Overview

Film classification and censorship in the UK has been extensively researched by scholars. What requires further analysis is audiences' experiences of watching films that had been subject to BBFC interventions. The classification system attempted to ensure that only viewers of or above specific ages (15 or 18) would be able to watch certain films. However, significant numbers of child viewers saw films deemed inappropriate for their age group, whether at the cinema or more commonly by watching videos. This book investigates how these audiences managed to see age-inappropriate films, exploring the memories of over 300 questionnaire and 30 interview respondents. The responses detail what the children of the 1980s remember watching, viewer memories of the how, when and where they were watched, how genre affected the experience and what the post-viewing experience was like for these viewers, including the effects of these viewings on social dynamics, identity formation and later cinephilia.

Full Product Details

Author:   Peter Turner (Senior Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University)
Publisher:   Edinburgh University Press
Imprint:   Edinburgh University Press
ISBN:  

9781399533591

ISBN 10:   1399533592
Pages:   240
Publication Date:   28 February 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

List of figures Acknowledgements 1. Introduction Part I. Spaces, Practices and Emotions of Forbidden Viewing 2. Video shops, playgrounds and situated memories 3. “It’s analogous to Christmas Eve”: Remembering how video watching felt Part II. Genre Matters: Horror, Comedy and Taboo Content 4. “I knew they could mess me up”: Children watching horror and sexual violence 5. Silently Squirming: Sex, swearing and comedy Part III. Gender, identity and video watching 6. ""You are allowed to watch the blood and guts, but not the boobs"": Gendered parenting and restricted access 7. Underage viewings and masculine identity, bonding and pressures 8. “The artier films I watched alone”: Social vs solo viewing 9. Conclusions Appendix 1 Questionnaire Appendix 2 Video interview questions Bibliography Index

Reviews

In Unsuitable Film and Video Audiences, Peter Turner’s extensive audience research opens a doorway to rich and evocative memories of illicit childhood film viewing. Rigorously researched and contextualised, Turner’s examination of these memories explores, challenges and reframes our understanding of the pleasures and problems of childhood consumption of forbidden cinema. * Stacey Abbott - Professor of Film at Northumbria University and author of Undead Apocalypse (2016) *

Author Information

Peter Turner is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Media Production at Oxford Brookes University. He is the author of Found Footage Horror Films: A Cognitive Approach (2019) and Devil’s Advocates: The Blair Witch Project (2014).

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