Banned

A special extended Platform tells the story of censorship in the arts. From Aristophanes' Lysistrata (banned for 'political impropriety') to more recent examples, many works have been subject to banning by various official and unofficial bodies. Reasons for banning include faith (Don Carlos), sex (Mrs Warren's Profession), politics (Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony), language (The Entertainer), sexuality (The Children's Hour) and failing to respect the institution of marriage (Ghosts). In the light of the recent discussions on the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, this is an opportunity to hear some of the material that has, at some point, been banned.

Extracts read by Andrew Beynon, Lucy Briers, Max Dowler, Christopher Gilling, Catherine Kanter, Patrick Marlowe and Sinead O'Keeffe.

Panel: Richard Bean, Bonnie Greer, Dr Evan Harris MP and Aleks Sierz. Chaired by Dr Helen Freshwater.

Running time: 2 hours

Banned finished on: 9 January 2007