File on 4 Investigates

"Tinderbox"conditions created by a long, hot, dry summer brought a record number of wildfires in 2026. Dozens of homes were destroyed or damaged, huge areas of land burned, and one man died. But experts are warning there may be worse to come in future as climate change makes conditions for wildfires in the UK even more likely. The Government banned disposable barbecues in the summer, sent out a wildfire alert to people's mobile phones, and is now planning to hold a wildfire summit. File on 4 Investigates looks at whether the country is prepared for the growing threat, and if the emergency services have the resources to cope.
Presenter: Adrian Goldberg
Producer: Fergus Hewison
Production Co-ordinators: Tim Fernley & Tom Dunster
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Tara McDermott

The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light moved into a former orphanage in Crewe in 2021. It’s American-born leader Abdullah Hashem has declared himself the Madhi or saviour. But earlier this year, 500 police officers raided the organisation's headquarters, leading to protests in the town throughout the summer. File on 4 Investigates follows the group’s journey from Egypt through Europe to discover what brought them to the UK.
Presented by Hayley Mortimer & Emir Nader.
Archive: The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light / AROPL Studios.

In October 2015 President Xi Jinping was welcomed to Britain on a state visit, the event was seen as the pinnacle of the so called 'Golden Era' of warm relations between the UK and China. Over a decade later, and despite a cooling of that relationship, File on 4 Investigates discovers Chinese state money and influence reaching far into UK companies and universities as China targets British chip and blockchain technology, and asks whether enough is being done to mitigate the threat to national security.
Presenter: Paul Kenyon
Producer: Anna Meisel
Research: Sze-Fung Lee, independent analyst
Additional research: BBC Verify
Junior Production Manager: Tom Dunster
Production Management Assistant: Tim Fernley
Technical Producer: Cameron Ward
Editor: Tara McDermott

One doctor dies by suicide every three weeks, according to figures from the British Medical Association.
In 2021, Dr Lalith Wijedoru left his role as consultant paediatrician in emergency medicine, to focus on supporting workforce health and wellbeing, including those working in healthcare.
Given rare access to a wellbeing and recovery retreat, we hear emotional testimonies from the four groups of doctors at greatest risk of suicide - General Practitioners, anaesthetists, surgeons and psychiatrists.
Their stories - of workplace bullying, isolation, fatigue and fear of patient complaints - suggest a system in which doctors are made to feel like machines, rather than human beings.
The concept of 'moral injury' is also a factor - where a doctor is unable to provide the care they wish to give to their patient, due to lack of resources or system breakdown.
Many doctors we hear from say they feel intense internalised pressure to do better - to work harder, and to never complain at worsening conditions. All have suffered from fear of failure, and the lack of the opportunity to decompress after traumatic events in the workplace.
These stories take us to the heart of issues being faced by many or most NHS professionals - and by the ‘system’ more generally.
For Lalith, this sharing of difficult stories is an important pathway to recovery, even a life-saving intervention.
Lalith is spurred on to talk to those who seek to help and support doctors, from charities like Doctors in Distress, founded by the brother of a doctor who died by suicide, as well as those who are studying the problem of why - and how many - doctors are dying by suicide.
Worryingly, there are gaps in available data, because statistics are drawn from coroners' Preventable Death reports. In England, these are a matter for each individual coroner to decide on, so death by suicide is not uniformly recorded.
Having laid many of these problems bare, what hope is there of realistic change and improvement?
Presenter: Dr Lalith Wijedoru
Producer: Amanda Hargreaves
Sound design: Joel Cox
Location recordings: Jon Calver
Executive producer: Dave Howard
A Bespoken Media Scotland production for BBC Radio 4
This programme contains reference to suicide. If you've been affected by issues raised in this programme, you can find out more about organisations that can help by going to www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.
There are also specific resources available to doctors and healthcare workers - some links to these below.
NHS Practitioner Health
https://www.practitionerhealth.nhs.uk/
British Medical Association (confidential helpline with counselling and peer support for doctors and medical students
https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/your-wellbeing/wellbeing-support-services/counselling-and-peer-support-services
Department of Health and Social Care (text message service - support available for workers in NHS England)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/supporting-our-nhs-people/support-now/
Doctors In Distress
https://doctors-in-distress.org.uk/
You Okay Doc?
https://youokaydoc.org.uk/
NHS Employers (Suicide Prevention/Postvention Toolkit)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/working-together-to-prevent-suicide-in-the-nhs

Coroners are called to investigate sudden, unexpected and violent deaths. In the more complex cases, they open an inquest.
The BBC's social affairs correspondent Michael Buchanan has seen many coroners in action and reported from many inquests.
For this programme we follow the inquest of Daniel Lindsay, who died in 2023 aged 41 in a Surrey care home, as we ask wider questions about coroners courts in England and Wales. Are they operating as well as they could and are there ways they could be better?
We discuss claims the system is ‘chronically under-funded’, even 'broken'. We ask why there is such variation and inconsistency between different coroners – a so-called ‘postcode lottery'.
We hear from Daniel Lindsay’s cousins as we explore what it is like for a bereaved family to go through an inquest and ask whether the interests of relatives should be given a higher priority.
The Chief Coroner in England and Wales Alexia Durran responds to concerns and explains what she is doing to make the service more responsive and accountable.
Details of advice and support with bereavement, or end of life care are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Producer: Leela Padmanabhan
Sound design: Hal Haines