The former British chief film censor, James Ferman, who bore the brunt of criticisms for a string of controversial decisions by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) throughout his career, has died at the age of 72.
During his 24 years as BBFC director, he frequently came under fire for allowing the screening of violent or sexually explicit films such as Crash, Lolita and Natural Born Killers. But shortly after announcing his retirement, Ferman disclosed he secretly enjoyed the controversy his role often attracted. "I find it quite stimulating. Frankly, the job has such power that we need to be shot at," he said in 1998. "Someone with a powerful position in the media needs to be questioned by the public."
One of the last controversial decisions he took before retiring was to grant a 15 certificate to the Steven Spielberg film Saving Private Ryan, despite its gruesome depiction of the Normandy landings. "We felt that it told the truth about war and we didn't want war glamorised for teenagers," he said. But he demanded 24 cuts in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Ferman's controversial views on British laws relating to pornography were also well publicised. In 1998 he argued that explicit pornography should be made legally available in licensed shops in a bid to halt the flow of violent sex material flooding the country. But his proposals were met with outrage from MPs and family values campaigners
In 1994, Ferman declared it was becoming impossible to stop youngsters being exposed to violent and pornographic material on television. Although stories of six-year-olds imitating a television programme and ransacking a house did not surprise him, he denied there was any link between the murder of toddler James Bulger and the video Child's Play 3.
Born in America, Ferman's passion for the arts developed when he was studying at Cambridge.
As a student he wrote and directed Zuleika Dobson, a musical comedy so successful it transferred to the West End. He went on to a distinguished television career directing plays, dramas and documentaries for ATV and the BBC. He directed The Planemakers, which won a Bafta award for best dramatic series in 1963, and his BBC production of Somerset Maugham's Before The Party won another in 1969. Producing a television documentary on heroin addiction sparked a lifelong concern about the social evils of drugs.
James Ferman: born 1930; died December 24th, 2002.