Some of the world's top brands are under threat this summer amid mounting accusations that they are ripping off customers, reports The Money Programme (Monday, 7.30 p.m., BBC2). If supermarkets win their battle to get unlimited access to cheap branded goods from unauthorised suppliers worldwide, fashion and sports brands could be sold alongside baked beans and toilet paper. The brand owners say this devalues their products and they will be destroyed.
The Money Programme is back on Thursday (8 p.m., BBC2) with a special programme Car Wars - Jaguar Strikes Back. Now that the company has new owners, can Jaguar win this time round and dominate the world once more?
It will be an uphill task because Ford Motor Company, king of mass production, has a problem. There is almost no money to be made selling cars in the mass market. If you want to make profits, you have to move into the luxury sector and compete against companies such as BMW and Mercedes. The experts believe that Ford's policy of buying marques such as Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin will give Ford the kick-start it needs.
The first of three short films, Life After Debt (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 7.55 p.m., Channel 4) looks at how cancellation of some of the debt owed by the Ugandan government to the World Bank, IMF and international community has begun to transform the lives of the poor in Uganda.
At Naisanga primary school, teachers now have classes of more than 200 pupils as children flock to the school following the government's decision to abolish fees.
sokelly@irish-times.ie
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