Panorama, Return from ISIS: A Family’s Story (BBC1, 10.45pm)
FILMED over four years, this documentary tells the extraordinary story of Samantha Sally (also known as Samantha Elhassani) and her family’s journey from a small town in America to the heart of the Islamic State group – and back. Joshua Baker learns how Sally’s Moroccan-born husband became an ISIS sniper in Syria, while her young son Matthew was forced to take part in an infamous propaganda video. Sally, who is in prison, describes her life with the terror group, including the part she played in buying sex slaves.
The Hijacker Who Vanished: The Mystery of DB Cooper – Storyville (BBC4, 9pm)
EMMY-NOMINATED director John Dower’s documentary seeks to unravel the mystery surrounding DB Cooper, who hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines plane in November 1971 while it was on the tarmac. He claimed to have a bomb and demanded four parachutes and $200,000 in exchange for the 36 passengers. Cooper ordered the flight to take off for Mexico City and at some point parachuted out of the plane. He was never seen again.
Hospital (BBC2, 9pm)
THE Royal Free Hospital would normally perform 140 kidney transplants and 140 liver transplants each year but from March the operations were largely halted due to Covid-19. A quarter of the hospital’s dialysis patients who caught the virus during the first wave of the pandemic died. The latest episode looks at how, thanks to dropping case numbers and new infection control protocols, transplants were able to resume. But when the numbers start rising again, what does it mean for the department and its patients?
Is Covid Racist? (C4, 9pm)
THE pandemic has brought many shocking numbers, but one of the more alarming is that around two-thirds of the NHS workers who have died so far were from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, rising to around 90% of NHS doctors. In this documentary, A&E medic Dr Ronx investigates the possible causes and asks what is being done to protect frontline workers. It also features the stories of people who have lost their lives and features a visual tribute to many more.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here