TV shows 'should use cinema-style ratings'

Cinema-style classifications should be introduced for television programmes, the broadcasting watchdog has said.

The comments by Paul Bolt, director of the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC), come amid concern about the material being shown before the 9pm watershed. He wants viewers to receive the type of warnings that come with computer games, videos and DVDs, and at cinemas.

In an interview with The Independent, Mr Bolt said the classifications would be especially valuable in labelling dramas and documentaries. "Most television dramas are shot as films nowadays," he said. "I don't see any particular reasons why they could not be classified in the same way."

A BSC report showed last week that programme-makers ranging from Michael Palin to the BBC's Crimewatch team had been censured for producing material inappropriate for pre-watershed screening.

The proposal could lead to the first on-screen warnings since Channel 4 used a red triangle in the corner of the screen in 1986. The symbol was dropped 12 months later after the Conservative government said it lured viewers who wanted to watch films containing sex and violence.

Since the experiment, stations have increased the number of verbal warnings aired before such programmes.