Carry On! films suffer censor overhaul as nostalgia TV channel bosses blast Ofcom ‘nanny state’: ‘It’s arbitrary!’
Nostalgia TV channels are increasingly finding themselves caught between preserving Britain’s comedy heritage and navigating modern content standards.
Channels like Talking Pictures TV and Rewind TV, which specialise in broadcasting classic films and TV series, regularly face difficult decisions about whether to censor or edit vintage content.
“I think people have a thicker skin than maybe Ofcom gives them credit for,” says Jonathan Moore, who runs Rewind TV. “It’s the nanny state, isn’t it, really?”
Despite their relatively niche status, these channels have built loyal followings, with Talking Pictures TV reaching 3.3 million viewers in March, while Rewind TV attracted 1.4 million, according to Barb.
Ofcom’s guidelines on offensive material are based on public surveys conducted every five years, categorising language as mild, moderate or strong.
Words deemed “strong” require “clear and strong contextual justification for broadcast”.
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The ever-evolving nature of language means channels face shifting standards. “Bl**dy” was considered mild language in 2016 but upgraded to moderate by 2021.
Words like “t**ser”, “s**t” and “t**t” have been removed from classics including Carry On Laughing, Please Sir! and On The Buses.
“It’s a little bit arbitrary, to be perfectly honest,” says Moore. “Offence is partly in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? One person’s offensive word might be another person’s completely acceptable word.”
The Carry On films, which ran from 1958 to 1992, have become a cornerstone of British comedy heritage, featuring stars like Kenneth Williams, Barbara Windsor and Sid James.
Yet even when first released, these films shocked censors. Files released in 2012 show that many were considered too ribald for the time.
For the 1971 film Carry On Henry, censors complained that “every joke has a sexual meaning” and demanded 17 changes.
In Carry On Cleo, they ordered the cutting of a scene where Sid James’s Mark Antony falls on top of Amanda Barrie’s Cleopatra “so we don’t see him wriggling his legs”.
The humour was firmly in the British comic tradition of music hall and bawdy seaside postcards.
Comedy historian Robert Ross argues that preserving these programmes is vital as a window into Britain’s past. “No producer, no actor, no writer of that generation of comedy set out to be malicious or offend on purpose. It was all for good, clean fun,” he said, according to The Telegraph.
Campaigners are now calling for Ofcom to grant classic comedies an exemption similar to vintage cars, which become exempt from MOTs and road tax after 40 years.
This would free older programmes from language restrictions, provided viewers receive adequate warnings about the content.
“If that’s what’s needed to actually let this stuff out of the vaults, then that’s good,” says Ross.
Moore warns that Ofcom’s approach risks classic programming being cut beyond recognition as broadcasters self-censor. “The last thing we want is a whopping great big fine coming in the post because we’ve let something slip,” he says.
Ofcom insists it is not a censor, stating: “Freedom of expression is at the heart of our broadcasting rules which do not prevent the broadcast of content that may be offensive or controversial to some audiences.”
Sarah Cronin-Stanley of Talking Pictures TV says her channel has found a “happy medium” after a decade of broadcasting.
“It’s not a nice thing to be responsible for when effectively you are butchering shows,” adds Moore. “We’re not just here for a quick buck, we actually deeply care about the programming.”