Film censorship in the United Kingdom

Film censorship in the United Kingdom began with early cinema exhibition becoming subject to the Disorderly Houses Act 1751. The Cinematograph Act 1909 was primarily concerned with introducing annual licensing of premises where films were shown, particularly because of the fire risk of nitrate film. After the Act began to be used by local authorities to control what was shown, the film industry responded by establishing a British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) in 1912, funded by an Incorporated Association of Kinematograph Manufacturers levy.

The Cinematograph Exhibitors Association sought to have the BBFC film certification recognised over local decision-making. The case of Mills v London City Council in 1925 (1 KB 213) established that a Council could make its licensing conditional on the exhibitor complying with the BBFC certification. Local Councils did continue to refuse showing of particular films which had been certificated by the BBFC: examples are the bans on The Devils and Life of Brian in Glasgow.

Currently, Section 4 of the Video Recordings Act 2010 (previously the act of 1984) requires that videos for sale in the UK should be certified by an authority. The BBFC (by this time renamed as British Board of Film Classification) became that designated authority in 1985. The film censorship that exists in the UK today is in the form of an Age-Rating system, which is an advisory tool used by local councils when deciding to grant viewing permission to film productions.

Specific cases

 * In Autumn 1972, Lord Longford and Raymond Blackburn decided to pursue a matter of pornography classification for the film Language of Love into the Court of Appeal of Lord Denning, MR, and lost the writ of mandamus against the Police Commissioner, who had refused to intrude upon the BBFC remit.
 * In 1999, the British television network ITV broadcast a censored version of the British war film The Dam Busters (1955), with all instances of the name of a dog called "Nigger" removed. ITV blamed regional broadcaster London Weekend Television, which in turn alleged that a junior staff member had been responsible for the unauthorised cuts. When ITV again showed a censored version in June 2001, it was criticised by Index on Censorship as "unnecessary and ridiculous" and because the edits introduced continuity errors. The code word "nigger" transmitted in Morse Code upon the successful completion of the central mission was not censored.
 * The film Black Friday (2004) was released in the United Kingdom with 17 seconds of the cockfighting scenes deleted. Laws in the UK do not allow any film footage of actual animal cruelty that has been deliberately orchestrated by film-makers.