FIFTY years ago on January 15 the BBC ended its ban on mentioning politics, royalty, religion and sex in its comedy shows.

Old chum Mike Shaw, former editor of the Colne Valley Guardian, pointed out this momentous date with the comment: “What on earth did we laugh at before then?”

While 50 years might seem like an awful long time ago, this was the decade of the Swinging 60s, the permissive age when youth questioned the establishment, demanded peace and practised free love. Well, that was the rumour although I found it hard to come by.

It was an era that brought about a sea change in society and equality in Britain and made every local lad believe he could become a working class hero like Lennon or the queen of cool like Julie Driscoll.

The times they were a changing as Dylan sang that same year of 1963 as the Profumo scandal made headlines.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover had started the decade as it meant to go on, with Penguin Books prosecuted for obscenity for publishing the D H Lawrence novel in 1960.

Old establishment attitudes were laid bare at the trial when a barrister famously asked the jurors if this was a book they would wish their wives or servants to read.

When the jury of nine men and three women stopped laughing, they found in favour of the book and publication went ahead – and 200,000 copies were sold on the first day for 3s 6d each. I sent the office junior to buy my copy – and what a boring read it was.

Private Eye launched in 1961 and this was the period when The Beatles and Harold Wilson made their mark, there was the first manned space flight, the Berlin Wall was built and Coronation Street started with Ken Barlow. A momentous and changing time, indeed.

So what did we laugh at before the BBC lifted its embargo?

Comedy shows of 1960 included Bootsie and Snudge, Charlie Drake, Dickie Henderson, Fred Emery, The Larkins and, believe it or not, Benny Hill with his full range of slapstick, mime, parody and double entendre.

Add That Was The Week That Was that launched in 1962 with its biting political satire and the Beeb had to change to keep up.

The only question now is whether the change has gone too far. Is TV too violent and permissive? Or should we celebrate our freedom of expression?