The rise of Thatcherism and the misery of mass unemployment saw "WIA" examining the phenomenon through the eyes of another emerging band, UB40, in "A Statistic, A Reminder" (1981), a line taken from one of the band's songs. Six years later, a special edition of the programme was devoted to the Irish rock band U2 and their charismatic front man Bono. Like The Rolling Stones before them, U2 allowed "World in Action" to film one of their classic concerts in 1987 in Ireland. This footage, shot by the future Hollywood director Paul Greengrass, was shown only once on ITV because of copyright restrictions although it has circulated among fans as a bootleg.