# Robin Duval

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thumb|Duval in 2021
'''Robin Arthur Philip Duval''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE}} (born 1941) was Director of the [British Board of Film Classification](/source/British_Board_of_Film_Classification), (the "Film Censor"), from 1999 to 2004.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/458208/ | title=Duval, Robin (1941-) | first=Michael | last=Brooke | work=[screenonline](/source/screenonline) | publisher=[British Film Institute](/source/British_Film_Institute) | accessdate=2009-05-07 }}</ref>

Duval was educated at [King Edward's School, Birmingham](/source/King_Edward's_School%2C_Birmingham) before reading history at [University College London](/source/University_College_London) (UCL) during which he took part in the first series of [University Challenge](/source/University_Challenge). He subsequently studied at the University of Michigan as a Fulbright Scholar. He began his career in [BBC radio](/source/BBC_radio) and as a TV advertisement writer and producer at [J. Walter Thompson](/source/J._Walter_Thompson). In 1968 he joined the [Central Office of Information](/source/Central_Office_of_Information) (COI), eventually becoming their Head of Television and Film Production. He then became Deputy Director of Programmes at the [Independent Television Commission](/source/Independent_Television_Commission) before succeeding James Ferman as Director of the BBFC in 1999.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120720072020/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/newsreleases/2004/03/bbfc-director-robin-duval-to-retire/ bbfc.co.uk] </ref>

His directorship was marked by his 2000 decision no longer to cut films for adults (unless they broke criminal law).<ref>BFI website http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/458208/index.html</ref> He also abolished the '12' age-based rating for cinema, replacing it with an advisory '12A' rating.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

On retirement from the BBFC, he was appointed [Commander of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (CBE) in the 2005 [New Years Honours](/source/New_Years_Honours) for  services to the film industry. Duval was succeeded by [David Cooke](/source/David_Cooke_(censor)).

In his personal life, Duval's interests include attending concerts, operas and football matches. He is married with four daughters.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/britains-new-censor-in-at-the-deep-end-1046554.html | location=London | work=The Independent | first=Rhys | last=Williams | date=1999-01-12 | title=Britain's new censor in at the deep end}}</ref>

Since he retired from the BBFC he has become a novelist, writing political thrillers set against an international backdrop. Bear in the Woods was published in 2010, its follow-up Below the Thunder in 2013 and Not Single Spies in 2015. However his latest novel, Going to America, published in 2021, explores a quite different theme: the conflict between age and youth as an old and once famous actor takes his granddaughter on the trip of a lifetime to New Orleans.

== References ==
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Category:1941 births
Category:Living people
Category:People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham
Category:British censors
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robin Duval](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Duval) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Duval?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.