R18 Archives - Desperate Living

Mistique: Bottom Of The Barrel British Softcore

The lowest rung of British adult entertainment during the days before XXX movies were legalised.

Britain’s New Moral Panic Part Two: ‘Reviewing’ The Censorship Laws

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Britain has a plethora of laws relating to pornography and sex – yet is still determined to find room for more.

The R18 TV News Reports

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Vintage TV news reports on the battle to legalise porn in the UK.

The Very British Sex Scams Of The 1980s

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In the days before legalised porn, the restrictive laws in Britain proved to be a huckster’s paradise, with scams, cons and rip-offs the order of the day.

The Free Speech Campaigners Are Oddly Silent About Sexual Expression

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The vocal demands for free speech and political efforts to bring the likes of PayPal under control seem to become very quiet as soon as you mention sexual freedom.

Strictly Censorship: The BBFC Gets A New President

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Newsreader and Strictly Come Dancing winner Natasha Kaplinsky is now in charge of the organisation that decides which films you are allowed to see.

Hellcat Mud Wrestlers And Foxy Boxers: The Knock-Out Blow For The British Sex Film

The long and winding road of British smut cinema came to a bitter end in 1983 as the genre bowed out on a new creative low.

Police Raids In The Last Days Of Obscenity

A personal memoir of falling foul of Manchester’s over-zealous Obscene Publications Squad – and fighting back.

Censorship’s Lack Of Appeal

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The British video censorship appeals process has always been set up to be as difficult and costly as possible – and new ‘simplifications’ do little to change that.

Last Straw Dogs On The Left – The Inconsistencies And Double Standards Of The BBFC

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The story of two controversial movies and their rather different experiences at the hands of film censors who seem to make up the rules as they go along.

The Obscenity Trials Of The Century

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Two high-profile British trials in 2012 attempted to draw a line in the sand over what was acceptable sexual behaviour between consensual adults.

The Strange And Elusive Pleasures Of HVC

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Looking back at Britain’s most outrageous and chaotically inept television channel, the home of sex and violence, banned movies and disrupted broadcasts.