World in Action - Season 17 (1980)

Report at the beginning of the fifth week of the hunger strike in the H Block of Maze Prison by IRA prisoners seeking a recognition of their status as political prisoners including an interview with one of the prisoners, R.V. McCartney.

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

A look at vivisection, and the activities of the controversial Animal Liberation Front who believe more militant action is needed to end unnecessary cruelty to animals.

A UK rail crash in 1978 was thought to have been caused by signalling equipment that was over 50 years old. Sir Peter Parker attempts to get more money from the government to invest in the railways.

Journalists re-enact the political discussions around the economy on the eve of the budget.

Anwar Ditta is a mother. That is not disputed. But the government say she is the mother of one child. She says she is the mother of four. However, the other three are in Pakistan, and that disagreement means she cannot bring them here.

Report on the re-emergency's of the Ku Klux Klan in both northern and southern states of America and the rising tide of racism there. Includes interviews with Klan members past and present and members of the black community who have been attacked by them.

A civil servant who questioned the expense claims of the GLC found himself out of a job.

An investigation into new claims that non smokers are at risk in smoke filled rooms.

Follows Kevin, a victim of the drug thalidomide as he enters the job market.

Very few people have heard of Alzheimer's Disease, despite the fact that one in 12 over 60s will get and possibly die from it.

Dr Ben Holman and Tommy Olds visited Liverpool eight years previously and predicted riots would happen in the future. They now make a return visit in the aftermath of the riots.

Report from Afganistan in which the World In Action camera team join a night time Afghan rebel attack, led by Ismael Gailani, on a government post in the capital, Kandahar and also look at the conditions for the Afghans under the present regime in the country. Looks at the way of life of the Afghan people under the regime supported by Russian forces.