I take with a pinch of salt people who jump up and say this, that and the other thing should be banned. There is rarely any intellectual discussion about these things.

My film The Devils (1971) may have been banned by any number of local councils and all over the world but it was not banned, for example, by the Jesuit Loyola University in Chicago, where it is taught on a film studies course.

A lot of these things cause a lot of screaming and shouting from people who don’t know what they are talking about. People jump to conclusions, as with Life of Brian. Christ appears, but he’s preaching standard religious dogma. There’s nothing wrong with it.

I don’t think the controversy around The Devils had any effect on my career. A couple of my other films have been censored, but that was a long time ago.

Ten years ago Melvyn Bragg challenged me to conceive of a film that I thought should be banned. I came up with A Kitten for Hitler, and he said that if I ever made it I would be lynched. It took me ten years to raise enough money to make the film, but I made it, for a website called Comedybox. A lot has changed, even in the past decade. I think if I had made the film then it would have created a furore.

I agree with censorship in some cases. I object when it is self-appointed local councils, but I have faith in the British Board of Film Classification. They are tried and tested people with high moral standards.

Pornographic images and images that cause pain to those participating in them, something made for salacious reasons and gain of money: I wouldn’t want to see these things or sully my mind with them. I am all for censorship but I’m also all for freedom of artistic licence as long as nobody gets hurt. It’s a fine line we are treading and I don’t think it should be lost altogether.

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