First broadcast: 1963
Directed: Various
Producer: Various
The lowdown: This long-running weekly current affairs programme won respect and popularity for its willingness to delve into everyday concerns. Devoting a full half-hour to a single issue, World in Action took the cameras and presenters out of the studio and up close to its subjects. The programme developed a hard-edged investigative style covering domestic and worldwide news, and also fought a successful campaign to set free six men falsely accused of IRA pub bombings in Birmingham.
Triva: The ‘Seven Up!’ series, which has continued to follow a group of seven-year-old children, started life on World in Action. The latest seven-year catch-up instalment, ’49-Up’, was broadcast in 2005. The brand’s global growing appeal was such that it inspired a 2007 episode of The Simpsons – “Springfield Up”.
1. The Demonstration
The programme won the Grand Prix News Reportage at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969. It covers the anti-Vietnam war demonstration at Trafalgar Square and Grosvenor Square in London on 16 March, 1968. It shows clashes between police and crowd and looks at the motives behind the demonstration and police plans to cope with it.
2. For the Benefit of Mr Parris
Matthew Parris, Conservative MP for Derbyshire West, takes up the challenge to prove the Tory claim that supplementary benefit is enough to live on. He lives in a flat in Scotswood, Newcastle, with only a single person’s allowance - £26.80 for one week. Although he does not succeed in managing on his allowance, he still maintains that people on the dole should be expected to live a threadbare existence.
3. U2: An Anthem for the Eighties
Irish rock band U2 plays before a massive audience in their hometown Dublin and discuss the political issues they confront in their music. Examines the band and the new musical militancy they have created. Includes interviews with their young fans and Bob Geldof.
4. In the Interests of Justice
In the light of further evidence, World in Action looks at the trial of the six men, the Birmingham Six, convicted of the IRA bombing of two Birmingham pubs in 1974. Forensic evidence now suggests that they may have been wrongly convicted and that the bombers may still be free.
