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((Short description|Booklet of guidelines))
((Use dmy dates|date=April 2022))
((More citations needed|date=September 2009))

The '''BBC Variety Programmes Policy Guide For Writers and Producers''', commonly referred to as '''The Green Book''', is a booklet of guidelines issued by the [[BBC|British Broadcasting Corporation]] in 1949 to the producers and writers of its [[comedy]] programmes. It detailed what was then permissible as comedy material but its bureaucratic tone and outlandish strictures caused great amusement in the comedy world at the time.((Citation needed|date=September 2009))

Most of its content is now completely out of date. It was a confidential document and was kept under lock and key. The executive responsible for its release was the then Head of Variety, [[Michael Standing (BBC Producer)|Michael Standing]], although it contained a large amount of material which had been previously issued in the preceding years in memo form.

The full text was first published with the BBC's permission in the book ''[[Laughter in the Air]]'' by [[Barry Took]] in 1976.<ref>((Cite book |last=Took |first=Barry |url=https://archive.org/details/laughterinairinf0000took/mode/2up |title=Laughter in the Air |publisher=[[Robson Books]] / [[BBC]] |year=1981 |isbn=0860511499 |edition=Revised and enlarged |location=London |via=[[Internet Archive]] |authorlink=Barry Took))</ref> It has since been sold by the BBC itself.

==Content==
Among jokes banned were those concerning lavatories, effeminacy in men, immorality of any kind, suggestive references to honeymoon couples, chambermaids, fig-leaves, ladies' underwear (such as "winter draws on" and so on), lodgers and commercial travellers and the vulgar use of words such as "basket".<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://gazilla.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/bbc-variety-programmes-policy-guide-1949/ BBC Variety Programmes Policy Guide 1949 | ...and gazuky<!-- Bot generated title -->]((dead link|date=June 2023))</ref>

Caution had to be taken with jokes about drink, with not too many allowed to be made in any single programme. Also to be avoided were derogatory references to solicitors, miners and "the working class". Banned too was any reference to the [[McGillycuddy of the Reeks]], or jokes about his name, in response to previous complaints.

The word "nigger" was banned although the phrase "[[Minstrel show|Nigger Minstrels]]" was still tolerated. The document also advised: "Extreme care should be taken in dealing with references to or jokes about pre-natal influences (e.g. His mother was frightened by a donkey)."<ref name=autogenerated1 />

It has been observed that if these rules had been strictly followed a great many of the BBC's most successful comedy shows since, such as ''[[Beyond Our Ken]]'', ''[[Till Death Us Do Part]]'', ''[[Steptoe and Son]]'', would never have been aired.((citation needed|date=May 2013))

The successor to the ''Green Book'', the ''Producer Guidelines'', the corporation's programme-making code of ethics was introduced by Director-General [[John Birt, Baron Birt|John Birt]] in 1989.<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/march/bbc-producer-guidelines-published|title=BBC Producer Guidelines published|work=History of the BBC|access-date=13 April 2020))</ref> This was comprehensively rewritten in 1993 largely by the BBC's Controller of Editorial Policy [[Richard Ayre]] who went on to become a BBC Trustee.<ref>((cite web|url  =https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/who_we_are/trustees/richard_ayre.html
| title  = BBC Trust: ''Richard Ayre, Trustee''| author = BBC Trust| date   = 2010-03-18| accessdate = 2017-05-22))</ref> The retitled ''BBC Editorial Guidelines'' are now on the seventh edition.<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidelines/foreword-tony-hall|title=Foreword by Tony Hall|website=BBC Editorial Guidelines|access-date=13 April 2020))</ref>

== Further reading==
* ((cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7676195.stm|title=How radio comedy changed a nation|publisher=[[BBC]]|accessdate=2010-07-23 | date=2008-10-17))
* ((cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/grahamstewart/article2052341.ece|title=When the BBC banned baskets and fig leaves|publisher=[[The Sunday Times]]|accessdate=2015-05-28 | location=London | first=Graham | last=Stewart | date=2008-11-01))

==References==
((Reflist))

((DEFAULTSORT:Green Book (BBC), The))
[[Category:BBC]]
[[Category:British radio comedy]]
[[Category:Censorship in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1949 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1949 in radio]]

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