The BBC Variety Programmes Policy Guide For Writers and Producers, commonly referred to as The Green Book, is a booklet of guidelines, issued by the
British Broadcasting Corporation in 1949, to the producers and writers of its
comedy programmes. It detailed what was then permissible as comedy material, but its bureaucratic tone and outlandish strictures caused great amusement in the comedy world at the time.
Most of its content is now completely out of date. It was a confidential document and was kept under lock and key. The executive responsible for its release was the then Head of Variety,
Michael Standing, although it contained a large amount of material which had been previously issued, in the preceding years, in memo form.
The full text was published, with the BBC's permission, in the book ''
Laughter in the Air
Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter c ...
'' by
Barry Took, in 1976. It has since been sold by the BBC itself.
Content
Among jokes banned were those concerning lavatories, effeminacy in men, immorality of any kind, suggestive references to honeymoon couples, chambermaids, fig-leaves, ladies' underwear (such as "winter draws on" and so on), lodgers and commercial travellers and the vulgar use of words such as "basket".
[BBC Variety Programmes Policy Guide 1949 , ...and gazuky]
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Caution had to be taken with jokes about drink, with not too many allowed to be made in any single programme. Also to be avoided were derogatory references to solicitors, miners and "the working class". Banned too was any reference to The McGillycuddy of the Reeks
The McGillycuddy of the Reeks ( ga, Mac Giolla Mochuda) is the hereditary Chief of the Name of McGillycuddy, a family originating around MacGillycuddy's Reeks, a range of mountains (reeks) in County Kerry in Ireland.
Origins of the title
T ...
, or jokes about his name, in response to previous complaints.
The word "nigger" was banned, although the phrase " Nigger Minstrels" was still tolerated. The document also advised: "Extreme care should be taken in dealing with references to or jokes about pre-natal influences (e.g. His mother was frightened by a donkey)"
It has been observed that if these rules had been strictly followed, a great many of the BBC's most successful comedy shows since, such as '' Beyond our Ken'', ''Till Death Us Do Part
''Till Death Us Do Part'' is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975. The show was first broadcast in 1965 as a ''Comedy Playhouse'' pilot, then as seven series between 1966 and 1975. In 1981, ITV continued the sitcom ...
'', '' Steptoe and Son'', would never have been aired.
The successor to the ''Green Book'', the ''Producer Guidelines'', the corporation's programme-making code of ethics was introduced by Director-General John Birt
John Birt, Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) is a British television executive and businessman. He is a former Director-General (1992–2000) of the BBC.
After a successful career in commercial television, initially at Granada Television an ...
in 1989. This was comprehensively rewritten in 1993 largely by the BBC's Controller of Editorial Policy Richard James Ayre
Richard James Ayre was a member of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation until its abolition in 2016. He is a former member for England of the Ofcom Content Board and chair of its Broadcast Review Committee. He ...
who went on to become a BBC Trustee. and, retitled the ''BBC Editorial Guidelines'' are now on the seventh edition.
Further reading
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Book (BBC), The
BBC
British radio comedy
Censorship in the United Kingdom
1949 in the United Kingdom
1949 in radio