Censorship: Protecting the public or hiding the truth?

Film and television have always been subject to some sort of censorship, even at the most basic level, shows or films regarded as too violent, sexual or controversial have been banned. In video games too, censorship is a big issue, with Mortal Kombat being the victim of a media storm in the 90s for its violent finishing moves.

In the age of 24/7 entertainment and relentless information exchange, is it still right for companies to censor information? When you mention censorship, you might think of the limits on the Chinese version of Google or the propaganda of Nazi Germany, but in reality it goes on without the general public even realising.

The most recent example which I noticed was the broadcast of an episode of [Scrubs] on E4. The episode seemed innocent enough, 6 o'clock on a Tuesday evening, but as I watched, I noticed a few things that just weren't quite right. Dialogue was cut short, suggestive lingering camera shots removed and the shows signature fantasy moments bizarrely tame. The reason: censorship. The network, for whatever reason, had taken out the comedy's 'edgier' moments, leaving the show a shadow of it's former self.

There are watershed issues to consider of course, and the concept itself (which essentially forbids the broadcast of illicit material until after 9pm) is important to protect the 'innocence' of children etc. But the real worry is that many of the omissions were nothing more outrageous than you might see on your typical episode of Eastenders, leading us to conclude that either the network is being over-cautious, or deliberately toning-down to appeal to their viewers.

Surely with the show available on DVD, they must know that many fans of the show will have a series or two, so may have watched the show before, making these omissions obvious. Obviously to those who have never seen the show before will be none the wiser, but it is still a concern.

This is just one example of the negative effects of censorship. There are claims long-term exposure to violence on television causes an increased risk of violence in the real world, but there is little evidence to substantiate that this affects more then a sever minority.

Back in 2000, the BBC reported on a study called 'Making sense of Censorship', which concluded that four out of five people would rather watch un-edited versions of film and television, and judge for themselves what not to watch.

The poll also raised the concern of children's viewing, with 98% of adults saying they were responsible for deciding what their children should and should not watch. Interestingly, almost two thirds of people were more worried about censorship on the internet, an issue which has still not been significantly tackled by authorities. At the time the BBC spoke to Nick Jones, head of film programming for Channel 4 and FilmFour:

"This puts the emphasis on facts rather than pre-conceived myths, It shows middle England is more informed and wants to make its own choices about what they watch - based on information and not the intervention of a 'nanny state' It is now time to take a hard look at confused legislation that assumes there is such a thing as 'the moral majority'" (Jones 2000)

There was controversy last year in the wake of Heath Ledger's death, when there were calls to omit the scene in 'The Dark Knight' which showed Ledger as the Joker in a body bag.

In 1995 Simon Birch wrote a report which discusses why censorship should be stopped. He concluded that the system is not working and that there are discrepancies which mean the public is being mis-informed:

"Sooner or later they will have to amend a system which allows more explicit detail of real sexual peccadilloes through the written media than it allows the viewing public to see within a fictional context." (Birch 1995)

In the end, if the public objects to how something is being done, the government is forced to act to change it, but if people do not even know it is going on in the first place, then we may begin to see an ever-increasing problem in years to come.

The Top 10 British comedy programmes of all time - Part 2

Yes, the wait is over, finally find out who gets to number one, and then let the backlash of "what about X?!" "How DARE you leave out Y!" and "Z is a comedy institution!" commence.

5. QI (2003-Present) - Stephen Fry hosts the geekiest comedy quiz show on TV. Apart from the continual moronic outbursts of regular guest Alan Davies (who they obviously couldn't get rid of after the first episode), the show has been graced with appearances from all manner of famous faces, including: Jeremy Clarkson, Sean Lock, Bill Bailey, Dara O'Briain, Rich Hall and Jo Brand.

The premise of the show is that contestants get points for answering 'interestingly' rather than correctly, and lose ten points for obvious wrong answers. The show has given rise to a number of bizarre and, unsurprisingly, interesting facts, such as that Aspirin is the world's most successful legal drug; heroin, the most successful illegal one and on March 7th, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted the patent for the telephone. (By rights, this belonged to Antonio Meucci.)

The champion aspect of the show is the general ignorance round, which dispells the mass-idiocy about certain "taken-as-read" facts about everyday life. For example, did you know that you are no more likely to feel unwell if you go swimming right after eating rather than waiting 30 minutes? Or perhaps you thought the Earth only has one moon? WRONG, it does, in fact, have two, the second one is called Cruithne and technically orbits the sun...it's all very confusing.

Best Moment: When Dara O'Briain is deducted points for giving an answer which turned out to be incorrect in a previous series, causing him to remark "How many people sat at home watching that and said, 'It's just a comedy show, but I'm not letting that fecker get away with that!?'" (coincidentally the word "feck" was ruled to not be a swear word late last year). (Watch a clip of the inccorect answer)

4. 'A Bit of Fry and Laurie' - Now entertainment heavyweights in their own right, back in 1987 times were more quiet for Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. The pair first teamed up in Ben Elton series "There's Nothing to Worry About", which became "Alfresco" and went on to do a Christmas special/pilot for a sketch show in 1987, which became a fully-fledged series two years later.

The show follows the typical British comedy sketch show template (that of there not being one), with there being a spattering of recurring characters, notably the 'yuppie' businessmen John and Peter, amid cunning wordplays and subversion of stereotypes with the frequent 'vox pops' throughout the series.

Best Moment: Simple, yet effective, Hugh Laurie's musical moments are frequently hilarious, but his parody of an American ballad, titled "America" is simplistic comedy gold, enjoy it here.

3. Blackadder (1983-1989) - Claiming the bronze medal is Rowan Atkinson and chums in this endlessly quotable tale of a man who's forever at the unfortunate end of a situation. Accompanied by the adorably moronic Baldrick (Tony Robinson), the four series span the wealth of human history as Blackadder is heir to the throne, lord to Elizabeth I, butler to George V and captain in the WWI trenches.

The shows first series is often considered apart from the subsequent efforts, since it was written by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis and featured a weak and foolish Blackadder, a far cry from the cunning, money-obsessed man, wrought with bitterness and sarcasm, who appears in Blackadder II.

The reason for this is the addition of Tory-hater Ben Elton, who became co-writer with Curtis for the subsequent series, and the show enjoyed continual success and managed to end on a thoughtful note in the final tear-jerking episode 'Goodbyeee...' as Blackadder and the other infantry go over the top in slow motion to slowly fade into a poppy field, an end which was lauded by many families of WWI soldiers at the time.

Best Moment: Other than the fact that the show was used to teach me about 'rotten boroughs' in secondary school history, the show has a near-endless supply of classic moments, but one which encapsulates the spirit of the it is Blackadder's futile attempt to teach Baldrick to count. (Watch it here)

2. Coupling (2000-2004) - It would be unfair to call this 'the British version of Friends', as it so oft has been, because there is so much more to this relationship-centred sitcom. (In fact the show was tried in America as a word-for-word re-shoot, but it was cancelled after four episodes).

Focused around six friends, the show follows the development of the relationship of the two main characters, Steve and Susan, loosely based on the real-life relationship of series creator Steven Moffat (now Doctor Who head writer) and his wife Sue Vertue (who was a producer on the show).

The balancing act between the characters is integral to the shows success, accounting for the fall in quality in the final series when Richard Coyle's Jeff Murdoch left the series. The other characters, aside from Steve (Jack Davenport, of Pirates of the Carrabean fame) and Susan (Sarah Alexander - Green Wing), are Patrick (Ben Miles), a confident sexual preditor, Sally (Kate Isitt), a neurotic self-depricating spinster, and Jane (Gina Bellman), an air-headed and very sexual character who's very aware of her own attractiveness.

The show offers not only comedy, but lessons for couples and friends alike, with such wisdom as 'The Giggle Loop', 'The Nudity Buffer' and 'The Sock Gap'. The characters all offer experiences which the audience can relate to their own lives, along with a host of comedy references and discussions to ensure it isn't too grounded in reality.

Best Moment: Steve's mammoth speech on the path of man and nudity is truely a testament to the brilliance of Steven Moffat's writing and is not only hilarious, but absolutely true. (Watch it here)



1. Only Fools and Horses (1981-1991) - The gold medal goes to the comedy delights of John Sullivan's outstanding portrayal of suburban life in London, helmed by the Trotter Brothers Derrick (Del Boy), played by David Jason, and Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst).

The show spanned seven series and numerous Christmas specials, crescendoing with the 1996 special trilogy: Heroes and Villains, Modern Men and Time In Our Hands. Ignoring the lacklustre 2000's specials, the trilogy has often been said by Sullivan to be the end he intended for the storyline, with Del Boy, Rodney and Uncle Albert (Buster Merryfield) walking off into the sunset.

Language in the show was not only very 80s but also very slang-filled, allowing younger generations to be properly schooled in what is, surely, a lost art form.

The relationship between the two brothers is central to the story, with Del as a cheeky wheeler-deeler, doing hard graft and toeing the line of the law to make ends meet, while Rodney embraces future technology and environmentalism, taking a computer science course in later series, but is marred by a past of drug use, meaning he's forced to work for Del instead of going out and making a living for himself, a fact which he constantly laments.

The supporting cast makes almost every episode classic, from Boycie's (John Challis) caniving car deals to Trigger's (Roger Lloyd Pack) simple-minded comments and his profound refusal to call Rodney by his name, instead calling him Dave, despite at one point having it explained to him by Rodney.

The show has created some of the most classic comedy moments of all time, and even now has relevence to modern society (particularly with the recession et al) and the rich characters and sharp writing is what makes the show deserve it's title as the Greatest British Comedy Programme of all time.

Best Moment: Naturally countless, but the Trotter brothers' trip to a fancy dress party in 1996 special 'Heroes and Villains' is a testament to the shows greatness. (Watch it here)

Well there you have it, hopefully you enjoyed this voyage through British comedy, of course, it is only my opinion, and if you disagree then by all means say, though I do feel I should mention some higly commended:

Monty Python's Flying Circus - More than a comedy program, the films are what seperate this from the top 10, since with them they became more than a comedy programme. A truely terrific pillar of British achievement.

Dad's Army - Though considered to be amoung the comedy greats, this show missed out by it's age, since I only judged shows which I'd seen all the way through, and sadly due to the fact that Dad's Army was originally shown back in 1968, it would be unfair for me to judge it on the few episodes I've seen, though it is, undoubtedly, excellent nonetheless.

The future's bright, the future's...green

As if there were no end to the Great Green Revolution, gadgets are now no longer safe from an environmental reform.

Surely the most obvious way to minimise your carbon footprint would be to dispense with the sort of gadgets people didn't need five years ago, like hair straighteners and satellite navigation systems? No? OK, probably too obvious.

The latest news of change in the way we pick our latest tech is that retailers are going to begin advertising hardware by its 'Green Index', essentially displaying on the shelf whether the company that makes it has done so in a 'green' way.

According to the BBC, the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) has uncovered research suggesting this would be favourably adopted by consumers:

"Green is becoming a purchasing factor," said Steve Koening, director of industry analysts at the CEA, "More than half are willing to pay a little more for 'green' and 22% said they were willing to pay up to 15% more for it." BBC Online

But what does this mean for prices and sales figures? Needless to say people are already tightening their belts and all those other terrible clichés, but if the 'staying in is the new going out' mantra catches on, people will increasingly be investing in Blu-Ray and HDTV to get high definition entertainment in their own home.

22% is not even close to a majority, and generally people who are technologically focused aren't necessarily 'green', but that trend is changing as recycling becomes the norm, so much so that it's almost a social faux pas to throw something in the normal bin which could be recycled.

It's only a matter of time before we start to see the long term effects of the eco-concious lifestyle, not on the environment itself (that ship sailed decades ago), but on our high streets.

2009: excitement and horror in journalism jobs

A new year, a new start, or so goes the old cliché.

Of course, for many people the new year will bring as much misery and boredom as the previous year did, but generally it's obvious that due to 2008 being pretty dire, 2009 will be a step up for most people. A chance to prove yourself that 'things can only get better'.

People are keen to leave horrors like the to oft mentioned credit crunch, wildly fluctuating petrol prices and death of high street main-stays like Woolworths and Zavvi behind, but there's a real chance that 2009's economic climate will be even worse, causing more job losses and tightening of pockets.

Economics though, as much as it interests me, is not afront my mind this year, because this is the year I have to get a job, hopefully a good job.

On last count there were around 100 journo jobs on Gorkana, so with all the doom and gloom there are jobs out there, albeit probably not dream jobs, but this isn't the most fun time of year for that sort of thing.

Magazines are where it's at, but with BBC Mags on a recruitment freeze (though the Deputy Head himself admitted to being horribly bad at enforcing it), things still seem bleak. Opportunities abroad seem to be becoming more common, with vacancies boasting exotic locations such as Lisbon, Dubai, Frankfurt, Abu Dabi and Cyprus.

The thought of leaving the rainy shores of England for a warmer climate may seem exciting, but there is of course the uncertainty of whether it will pay off, not to mention adapting to a new culture - depending on which destination you choose - may prove difficult.

In the end, this is a time to be bold. Whatever the end result, one thing is certain: luck and determination will mean more than qualifications ever have.