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British Board of Film Classification

The power of the public picture house has been bypassed by the ungovernable internet. We can now watch whatever we want, whenever we want to. So what is the point of the BBFC?

The BBFC has been going just over a century. In the early days directors could suffer the censor's snips for a long list of transgressions - unnecessary exhibition of underclothing, indecorous dancing and even talk of the relationship between capital and labour. These are more liberal, even libertarian times. We gave up the blue pencil for books and the theatre a long time ago. Now the "C" in BBFC stands for "classification" not "censor." Cinemas are struggling and the commercial power of the public picture house has been bypassed by the ungovernable internet. We can now also watch whatever we want, whenever we want to without the BBFC looking over our shoulder. So what is the point of the BBFC?

Producer: Phil Pegum.

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28 minutes

Last on

Tue 16 Sep 2014 21:30

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Broadcasts

  • Tue 16 Sep 2014 09:00
  • Tue 16 Sep 2014 21:30