The sex scenes are “discreet”, the violence no longer gratuitous and even the innuendo is “mild”.

James Bond has ditched sadism and sexism for the “woke” era to win a family-friendly 12A rating for No Time To Die.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) passed the long-awaited new 007 outing for release uncut, after finding that its scenes of “moderate violence” and “infrequent strong language” were suitable for children aged 12 and above.

The film, which opens next Thursday, sidesteps the sexism and explicit violence which forced cuts to its predecessors.

Censors called for the removal of a bloody eye-gouging scene from Spectre (2015) and a “sadistic” torture sequence in Casino Royale (2006), in order to secure a 12A rating.

The BBFC’s notes for No Time To Die say that although there are “a number of scenes of violence, including crunchy blows, an arm-break and shootings, but these lack any focus on detail.”

There is “occasional sight of injuries resulting from violence, including cuts and grazes”.

Sean Connery’s Bond was “basically” a rapist, No Time To Die director Cary Fukunaga this week said, in comments believed to be referring to a Thunderball scene in which 007 forces himself on a nurse who rejects his advances.

The arrival of Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge as screenwriter, to inject a fresh focus on female empowerment, appears to have diluted Bond’s misogyny.

“There are mild sex references and innuendo, as well as occasional discreet establishments of sex,” the BBFC said of Fukunaga’s film.

Racial stereotyping of black and Chinese characters, a trait of previous Bonds, is no longer allowed to pass.

“A racist remark is made to a black character who meets it with a very firm and forceful challenge,” in No Time To Die.

The f-word, first uttered in a Bond movie by Judi Dench in Skyfall, returns alongside milder oaths like “Jesus” and “damn.”

Phil Clapp, UK Cinema Association chief executive, said filmgoers expected the franchise to move with the times. “Most people making broad-appeal films are aware of the context in which those films are likely to be presented,” he said.

The number of 18 and 15-rated films had dropped over the past decade with studios increasingly targeting family audiences to maximise box office returns, Mr Clapp said.

One sequence in No Time To Die which might concern parents of younger children is the release of a “weaponised biochemical substance” that causes victims to “choke”. Their “flesh becomes disfigured and bloody,” the BBFC warned.

Final cut – Bond movies censored

From Russia With Love (1963)

A gypsy dancer wriggling her stomach and bending over, a fight between two women and Bond’s final remark to Tania – “what a performance” – cut for A rating.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

When Bond says “I feel a slight stiffness coming on”, the BBFC instructed the addition of the words “…in the shoulder.”

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Censors upgraded PG rating to 12 due to scene of Bond tearing off a woman’s bikini top and throttling her with it.

Casino Royale (2006)

The BBFC told producers that the torture scene placed too much emphasis on both the infliction of pain and the sadism of the villain for the requested 12A rating.

Spectre (2015)

Strong bloody detail during a scene of eye-gouging and further bloody detail in the aftermath of the suicide of a terminally ill man cut to avoid 15 rating.

Sexist and racist – scenes that wouldn’t make the cut today

Dr No (1962)

Sean Connery sets the tone in first Bond film when he walks across Jamaica beach and orders a black fisherman who is helping the CIA to “fetch my shoes”.

Thunderball (1965)

Nurse Patricia Fearing pushes Bond away when he forcibly kisses her. Bond pushes her into a steam room and takes off her clothes.

You Only Live Twice (1967)

After amorous encounter with Chinese woman, Connery says “Peking duck tastes different to Russian caviar, but I love them both.” Ling replies: “Darling, I give you very best duck.”

Octopussy (1983)

Roger Moore’s 007 hands his casino winnings to an Indian man and tells him “that’ll keep you in curry for a few weeks, won’t it?”

Skyfall (2012)

Chinese censors deleted the murder of a security guard in Shanghai and remarks about torture in China. No Time To Die has been granted a release in China, now a vital box office market.