The History Of Film Censorship In Britain

• 1896 First recognised film produced.
• 1898 Film censorship in Britain originally started in 1898, when a 90 second examination of a blue-veined cheese was withdrawn by its maker after protests from the British cheese making industry! Initially, though, there was little or no control over film-makers, as noone really knew how to deal with the new medium.
• 1899 First court case - a film presenter was taken to court (and lost) when film was labelled immoral.
• 1907 250 film theatres in Britain.
• 1909 Cinema Act - local authorities gain power to grant licenses to film threatres. Cinemas attacked as darkened rooms which encourage immorality. Sunday opening banned. Authorities around the country set different rules restricting viewing.
• 1910 First film banned (a 40 round prize fight) by London City Council.
• 1911 4,000 film threatres in Britain.
• 1912 Film industry create British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) to try to defend against local authorities.
• 1913 BBFC's first rules - no nudity and no depictions of Christ. Classifications were U (Universal) and A (Over 16 - not compulsary). In the first year 144 films were cut and 22 banned. This led to the local authorities becoming even more hard-line.
• 1917 Attempts to ban children from seeing films to stop juvenile delinquency.
• 1918 Stalemate as some cinemas show uncensored films and the censors snub specific producers.
• 1923 Government pressures local authorities to do as BBFC says.
• 1928 Sound!
• 1929 Local authorities come into line with BBFC.
• 1931 Increasingly, films censored at script stage to avoid later cuts. H for Horror classification introduced.
• 1937 Growing representation of sex in films.
• 1939 Government use BBFC for propaganda.
• 1940s Increase of violence and gangster films.
• 1950s Films judged on 'director's intentions' as well as content.
• 1951 X classification replaces H.
• 1954 'The Wild One' filmed. It was not granted a certificate until 1967.
• 1955 Nudity appears in films.
• 1957 Television leads to film makers competing for audiences.
• 1959 Homosexuality appears in films.
• 1971 A Clockwork Orange filmed. It was withdrawn in 1973, and has not been shown since. Mary Whitehouse forms the National Festival of Light (NFL). Government states that there's a link between violence and films.
• 1974 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' banned twice.
• 1975 BBFC decisions to be secret. All BBFC staff to sign confidentiality agreement.
• 1978 Films brought under the Oscene Publications Act - no film has been sucessfully prosecuted under this act.
• 1979 NFL tries to get 'The Life of Brian' banned.
• 1980 'Friday 13th' passed with no cuts.
• 1981 The British Videogram Association and BBFC control videos.
• 1982 Cinematograph Amendment Act - R18 catagory for non-violent soft pornography in special cinemas.
• 1983 Video Recordings Act - films incur a fine if released without a certificate.
• 1985 British Board of Film Censorship renames itself to become the British Board of Film Classification.
• 1987 Video Packaging Review Board established, which includes senior examiners from the BBFC.
• 1992 James Bulger murder leads to a tightening up of classification for violent films, especially on video.