The unnamed watchdogs who classify every movie

TO decide how a film should be classified, the BBFC watches it from start to finish.

Two compliance officers compare the content to the group’s standards and criteria laid out in its guidelines.

If they are unable to agree, the video is then watched by members of the BBFC’s board, which can include the chief executive. However, the body does not disclose which compliance officers viewed the films and made the decision.

It says naming them would be unfair as they apply the BBFC’s guidelines rather than their personal opinions. Officers come from a variety of backgrounds. The BBFC’s president is lawyer Patrick Swaffer and its chief executive David Austin was a diplomat.

Every four or five years, the BBFC carries out a public consultation asking thousands of members of the public what they think of film ratings.

On explicit scenes, current guidelines state: ‘The most challenging themes (for example, drug misuse, sexual violence, paedophilia, racial hatred or violence) are unlikely to be appropriate at the most junior levels of classification. However, there is no reason in principle why most themes, however difficult, could not be presented in a manner which allows classification at 18 or even, where suitable, at lower levels.’