29 years on, Glasgow lifts ruling on Life of Brian

A ruling that effectively banned the Monty Python film from the city's cinemas was lifted today.

Councillors agreed to overturn the ban so the film can be screened in September at the Glasgow Film Theatre.

In 1980 the Glasgow licensing committee decided that the film could be shown only under an X certificate at cinemas licensed by the authority - not the AA-certificate given at the time by the British Board of Film Censors.

Today's change of heart followed a plea from the Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) for that decision to be overturned to enable a special screening for the film under the 15-certificate given by the British Board of Film Classification.

The GFT's Allison Gardner said she is "delighted" at today's decision.

In a letter to the committee, she said: "The film has been widely available to the general public on video and DVD. It has been screened on terrestrial television.

"None of these events has caused widespread offence or in any way destroyed the sanctity of the church or undermined its place in our wider society."

She said the theatre hoped to have a screening to mark the 30th anniversary of the film to which key members of the cast and crew will be invited.

Willie O'Rourke, vice-convener of the licensing and regulatory committee, said: "This is the first application we've received to show Monty Python's Life Of Brian since the first request back in 1980.

"Life Of Brian has been broadcast on television over the years and is now widely available on DVD.

"The world, and people's attitudes, have moved on in the last 30 years so I believe the committee made the right decision today."

* Earlier this year, it was announced that a thirty-year old ban of the film in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth was finally lifted, and the following showing was attended by Terry Jones and Michael Palin alongside mayor Sue Jones-Davies (who portrayed Judith Iscariot in the film).