british board of film clasification

History of the BBFC

A comprehensive summary of the BBFC’s history from 1912 to the present day can be found in our popular Student Guide.
Areas of notable interest include T.P. O’Connor’s 1916 list of 43 grounds for deletion, intended as a guide for Examiners; the shifts in public opinion and changes in the law over the decades; and the classification of various controversial films from Straw Dogs and A Clockwork Orange to the ‘video nasties’ of the 1980s.
Case studies for the classification history of some of the more well-known films including some of the films below can be found on Students’ BBFC.

• Caligula
• Cannibal Holocaust
• The Last House on the Left