With the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling to outlaw the 'Cactus Kid' Oasis commercials this week, we look at some of the most famous banned adverts in history.

Theatre censorship was abolished 40 years ago this month. Here's a look back at the playwrights and the people that overturned centuries of artistic stuffiness, and how their rather fruity new productions managed to pave the way for the liberated theatre we enjoy today

Often culture seems to be driven by the youngest and most dynamic artists in the field. Proof, it may be argued, that 'experience is often just the name everyone gives to their mistakes'.

A brief history of Halloween, from the folk beliefs of Europe to the commercial candy-bonanza of the modern holiday. This article explores the where the traditions of modern Halloween came from and those beliefs and practices long forgotten. Discover where Jack'o'lanterns came from and why we wear costumes just in time for the holidays!

Though the Olympic Games kicked off in considerable splendour last week, the 29th games has been shrouded in a thick cloud of controversy ever since China was announced as the host. But with zero countries deciding to boycott the competition, we look at the conflict between the political and the sporting concerns that surround the Olympics.

In the cool and positively gloomy light of the current financial forecast, the government are considering relaxing the "fiscal rules" that had shaped economic management since Brown invented them in 1997.

In the run up to this year's Festival of History, English Heritage have composed a shortlist for the public to vote for who they think takes the crown as Britain's worst monarch.

Legend has it that in the flickering gaslight of early-Victorian London a monster named Spring-Heeled Jack roamed the city, attacking citizens apparently at random. This villain of the sepia-toned age became somewhat of a celebrity, appearing as a regular character in the 19th century equivalent of Stephen King novels - The Penny Dreadful.

Born in the same year as Shakespeare and every bit as popular with audiences at the time, meet Christopher Marlowe, the drunken, homosexual hell-raiser that is too often England's forgotten literary genius.

Almost since storytelling began there have been whispers of strange creatures in the wilds, in the mountains, forests and caves. These monsters are neither animal nor human but something in-between, or so the stories go. When these odd creatures are further investigated a disappointingly earthly conclusion is drawn.

As Holland join the ever growing list of countries enforcing a smoking ban in public places, I have decided to take a look into the filthy habit that kills approximately four million people a year.

With the tightening credit crunch, plummeting house prices and an economic recession hanging in the air, the financial forecast looks gloomy at best. However, contrary to popular belief, a new survey suggests that the entertainment sector may be about to buck the greying trend.

As the new film The Edge of Love is put on general release, we take a look at the current surge in the poet Dylan Thomas's popularity