Synopsis

Tony Hadley plays a professional photographer hired to document a clandestine exchange on the Woolwich Ferry. After taking the requested pictures, he becomes caught in a dangerous pursuit involving a mysterious client, a romantic interest, and a getaway car. Presented with opening dialogue and film-style titles, the clip unfolds more like a compact British crime thriller than a conventional performance video. The action-driven story mirrors the song's theme of messages failing, missed connections, and information being passed indirectly.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was designed as a miniature feature film, complete with dialogue before the song begins and its own title sequence. Gary Kemp said the band wanted to move beyond the usual performance-video cliches.

• Tony Hadley is the only Spandau Ballet member featured in the story. He plays the photographer at the center of the plot, while the rest of the group do not appear as characters.

• Former professional boxer John Conteh plays the man who commissions the photographs. Actress Leslie Ash, known for Quadrophenia, appears as Hadley's love interest.

• The production uses the Woolwich Ferry as a major location, giving the clip a distinctly London setting and helping create its gritty crime-film atmosphere.

• Hadley performed his own stunt driving during the car-chase sequence.

• Gary Kemp described the concept as a gritty, Sweeney-style film, while contemporary coverage compared its action and tone to The Professionals and The Long Good Friday.

• The video received exposure on MTV in the United States, where it entered the channel's reported rotation in February 1984.

• "Communication" was released on February 4, 1983, as the second single from the album True.