The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving the IRA (Irish Repblican Army) on December 6, 1975. It started as a running gun battle through the city as police pursued two men through the streets of London for the murder of Ross McWhirter, an English TV personality. The two men would then end up in a Balcombe Street flat, taking its two residences hostage.

The men claimed they were members of the IRA and demanded a plane to fly both them and their hostages to Ireland. Scotland Yard refused, creating a 6 day standoff between the men and the police.

The men were finally talked down by the police, and both the suspects and the hostages were unharmed. The whole ordeal was watched by millions on television.