Under the Counter is an ongoing research project that explores Britain’s pornography business between the years of 1960 and 2000, when it was a criminal offence to sell hardcore in Britain.

It is the work of Oliver Carter, a Reader in Creative Economies at the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research, Birmingham City University. His research focuses on alternative economies of cultural production; informal forms of industry that are often removed from a formal cultural industries discourse.

His research into Britain’s pornography business has The research for this book has informed the award-winning documentary series Sexposed and the feature Hardcore Guaranteed – both distributed by Amazon Video – as well as the second episode of the 2021 BBC series Bent Coppers: Crossing the Line of Duty.

This website is not affiliated with any institution and is entirely the author’s own opinion.