Scum (1979) - Censorship

Scum is a British Crime Drama directed by Alan Clarke in 1979. It stars; Ray Winstone, Mick Ford, Julian Firth, John Blundell, Phil Daniels, Alan Igbon, Ray Burdis and many more. It portrays the brutality of the life inside of a British borstal. The script was originally written for the BBC in 1977, but due to the violence involved, it was removed from broadcast. The remake of this program was remade in 1979 as a film, which was shown on Channel 4 in 1983. The story of the film is about a young offender, Carlin when he arrives at the institution as he rises through violence and self-protection. The convicts and the warders are brutalized by the system. The film consists of its graphic depiction of racism, rape, suicide, extreme violence, strong language as well as many fights, which break out.

This film is different to the productions BBC originally in many ways such as the strong language. One scene in particular, which has been put into the BBC version, has been taken out of the film version, which was made. The scene of the homosexual relationship between Carlin and another inmate was not put in the film.

There have been many places during the film and the TV drama on BBC where censors had to be put in place for the safety of the viewers. There are many times where the bbfc and ofcom had to step in to protect the viewers from extreme violence. Racist comments towards black people, bullying, informal and foul language as well as fights and beatings they receive have to be censored for the publics’ protection. 

Ofcom is a government organization, which was set up in 2003 and is designed to protect television viewers from harmful or offensive material, which is why the watershed has been put in place. With the film version of Scum, the British Board of Film Classifications (BBFC), a non-government organization, which is funded by the film industry, are responsible of the classification and the censorship of the film(s) within the UK.