I actually managed to miss the BBC One film last night that was based on the infamous TV campaigner, Mary Whitehouse. However Johann Hari and other TV critics seem to be united on one point. They all feel that the film looked rather warmly at Mary Whitehouse while ignoring her darker side. Scratch beneath the surface of Mrs Whitehouse and you’ll find she achieved her goals with a lethal combination of lawyers and religious intolerance for anyone else.

On the other hand, many viewers this morning were stroking their chins wondering if perhaps Whitehouse had a point. I mean, as the 9th series of Big Brother launches next week, the contrast between intelligent programming and lowbrow entertainment has never been so pronounced.

There’s little doubt that primetime television gets edgier with every generation, and as we become immune to the sex and violence on our screens, producers frequently have to up the ante in order to shock us into tuning in.

However, if Mary Whitehouse had her way, Antony Cotton would never have been allowed within a mile of the Rovers Return, and there wouldn’t have been a Captain Jack Harkness inside Doctor Who’s TARDIS. Television has largely made the acceptance of gay culture possible, and it has the potential to do the same for other groups and ethnicities.

Whilst I commend Whitehouse on her crusade against child pornography, I am left baffled by her objections to The Beatles, Doctor Who (because she didn’t like the Cybermen!), and Tom and Jerry Cartoons. Perhaps if she had been more choosy about her battles she would have acheived more of her goals.

In the end, Mary Whitehouse had very little long-term effect on television and culture. Why? Because the people of Britain voted with their remote controls and they will continue to do so.