This episode brings together the full audio from the 1988 World In Action documentary, presented as one complete listening experience.
You may have seen the clips from this doc that we shared in short chunks on our Instagram feed. The post engagement went mental!
This episode exists to give the documentary the space it deserves; uninterrupted, in full, and in its original narrative form. You can also watch it on our Youtube playlist
This episode exists to give the documentary the space it deserves; uninterrupted, in full, and in its original narrative form. You can also watch it on our Youtube playlist
Originally broadcast by World In Action, the documentary follows a coachload of young people travelling from London to secret Acid House parties during the height of late-1980s moral panic around dance music and Ecstasy. Police roadblocks, dramatic narration, and sensationalist framing reflect how the movement was portrayed at the time.
What’s striking today is how wide the gap is between perception and reality.
Beneath the scare-mongering language and flashing blue lights are interviews with ordinary young people — not criminals or threats to society, but kids looking for freedom, connection, and an alternative to the mainstream nightlife of the era. In truth, the “safe” Saturday-night options being defended weren’t necessarily safer at all.
This documentary captures a pivotal cultural moment. Acid House wasn’t just a sound it was a shift. A move toward inclusion, shared experience, and spaces where music came before ego or image.
Those values still matter. They’re the foundations of club culture as we know it today, and they’re exactly what Early Doors Club is built on.
Community. Good people. Great music.
The way it’s always been.
The way it’s always been.
Credits & Source
Audio originally broadcast by ITV – World In Action (1988).
Shared here for historical, cultural, and documentary discussion.
Shared here for historical, cultural, and documentary discussion.