Classification by Numbers: the BBFC Annual Report 2005
Well, the figures clearly reflect some aspects of the wider film and media industry as well as the BBFC’s specific circumstances.
Perhaps the most startling figures come when you look at video games though. Nearly 200, (198 to be precise), of the 16958 works classified were video game submissions. This might
In terms of cinema works, in 2005 the BBFC classified 589 film works. The numbers show a steady increase in the number of films which flow through the doors at 3 Soho Square since 2001. However, over time the number of films submitted has altered radically. In the early days of cinema regulation the BBFC saw as few as 7 films in one year, (in 1920), and in boom times, such as the 1940s and 1950s, has classified as many as 1567 (in 1951). More historical facts and figures can be found on the main BBFC website’s Statistics section.
Both Deuce Bigalow - European Gigolo and It’s All Gone Pete Tong contained two uses of very strong language. In each instance the uses were deemed to be acceptable as they were comic, non-aggressive and non-directed and justified in their specific comic context.
Though it was released in 2006, Stephen Spielberg’s political thriller Munich arrived at the BBFC at the end of 2005. It posed a number of interesting issues as it contains scenes of strong and bloody violence, some with a sexual element. The film was carefully considered, with both the educative value of the work and its non-gratuitous, serious tone taken into account before the decision to pass it out at 15 was reached.
At the lower end of the scale Mr & Mrs. Smith, a film about assassins played by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie who are married to each other but ignorant of their respective professions was tipped into 15 for an accumulation of glamorised weapons, moderate and sexualised violence and a scene in which Jolie’s character Jane Smith sexually services a client she is about to kill. Though little is seen, the conflation of sex and violence pushed the work into the restrictive 15 category. The 15 was followed closely by 12A (153 films), which included some of the year’s most commercially successful movies: War of the Worlds, King Kong, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Batman Begins and Star Wars 3: The Revenge of the Sith. Given the lucrative nature of the 12A category perhaps it is unsurprising that it was also the most cut category on film. Four 12A films were cut in 2005 including The Dukes of Hazzard starring Johnny Knoxville and Jessica Simpson which had scenes of glamorised drug use and nudity removed. All of the cuts to 12A films were cuts for category – which means the film distributor was offered the choice of an uncut 15 classification or a 12A with some trims to unsuitable material.
In terms of cuts, some newspapers reported a reduction in the number of cuts that made by the BBFC. For example on video 3.8 percent of works were cut, down from 4.1 percent the previous year. Some suggested this might reflect a loosening of ‘standards’.
It is true that in other periods of history the BBFC has been seen to intervene more – such as the early 1970s when up to 33 percent of films were cut! But there are many factors which may account for this – for example the BBFC now operates under published guidelines based on extensive public consultation and research. It also has a policy of being open and accountable for all its decisions, both to the public and the film and video industries it serves.
Many of the cuts made to material now for example are made by distributors who want a lower category than the one best suited to the work in its uncut form. Such cuts, (‘category cuts’), are not compulsory. The BBFC always makes this clear on its main website.
In addition, the majority of cuts are made to pornographic works which are examined and classified in line with guidelines, changing legal frameworks and carefully drafted policy. Changes in the sex video industry and the types of works submitted may also affect and disguise trends in the more general cuts figures. So although there might have been fewer cuts at some lower categories, there were an increased number of cuts made to aggressive or abusive R18 sex works showing that the BBFC continues to maintain a very hard line on abusive, illegal and potentially harmful material.
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In June 2006 the BBFC published its latest annual report. This is a document detailing the Board’s key work and decisions in 2005 as a matter of open record and outlining some of its aims for the future (it is available online from the 
seem like a small number but it represents a massive five-fold increase in the number of games played and classified at the BBFC. It reflects the huge growth in the games industry and increased public awareness of games and their potential impact. To put the numbers into perspective, in 2004 the BBFC only classified 43 games. This year it has already classified 153. That is more than the entire number of games that the BBFC classified between the years of 1986 – 1996 inclusive!
Of the films in 2005, the most common category was 15 (218 films). For film insiders this isn’t necessarily a surprise – the 15 certificate has been the most common category on film for 20 years! Some of the high profile 15s which raised significant issues for BBFC examiners in 2005 were Deuce Bigalow - European Gigolo, It’s All Gone Pete Tong, Munich and Mr & Mrs. Smith. 
There are also crucial differences in the sorts of cuts made by the BBFC.