Biography for
Mary Whitehouse (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

13 June 1910, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, UK

Date of Death

23 November 2001, Colchester, Essex, England, UK (natural causes)

Birth Name

Constance Mary Hutcheson

Spouse

Ernest Whitehouse

(1940 - 2000) (his death) 5 children

Trivia

She was a fan of the comedy series "Yes Minister" (1980).

She was Britain's most vocal critic of the growth of sexual content, violence and bad language on television during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

In 1965 Mary Whitehouse founded the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association in the UK.

She was a fierce opponent of "Till Death Us Do Part" (1965) for its strong language, "Doctor Who" (1963) for what she described as its "nightmare qualities" and the comedian Benny Hill for his sexy sketches.

Although she was a regular opponent of the BBC science fiction series "Doctor Who" (1963) for many years, with the series' script editor from 1968 until 1974, Terrance Dicks, once saying "if there's one thing she hated more than sex, it was "Doctor Who" (1963)", her criticisms became particularly frequent during the period produced by Philip Hinchcliffe between 1975 and 1977, which she described as "teatime brutality for tots". After viewing "Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin: Part Three (#14.11)" (1976), broadcast in November 1976, she wrote a strongly worded letter to the BBC "in anger and despair". She accused the serial of being "permeated with violence of a quite unacceptable kind" and being "shocking", "vicious" and "sadistic", citing in particular three offending scenes: one in which a character was in flames, an episode ending where the Doctor's foot is trapped in a railway track while a train approaches, and another episode ending in which the Doctor's head is held under water by a villain. She finished the letter by accusing the BBC of hypocrisy in ignoring its own Guidance Notes on the portrayal of violence on television and the programme makers of being "engrossed in their own expertise". She received an apology from BBC Director General Charles Curran, which marked a change in the BBC's policy towards the series and Whitehouse's complaints. Hinchcliffe left "Doctor Who" (1963) after three more serials and his successor, Graham Williams, was ordered to lighten the tone of the series.

She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1980 for her services to the community.

Whitehouse's background was as a school teacher. She was the head of the art department and senior mistress at Madeley Secondary Modern School. She was also a devout Christian.

Personal Quotes

If violence is shown as normal on the television screen it will help to create a violent society.

"I think it's extraordinary that people with a brilliance in many ways, of making a programme of that kind, couldn't have extended their awareness to the effect of what they were doing upon the children who were receiving it. That was almost as though they were a bit dumb." (Her views on BBC series "Doctor Who" (1963)).

If they didn't show it on the screen, most people wouldn't know about oral sex.

[From her first public speech] "Last Thursday evening, we sat as a family and saw a programme that started at 6.35. And it was the dirtiest programme I have seen for a very long time."

Teatime brutality for tots. (On "Doctor Who" (1963))