299 World in Action

First  watched : Uncertain

I  don't  know  when  I  first  caught  ITV's  flagship  current  affairs  programme; perusing  a  list  of  the  episodes  on  imdb  the  first  one  that  I  know  for  certain  I  saw  was  broadcast  on  4th  July  1977.

That  was  entitled  "The  Very  Public  Death  of  Enrico  Sidoli"  and  highlighted  the  difficulties  the  police  were  having  investigating  the  death  of  a  15  year  old  autistic  boy  from  injuries  sustained  during  a  bullying  attack  in  the  crowded  Parliament  Hill  Lido  in  London  the  year  before. The  police  described  meeting  a  "wall  of  silence"  from  the  local  community  during  their  investigation.  It  was  quite  frightening. The  case  was  featured  again  in  a  BBC  Schools  programme  in  1982  and  as  far  as  I'm  aware  the  crime  remains  unsolved. I  wonder  what  Enrico's  family  think  when  they  hear  the  latest  development  in  the  never-ending  Steven  Lawrence  saga.

World  in  Action  had  been  going  since  1963  and  been  the  subject  of  frequent  controversy  as you  would  expect  of  a  series  based  on  investigative  journalism  but  it  usually  ended  up  being  vindicated  as  with  The  Poulson  Affair.  It  had  its  own  brash  style  , pitching  you  straight  into the  story  without  an  onscreen  presenter  and  using  various  attention-grabbing  visual  techniques  to  hold  the  viewer's   attention.

It  also  had  the  most  terrifying  title  sequence  of  any  TV  programme  with  that  descending  organ  tune - still  the  subject  of  a  copyright    dispute -  and   the  use  of  da  Vinci's  Vitruvian  Man  which  looks  disturbingly  occult  ( though  it  actually  isn't ).

I  watched  it  on  and  off  over  the  years. Though  no  doubt  compulsory  viewing  for  politicians  and  journalists ,  I  think  the  sheer  breadth  of  the  subjects  covered  prevented  it  becoming  appointment  TV - for  me  at  least. We  would  often  watch  the  first  minute  to  see  what  it  was  about  and  then  change  channels.

World  in  Action  was  the  flagship  programme  from  the  golden  age  of   Granada  Television. When  ITV  had  its  big  franchise   shake-up  in  1992  (  you  will  note  a  steep  decline  in  the  number  of  ITV  programmes  featuring  here  from  that  time  on )   there  were  many  publicly-expressed  fears  that  the  series  was  under  threat ,  particularly  after  its  chief  defender,  David  Plowright   chairman  of  Granada  Television , was  ousted  by  Granada's  catering  arm  in  a  classic  case  of  tail  wagging  the  dog. In  the  event  the  series, protected  by  its  totemic  status ,   survived  for  another  six  years  before  it  was  finally  axed  and  replaced  by  the  anaemic  Tonight  which  has  never  been  fit  to  lace  its  boots.  

World  In  Action has  remained  hugely  influential  for  good   (e.g.  the  monumental   Seven  Up  documentary series  which  started  out  as  a  WIA  episode  )  or  bad  ( it  launched  the  career  of  the  ghastly  John  Birt )   and  will  always  feature  heavily  in  any  history  of  British  broadcasting.