When is the ' water shed' ?

[Uzoma]

What time is s**t / b***s**t allowed to be broadcast on TV and other swear words? How about 'worse' swear words? I thought that it was only after 9 pm but I'm beginning to find out I'm wrong.

[Gef]

The "official" watershed , if there is still such a thing, was 9pm in the UK. However, having a watershed is one thing but deciding what can be broadcast before it is entirely another matter. I'm not a prude, don't watch a lot of television but sometimes hear or see things before 9pm which make me think "is that appropriate?".

[sft42]

GEF is right that nine o'clock is the "official" watershed but rude word can be used before this if they are in proper context of the story.....s**t is very mild and b***s**t is pretty mild these days also...the two big taboo words are still motherf*@!er and c**t the latter being very frowned upon.....When madonna was interviewed recently by J. Ross she expressed suprised that when she first moved here it was used as much as it was.

[Uzoma]

Further to this, can anyone say how up until what time sex can be shown? In other words, up until what time in the morning is the water shed?

[gerry]

It is meant to be 9pm the water shed begins however the BBC recently came under fire after Kathy Burkes outburst (swearing) when winning an award at the comedy awards. Even though this was shown after 9pm there were complaints however the bbc replied back saying it was after the watershed time and even before the show started viewers were warned that they me be swearing.

[darth vader]

9pm was the original baseline for the "watershed" i.e. time before which it was considered safe programming for kids to watch. since then there have been other guidelines, but not "set in stone". i.e. it is advised not to show anything which may shock or make a person feel ill, during "tea time" (like the insides of a pet, for example on "vets hospital" or whatever it's called - that god-awful programme with Mr Wobbleboard Harris) unless it is on a programme that the viewer would expect to see that sort of thing (i.e. watching violent scenes in a news bulletin, or blood in a hospital drama). I think they're allowed to relax things a bit after 8pm i.e. show mild violence (ala the Bill) and casual swearing. Anything pornographic in nature has to be shown after 10pm. There are other guidelines but i don't know them all, you'd have to get them from the Beeb or the ITC

[darth vader]

ps. You can get away with pretty much any swear word after 10pm, yet the word f**k is still a no no on the Beeb (good grief!) which makes for some laughable dubbing on the screening of certain films

[Squirrel]

This watershed thing (why is it called that?) seems to differ from channel to channel. For example, on one channel Ozzy Osbourne might be politely indicating his frustration that his dog has just disgraced himself on his carpet, through the use of every swear word under the sun, while on another they will bleep out the word "Damn." Over this half-term week I've heard some bad language on midday television (when they probably expect kids to be at school), but it was weird: they bleeped out some words and left others in...so it seems like the attitude towards swearing on TV is to be more lenient towards shows that children aren't likely to watch.

[anthomson]

What I find more worring than swearing is the amount of violence and inferred violence shown before 9:00. Even shows like Coronation Street and Eastenders include very violent storylines (and to prove the point I am currently watching Phil Mitchell walking around with a baseball bat and its only Sunday afternoon )

[Uzoma]

Thanks for all of your answers everyone - just another quick question in connection with this - when does the watershed 'end'? Is there a time after which swear words and sex cannot be shown eg. from 5am onwards?