1960s

Living in The Slums

A look at house conditions in Stepney, London.

First broadcast on Tuesday 22nd October 1963

Radio Pirates

Unique access to the new form of radio which is competing on a not strictly legal level with the BBC - the pirate stations. Those on the outside both for and against also have their say.

First broadcast on Tuesday 12th May 1964

Seven Up

Seven year old children from various backgrounds are interviewed on their hopes and aspirations for the future. It is hoped to follow them up in the year 2000 and see how things turned out.

First broadcast on Tuesday 5th May 1964

The Story Of The Sun

Looking at the launch of The Sun newspaper.

First broadcast on Tuesday 15th September 1964

The Flip Side

Investigating the way the music business is ran.

First broadcast on Tuesday 22nd September 1964

Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger gives a press conference after his recent conditional discharge for drug use. He then joins a discussion with eminent people on what is expected of famous icons by society, and how much of this is their responsibility.

First broadcast on Monday 31st July 1967

Scientology For Sale

This programme Investigates the rise of the cult of scientology.

First broadcast on Monday 1th August 1967

We Know What We Saw

This episode looks at the growing number of UFO sightings in the US.

First broadcast  Friday 20th October 1967

Please Note: The quality of this episode varies and shared for historical purpose only.

End Of A Revolution

Bolivia after the death of Che Guevara, and at the trial of Regis Dubray.

First broadcast on Monday 11th December 1967

An Outlaw's Life

An observation of Irish Travellers living in Britain.

First broadcast on 1st January 1968

Please Note: The Sound quality does vary.

The Demonstration

Following the Anti-Vietnam demonstration in Grosvenor Square London on 16 March 1968.

First broadcast on Monday 18th March 1968

Ward F . 13

An investigation into the appalling conditions of the female geriatric ward of Powick Mental Hospital near Worcester.

First broadcast on Monday 20th May 1968

The Shrinking World Of L. Ron Hubbard

This Scientology exposé features an interview with L. Ron Hubbard aboard a Sea Org vessel, and also presents stock footage and commentary on Scientologists.

First broadcast in August 1968

First Class Delivery

The medical practice of epidural injections to relieve the pain of childbirth and the religious groups who oppose them.

First broadcast on Monday 23rd December 1968

All Change at Newry!

A planned Civil Rights campaign march in Newry descends into violence with attacks on police and police vehicles.

First broadcast on Monday 20th January 1969

Inside Out

Report looking at Mapperley Mental Hospital in Nottingham.

First broadcast in 1969.

The Life And Death OF James Griffiths

Reconstruction of Glasgow gunman James Griffiths running amok and the final shoot out with the police.

First broadcast on Monday 3rd November 1969

1970s

Frontline Africa

World in Action special report.

First broadcast on Tuesday 6th January 1970.

The Quiet Mutiny

Shot on site during the Vietnam War, showing how young draftees are critical about that war.

First broadcast on Monday 28th September 1970

They're Only Human Beings Like Everybody Else

Through the eyes of disabled people, professionals and politicians, this episode looks at the implications of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, the pioneering 1970 legislation that transformed lives.

First broadcast on Monday 19th October 1970

The Dumping Grounds

The problems of malnutrition leading to mental and physical problems among the children of resettled black South African families.

First broadcast on Monday 21st December 1970

Conversations With A Working Man

Following one working class man through the struggles of his average day, to show how the forgotten majority are living in Britain.

First broadcast on Monday 7th June 1971

The Dust At Arce Mill

Looking at rules broke causing many deaths by asbestosis.

First broadcast on Monday 28th June 1971

The Siege Of Kontum

World in Action reports from the battle of Kontum, Vietnam - highlighting the plight of the Montagnard mountain people who are caught in the middle.

First broadcast on Monday 5th June 1972

In Search Of Gusty Spence

An interview with the Irish Protestant who denies the murder for which he was convicted, and is being held by the Ulster Volunteer Force who kidnapped him while he was on parole.

First broadcast on Monday 10th July 1972

See For Yourself!

A London shop steward opposed to immigration is invited to visit Uganda, and see why Asians there have to leave for their own safety and find a new home.

First broadcast on Monday 11th September 1972

A Day In The Life Of Kevin Donnellon

World in Action spends a day with thalidomide victim, 10 year old Kevin Donnellon.

First broadcast on Monday 4th December 1972

The Angry Brigade

In this episode we meet the young anarchists involved in a guerrilla bombing campaign.

First broadcast on Thursday 7th December 1972

The Blood And Guts Shift

24 hours spent at the casualty department of a Liverpool Hospital, as it struggles on its budget to treat the wounded from increasing alcohol fueled violence at the weekend.

First broadcast on Monday 10th March 1975

Blood Money - Pt One

Doctors express their concerns about the blood clotting drug Hemofil which is used by those suffering with hemophilia.

First broadcast on Monday 1st December 1975

Blood Money - Pt Two

Doctors express their concerns about the blood clotting drug Hemofil which is used by those suffering with hemophilia.

First broadcast on Monday 8th December 1975

A School Of Thoughts

A 'fly on the wall' look at one of the more progressive comprehensive schools in Countesthorpe.

First broadcast on Monday 11th October 1976

The Prison Children

It's against the law in the UK to put children into prison, so how did 4000 under 17-year-olds come to spend time behind bars?

First broadcast on Monday 25th April 1977

Starting On The Dole

With the continuing rise in youth unemployment, follows two Liverpool teenagers as they look for work and examines the validity of government job creation schemes.

First broadcast on Monday 27th June 1977

The Life And Death Of Steve Biko

Coverage of the immediate aftermath of the death of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko while in the custody of South African police.

First broadcast on Monday 3rd October 1977

Working For A Pittance

An examination of how 50,000 physically and mentally disabled people earn a maximum of £4 a week for up to 27 hours of menial work.

First broadcast on Monday 20th February 1978

Prisoner Of Terrorism

A look at the activities and history of the notorious Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, including an interview with one of the gang's kingpins, Horst Mahler.

First broadcast on Monday 10th July 1978

The Hunt For Dr. Mengele

Will Josef Mengele ever be caught? A year later, in 1979, while swimming at he coastal resort of Bertioga, Brazil, he suffered a stroke and drowned. Mengele was buried in Embu das Artes, São Paulo, Brazil, under the name "Wolfgang Gerhard", whose identification he had been using since 1971.

First broadcast on Monday 20th November 1978

Banged Up

A day in the life of Manchester's notoriously overcrowded Strangeways Prison, as World in Action speaks to wardens and prisoners alike.

First broadcast on Monday 2nd April 1979

Armchair Inferno

Exposé on polyurethane foam, widely used in the furniture industry is highly combustible and when burning gives off toxic fumes.

First broadcast on Monday 21st May 1979

Gay Pride

By 1979 Gay News, was selling 25,000 copies a fortnight and it was shortly followed by the ITV magazine series, Gay Life; and Greater London Arts donated £1,000 for a gay arts festival. The result of this was a Gay Pride March the like of which no-one had ever seen in this country. 10,000 marched from Charing Cross to Hyde Park.

First broadcast on Monday 2nd July 1979

1980s

Claimant Scrounger Snooper Spy

A case studies of people on both sides of the crackdown on social security fraud.

First broadcast on Monday 3rd March 1980

The Chart Busters

Investigating allegations that the pop music charts are controlled not by consumers, but by manipulative tactics of the big record companies, thus not being a true reflection of popularity at all.

First broadcast on Monday 18th August 1980

The Hunt For The Ripper

The Yorkshire Ripper is still at large, and this follows the hectic and demanding West Yorkshire police investigation.

First broadcast on Monday 8th December 1980

The Blood Business

World In Action investigates the need for a complete overhaul of the Blood Transfusion Service.

First broadcast on Monday 22nd December 1980

These Children Are Mine

This episode tells the story of how British-born Anwar Ditta and her husband Shuja Ud Din successfully fought the Home Office after being wrongfully separated from three of their children in Pakistan.

First broadcast on Monday 16th March 1981

Paying For The War

What is the true cost of the Falklands War, both financially and individually? A two-man discussion with filmed inserts.

First broadcast on Monday 7th June 1982

The Health Service

The health service began 5 days' intensive strike action, leaving only emergency services running, in pursuit of a 12% pay rise. This is the most severe disruption the NHS has ever seen, and a massive backlog results. Studio discussion.

First broadcast on Monday 9th August 1982

For The Benefit Of Mr. Parris

Is it possible to live on benefits? In this episode Conservative MP Matthew Parris spends a week living on benefits to discover if it is.

First broadcast on Monday 23rd January 1984

On The Scrap Heap

Looking at people struggling to find work and ways they manage to get by in Birkenhead .

First broadcast on Monday 2nd July 1984

Clap Trap

Following the publication of his book, "Our Masters' Voices: The Language and Body Language of Politics", in 1984, Max Atkinson showed how he could coach someone with no previous public speaking experience through to getting a standing ovation.

First broadcast on Monday 24th September 1984

The Coal War

With the recent coal troubles still fresh in people's minds, a comparison of strike action in British and American collieries.

First broadcast on Monday 15th October 1984

The First 21 Years

Special feature episode looking back on the first 21 years of the series.

First broadcast on Thursday 27th December 1984

BAD BLOOD

Innocent haemophiliacs have been infected with HIV while being treated with what is supposedly a beneficial clotting agent.

First broadcast on Monday 22nd July 1985

The Last Days Of Juliet Lima

A surprise fire has broken out on the normally safe Boeing 737, but what were the causes and how could this have been allowed to happen? The fire happened at Manchester Airport on Thursday 22nd August 1985.

First broadcast on Monday 21st October 1985

The Honourable Member for the Unemployed

An unemployed man takes over MP Matthew Parris' job for a week.

First broadcast on Monday 6th January 1986

Born Survivors

Part of a continuing investigation talking to the children who were victims of the drug thalidomide.

First broadcast on Monday 20th July 1987

A Thousand Nights In Beirut

Looking at the UK's failure to free any of the British hostages who were kidnapped and held by militia groups in Beirut in the 1980s.

First broadcast on Monday 6th November 1989

Please Note: the quality of this episode does vary

1990s

No Way Out

Refugees being pushed through the loopholes in international law as they flee from political persecution.

First broadcast on Monday 16th July 1990

Defending The Realm

Nick Davies investigates phone tapping in the British security services.

First broadcast on Monday 15th July 1991

No Fixed Abode - Pt One

No Fixed Abode tells the story of Adam Holloway's struggle to find food to eat and a roof to sleep under. On his journey, he shows us the harsh reality of homelessness in London.

First broadcast on Monday 9th March 1992

No Fixed Abode - Pt Two

No Fixed Abode tells the story of Adam Holloway's struggle to find food to eat and a roof to sleep under. On his journey, he shows us the harsh reality of homelessness in London.

First broadcast on Monday 16th March 1992

No Fixed Abode - Pt Three

No Fixed Abode tells the story of Adam Holloway's struggle to find food to eat and a roof to sleep under. On his journey, he shows us the harsh reality of homelessness in London.

First broadcast on Monday 18th May 1992

Murder... On Ward 4

The horrifying story of Nurse Bev Allitt who attacked and killed the children in her care while an underfunded National Health Service failed to act. First broadcast on Monday 17th May 1993

Violence With Violence

The untold story of how far left anti-racist groups are utilizing their protests as an excuse to mete out similar violence to their fascist enemies. First broadcast on Monday 15th November 1993

The Informer

This episode tells the astonishing tale of how Scotland Yard allowed murderous Jamaican Yardie gangsters to enter the UK illegally and then turned a blind eye as they committed a string of serious crimes.

First broadcast on Monday 6th November 1995

The First Casualty

Europe bans British beef and sales of beef slump in the UK as a result of the announcement by Health Secretary, Stephen Dorrell looks at a possible link between BSE and Creutzfeld Jacob disease.

First broadcast on Monday 25th March 1996

Wayne's World

Undercover report to expose a drugs network in Nottingham, and one of it's biggest drug dealers.

First broadcast on Monday 4th November 1996

Playing With Fire

Not to be confused with an earlier episode of the same title, this one is the 3rd in a series exposing the neo-Nazi group Combat 18.

First broadcast in December 1998

AUDIO

Radio Documentary

BBC Radio Four Extra radio documentary looking back on the World In Action series.

First broadcast on Saturday 12th February 2011

Please Note: Audio Only