Origin Story
The British Board of Film Classification – Who watches the watchers?
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Episode notes
Sex! Violence! Censorship! These days the British Board of Film Classification rarely makes headlines but it was on the cultural frontlines throughout the 20 th century, from Herbert Asquith and the dawn of British cinema to Mary Whitehouse and “video nasties”. Through the turbulent life of one institution, Ian takes Dorian through a century of moral panics, censorship and furious debates about cinema’s influence on the life of the nation. This (literally) cinematic tale ranges from The Birth of a Nation and Nosferatu to Cannibal Holocaust and The Life of Brian, and has an unusually uplifting ending. Won’t somebody think of the children?!
Origin Story will be live at the Tabernacle in London on the 7th of November for a special post-US election show. Tickets here.
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Reading List
The Miracle Of The Movies by Leslie Wood, Burke Publishing 1915
Obscenity and Film Censorship: An Abridgement of the Williams Report edited by Bernard Williams
The British Board of Film Censors: film censorship in Britain, 1896-1950 by James Robertson, Dover, N.H. 1985
Censoring the moving image by Phillip French Seagull Books, 2007
See no evil: Banned films and video controversy by David Kerekes, Headpress 2000
Ban The Sadist Videos: 2005 Documentary
Mark Kermode interview with Robin Duval: Guardian 2004
Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production
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