Ninja Turtles & Moral Panics

Sources/References

Mary Whitehouse/Video Nasties

• Did mass media promote the growth of a ‘permissive society’ in Britain 1954–69? 

• 7 Facts About ‘The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas’ (classiccountrymusic.com)

• Video Nasties (BBFC/archive.org - 2005)

• The Exorist Case Studies (BBFC)

  • Never officially banned in the UK but was prevented by James Ferman until his retirement in 1999

• Bruce Anderson: A life spent trying in vain to preserve the suburban idyll (Independent/archive.org - 2001)

  • Notes that while the Thatcher government publicly aligned themselves with Mary Whitehouse and her campaign, privately Thatcher disliked her.

• Dear Censor - BBFC Documentary - Video Nasties (YouTube - 2011)

• “Are We Insane ?”. The “Video Nasty” Moral Panic (Open Edition - 2012)

• “I believe they effect dogs as well…”

  • In this article Sir Graham Bright denies ever saying “dogs”. He does not explain what he actually said.

  • However, multiple official articles including this one quote him as saying “dogs”.

• 'Suitable For Viewing In The Home ?' (Video Censorship & Video Nasties Documentary) (YouTube - 2018)

Dr Who

• David Maloney Obituaries (Independent/archive.org - 2006)

  • “Mary Whitehouse described it as "teatime brutality for tots".”

• The Brain Of Morbius (shannonsullivan.com - 2020)

Ninja Weapons

• Historical crime data (GOV..UK - 2016)

• Crime statistics in England and Wales: how significant is the decline? (Guardian - 2014)

• The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (GOV.UK - 1988)

• Enter The Dragon Case Studies (BBFC)

• History Of The BBFC (BBFC)

• Martial Arts in the British National Press (chinesemartialstudies.com - 2017)

• The Circulation of Chinese Cinemas in the UK: Studies in Taste, Tastemaking and Film Cultures (University Of Manchester - 2017)

Margaret Thatcher

• Margaret Thatcher's government thought football fans so violent she set up a 'war cabinet' (Independent - 2016)

• Hillsborough: Liverpool FC has got rid of The Sun but it cannot rid The Sun of Liverpool FC (The Conversation - 2017)

• Brixton Riots, 1981 (Met Police)

• Brixton gun victim Cherry Groce 'was inspiration' (BBC News - 2014)

  • The 1985 Brixton Riots (following from the present mistrust of the police that had led to the 1981 riots) was sparked off by a police shooting hitting Cherry Groce, a mother of eight children, during a police raid, leaving her paralysed for the rest of her life.

• Riots in Thatcher’s Britain (Springer - 2015)

• Riot Redactions, Colonial Reverberations (New Socialist - 2020)

  • Examines the methods of controlling riots, such as the Offensive Weapons Act, and how it is all part of militarising the police.

• Conservative Manifesto 1983

• Hillsborough Stadium Disaster - Taylor Interim Report 1989

Turtle Edits

• TURTLETHON: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles All the Way Down (tumblr)

• What Went Wrong With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze? (Den Of Geek - 2021)

Turtle Mania

• Turtle 'dumped in Berkshire lake' during Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze spotted 40 years later (Berkshire Live - 2022)

• Terrapin dumped in pond during Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze found alive 25 YEARS later (Mirror - 2015)

• Turtles And Terrapins: Import Controls (Parliament.UK - 1990)

• UK eggs declared safe 30 years after salmonella scare (BBC News - 2017)

• "60 Minutes" [Australia]: 'Turtlemania' (YouTube - 2018)

• Turtlemania | The 'EVILS' Behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (YouTube - 2017)

• Turtlemania | Ninja Turtles | Counterfeit goods (YouTube - 2015)

• When the Right Tried to Cancel the Turtles (TribuneMag - 2021)

  • This article was very influential on the direction of the video

• No Nunchucks (Tedium - 2019)

Newspapers

• Newspaper clippings and extracts found here