However, while many of the larger respectable companies simply issued their previously BBFC certificated cinema releases onto video to play safe as they feared there was bound to be a clampdown at some stage, some of the smaller independent companies decided to take advantage of the unregulated video rentals market by issuing "strong uncut" versions depicting graphic violence and gore.
A whole barrage of titles previously banned by the BBFC from getting a cinema release suddenly ended up uncensored on home video.
What began as a bill drafted by little known Luton South Conservative back bencher Graham Bright was made law after he and the tabloid press (most notably The Daily Mail) had successfully whipped the media into a frenzied hysteria over so-called "video nasties".
In 1984, the UK government introduced the Video Recordings Act, which effectively meant that all pre-recorded videocassettes had to be officially classified by an independent body called the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) before they could legally be released in the United Kingdom.
There were some exceptions to this, such as music, educational, documentary and religious programmes providing they contained no profanity, sexual or violent content.