history
The first public cinema in Scotland (the recently restored Bo'ness Hippodrome) opened in 1912, just in time for its screenings to fall under the jurisdiction of the newly established British Board of Film Censors. This new body was independent of government and granted certificates to films, initially either "U" for "Universal" or "A" for "Adult".
Crash controversy
However, confusingly, local authorities had the right to disregard BBFC certificates if they wished, and permit licences, or ban films from being screened. This is still the case today, and led to the controversy over David Cronenberg's Crash in 1997, which was passed uncut by the British Board of Film Classification. The British Minister for National Heritage, Virginia Bottomley (who hadn't seen the film) called for "local authorities to make their own decision and use the powers they have locally to refuse the film a screen. All of us must be worried about material which, if seen repeatedly, can influence lives." Westminster Council did indeed ban screenings of the film, but neighbouring boroughs such as Camden allowed the film's release.
All of us must be worried about material which, if seen repeatedly, can influence lives - Virginia Bottomley, 1997
Video Nasties...?
The 1980s and 90s saw a great deal of tabloid attention given to violent films, so called 'Video Nasties', and their availability on video with films such as The Evil Dead, Driller Killer and Child's Play providing good case studies. The 1984 Video Recordings Act saw censorship of the home video market for the first time, with often more severe cuts than on cinema releases.
Totalitarian regimes such as Stalin's Russia tightly controlled artistic output of all kinds
bbfc the organisation in charge of certification