The BSC's director says children need protecting

Paul Bolt, director of the Broadcasting Standards Commission, said he expected TV channels would eventually bring in such a system, following the example set by films, DVDs and video games.

"If you think of what types of things children consume, video games are classified," he told The Independent newspaper.

"I think television will gradually get sucked into that kind of expectation. I think it's in its interests to do so."

Mr Bolt's comments come as concerns grow about the traditional 2100 watershed.

Last week the commission censured the BBC after Michael Palin swore during an early-evening edition of his Sahara travelogue, while Channel 4 was rapped for showing the video for Pink's song Just Like A Pill - with "implied sexual activity" - at tea-time.

Classifications for TV shows are used in other countries, such as Australia, while in the UK, films get their own ratings from Sky and Five.

'Red triangle'

Channel 4 also had its notorious "red triangle" in the 1980s - a short-lived experiment which added a sign in the corner of the screen to denote adult content on late-night films.

Mr Bolt said he thought classifications would come in most useful for dramas and documentaries.

"Most television dramas are shot as films nowadays," he said.

"I don't see any particular reasons why they could not be classified in the same way."

Mr Bolt heads the full-time staff at the Broadcasting Standards Commission, which deals with taste and fairness issues in TV and radio.

The commission will become part of the new Ofcom watchdog by the end of the year.

A spokesman for the commission told BBC News Online that ratings for TV programmes were an idea it had pursued for some time, and that broadcasters were open to the idea.

"You'll see the Radio Times listings guide now carries ratings, and while it's not something we've got the power to enforce, it's something we've had discussions with the BBC and other broadcasters about," he said.