After his years at the "Express" bureau, Dacre was head-hunted by David English, appointed as head of the "Mail"s New York bureau in 1979 and brought back to London in 1980. A profile in "The Independent" in 1992 recounted his behaviour in this period: "It was terrifying stuff. He would rampage through the newsroom with his arms flailing like a windmill, scratching himself manically as he fired himself up." Subsequently, he became assistant editor (news and features), assistant editor (features) in 1987, executive editor the following year and associate editor in 1989. In this period, according to former colleague Sue Douglas, Dacre was a "good David English disciple". Adrian Addison found opinions differed as to whether Dacre was an English protégé when he was conducting research for "Mail Men".