At a time when debates about free speech feel increasingly polarised, we look back to 1963 when a Midlands housewife and teacher named Mary Whitehouse became the original ‘cancel culture’ warrior. Armed with just a typewriter, she began a 30-year campaign to turn back the tide of the permissive culture she saw sweeping through society with the advent of the sexual revolution.
During the 1970s, Mary's battle with permissive society is hotting up, as ideas of progress and suggestions that nothing should be censored gain currency. Nude actress and men’s magazine columnist Fiona Richmond publicly objects to Mary’s ‘bullying’ desire to standing in the way of her personal freedoms, and the then pornographer, now co-owner of West Ham FC, David Sullivan decides to take the fight to Mary with the audacious move of calling his flagship porn magazine Whitehouse.