1950s

• The Fifties saw the end of rationing and a gradual increase in prosperity.
• One development that stemmed from this apparent affluence was the emergence of 'youth' as a group with a defined identity and as a target for consumer goods, as young people with disposable income became an attractive proposition for those selling records, clothes and all the trappings of the teenager.
• Controversial subjects on film were accommodated in the UK under the new 'X' category, introduced in 1951and incorporating the former advisory 'H' category given to horror films. As the growth of television ownership eroded the adult/family cinema audience, films like Rock Around The Clock(1956) drew teenage audiences. Cut for U, this film caused rioting in cinemas and fuelled increasing concern about teenage criminality, although there was in fact no evidence of a teenage crime wave as suggested by the popular Press. 
• The new 'X' category excluded children under 16.
• The Board did not allow anti-social behaviour and teen violence, and also had a long-standing policy against screen nudity, partly on the grounds that if they encouraged more nudity on screen, they would be inviting sexual exploitation. This nudity policy was overturned in 1958.
• The topic of drugs exercised the BBFC to a considerable degree during the decade. The Code was amended in 1956 to allow for the treatment of narcotics as a theme. Devil's Weed was rejected in 1951, because the Board felt that the moral lessons about the evils of drugs use were not made sufficiently clear.