There are occasional allusions to romantic sex between the Master and Margarita, but never any sex scenes.

There is some nudity in episode 4, when the latest fashions from Paris, Rome and Berlin that women that had accepted from Woland and Koroviev in exchange for their own clothes, suddenly dematerialised after the show at the Varieté Theatre, leaving them naked.

In episode 6, Gella, Woland's maid, answers the door dressed only in a small apron and nothing else. At the end of the episode, Margarita strips off to rub herself all over with the cream given to her by Azazel, and rides naked through Moscow on a broomstick.

In episode 7, there is nudity from beginning to end, although, in common with all episodes of this series, it is only ever breasts and bottoms. Any hint of genitals is pixellated over.

In episode 8, Margarita dines in the nude with Woland and his entourage. Frieda also appears nude.

At the end of episode 1, Berlioz is beheaded when he is run over by a tram, although it is a clean cut and not particularly gory.

In episode 4, Behemoth the cat rips off the head of the compère of the Varieté Theatre on stage and blood is seen to gush from the neck. Koroviev then holds up the severed head and shows it to the audience. The head and body are alive throughout, though, and Koroviev reattaches the head. The compère walks away, bemused, but none the worse for the ordeal.

Some Christians might find this series profane, since it tells the story of Christ's crucifixion in a way not wholly consistent with the Bible. For example, Jesus tells Pilate that Matthew the Levite was following him around everywhere, writing the things he said on a parchment. When Jesus managed to snatch it away from Matthew, he saw that Matthew had lied about the things Jesus had said.

This series is set in Moscow in the 1930s, so much vodka is consumed throughout. There is, however, no glorification of drinking or any sense of trying to promote the drinking of alcohol. It is portrayed as precisely what it is - an everyday aspect of Russian life.

There are a few instances of smoking tobacco throughout the series, but again, nothing that glorifies the practice.

There are no drug-taking scenes at all.