Rules on bad language in stand-up specials have been loosened – and it’s all thanks to Daniel Sloss.

The comedian released his show, X, in cinemas last year, requiring an official rating from censors.

But despite containing 11 C-bombs, the British Board of Film Classification allowed it to pass with a 15-certificate – rather than the 18 the language might previously have demanded.

The decision was made right at the top, the BBFC’s annual report revealed, with the ruling referred to chief executive David Austin.

Last year, the censors made a similar ruling on Billy Connolly’s stand-up show The Sex Life of Bandages – but Sloss pushed the envelope slightly further, boasting one more C-word than his fellow countryman’s routine.

In their report, the BBFC said: ‘Use of very strong language can sometimes be enough to take a film into the adult category.

‘While frequency of language can be a category-defining issue, viewing teams also make their judgements based on the manner in which the story delivers the language.

‘In keeping with recent years, we can sometimes find greater numbers of the word at 15 in stand-up comedy, where it is seldom directed from one person to another, or complicated by other factors such as aggression or violence.

‘We noted 11 uses across the feature-length theatrical release of Daniel Sloss: X, a performance by the Scottish comedian, recorded in Sydney. This was one more than 2019’s Billy Connolly: The Sex Life of Bandages, another stand-up routine by a Scotsman in Australia.

‘All of Sloss’s uses of the word occurred in reported speech during relation of comic observations and anecdotes, and we classified the show 15 after referral to the chief executive.