probability of a very stressful episode at the end of life can end up having to precipitate death because of the need to go into the Dignitas facility while they retain the physical ability to self-administer.

If the intention is to legalise dignified assisted suicide for people whose relatives will remain liable to be prosecuted unless they derive no benefit from their relative's death, or where there is no public interest in prosecuting spouses and children, the DPP is simply re-stating the blindingly obvious and consolidating the status quo in England and Wales.

The Scottish Parliament will have my PAS Bill shortly. To institute fairness, and minimise ambiguity and strain from personal relationships should a person with a degenerative or terminal illness wish assistance to die, I've opted for voluntary, professional help, patient autonomy and defined categories."

Ms MacDonald does not stand alone on this issue.

In a statement, the MS Society said it too wants a more thorough review of the law. Here is an excerpt from the statement by MS Society Chief Executive, Simon Gillespie:

"People have been given the green light to explore assisted suicide, but without the support of medical professionals their only likely resource is Google.

"Whether society is ready to accept assisted suicide is too big a question for the DPP, for the courts, or for people with a long-term condition to decide.

"That's why the MS Society is calling for a Royal Commission to advise the government on whether legislation for assisted suicide is now needed."

On the other side of the debate, Dr Peter Saunders -- from the Care Not Killing Alliance -- told the BBC he was concerned that the DPP was trying to undermine current laws:

"Our real concern is about public safety. It's about people who are sick or elderly or depressed or disabled feeling under pressure, particularly at a time where families are under financial pressure, health and benefit cuts are coming, who feel under pressure to end their lives so as not to be an emotional or financial burden on others.

What we hope we don't see is legislation being made on the hoof -- a change in the law -- because the will of parliament is very clear."

The migrant trail to Europe

2009-09-21T15:14:12Z

Panorama have returned to West Africa to once again pick up the trail of migrants who are willing to risk everything for the chance of a new life in Europe.

Following on from my work in Destination Europe in September 2007 and Destination UK in January 2008, I have kept a travel log of the team's experiences.

Over the weeks leading up to our programme, Europe or Die Trying - which was broadcast on Monday, 14 September on BBC One - I blogged about everything from the palpable emotion of a cave that was once used to process slaves being shipped to America, to the delicate negotiations of dangerous border crossings, to a treacherous trip through the barren Sahara that claims the lives of desperate migrants on a near-daily basis.

My work on this topic continues, with Panorama's next installment of the story, Migrants, Go Home! due for broadcast in the coming weeks.

On patrol near the Libya-Algeria border

We are in a four-wheel drive and the temperature is in the mid-40s. The air con is not an option because if we need to get out in a hurry, the camera lens will steam up in the heat. So we sheet sweat. The driver is playing traditional Libyan music at full volume. We are in a cavalcade of four vehicles, and we've hit a sandbank soft as dust.
The wheels are spinning but there's simply no traction. Each time it happens, the driver and other patrol members dig them out double-speed and we're off again.

In the afternoon, we come to a rock gully. The uniformed Libyan patrols leap out and beckon me. This, they say, is the most popular route for migrants crossing the border. By the time those attempting the crossing reach this point, they will have walked for four days. I sip water like oxygen.

There are abandoned rucksacks, trousers and shoes. When the migrants run out of water, they begin hallucinating, and then a kind of madness overtakes them and they throw away anything weighing them down.

We come across an African man lying down like he's sunbathing, legs bent at the knees, hands out to the sides. He's got a coloured cloth over his face like he's hiding from the sun. The patrols estimate he has been here for two weeks.

Another mile up the pass, and I can see the Panorama cameraman is struggling. I'm concentrating on each step. I keep my hat on, but any exposed flesh feels like it's been dabbed with acid.

The next African is lying down with the back of his wrist over his forehead, like he's just woken up. One of his calves has been eaten by a jackal.

Every day, 150 migrants cross the Libyan border trying to get to the Mediterranean coast. Most are economic migrants. It has become a pejorative term. But seeing what they have endured in their desperate bid to reach Europe makes you ask yourself - what degree of poverty must they be suffering to attempt to walk the Sahara?

At night we sleep on the sand beneath a biblical sky. The smell of the bodies is still with me.