# Why does British scifi have a certain look? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667 "2012-01-26T01:49:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/1 "2012-01-26T01:49:37Z")
I was watching the latest big screen adaptation of Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy and I remember thinking it had a very British scifi look to it(yes yes I realize there are British characters involved) despite being a big budget production. For what I’m thinking of look at the revived Doctor Who, its the best example I can think of. Does anyone notice this besides me? ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/2 "2012-01-26T04:48:57Z")
Yes… yes. It is almost like everyone moves 4% faster or something. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/3 "2012-01-26T05:00:50Z")
Importantly it was directed by Garth Jennings, who is a Brit. I suspect it’s that we’re culturally attuned to crappy special effects due to low-budget Dr Who-style TV sci fi from the 60s to the 80s. Even when someone has a vast budget, they would still want it to have that semi-retro ‘feel’. In the case of HHGtG, it might even have been the director’s and art director’s choice to make it look that way, to reflect the very British atmosphere of the books/radio/original TV series, which would take those expectations into account. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/4 "2012-01-26T05:30:54Z")
Or they still didn’t have the money. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/5 "2012-01-26T06:12:34Z")
Low production value. One of the strangest things about any Brit film is silence, you become immediately aware of how much sound is in every second of an American movie. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/6 "2012-01-26T06:17:56Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Or they still didn’t have the money. Yeah, I was about to say British Science Fiction productions have a certain look, because they lack a certain budget. I love BriSciFi all the more for it though. Unless they’re really bad, penny-pinching special effects leave more to the imagination. ---
**Author:** ![YoDoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e68b1a/32.png) [@YoDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoDoc)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/7 "2012-01-26T07:21:58Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > One of the strangest things about any Brit film is silence, you become immediately aware of how much sound is in every second of an American movie. This. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/8 "2012-01-26T09:27:18Z")
Also, most of them are _contractually obliged_ to feature scrubby Welsh stone quarries as backdrops for outdoor scenes (as opposed to the ubiquitous chaparral from Trek/Cali SF and the BC rainforests from every Vancouver-made series) ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/9 "2012-01-26T11:25:46Z")
I honestly feel there is a specific look to the majority of British drama. I use a separate home cinema audio setup and sometimes I end up browsing channels with it off or connected to something else (for example the PS3). Very often I watch a show and just decide it looks British, put the sound on and lo behold, British it is. Confirmation bias maybe, but it is what it is. There’s a greyness and a certain washed-out nature. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/10 "2012-01-26T11:31:12Z")
I wonder if it has something to do with the grading of the picture. British TV also uses PAL whereas American TV is NTSC (never the same colour) so it does just look different. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/11 "2012-01-26T11:47:22Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Low production value. > > One of the strangest things about any Brit film is silence, you become immediately aware of how much sound is in every second of an American movie. Crazy isn’t it, a film without a full orchestra escorting the script through every scene. btw, I think you mean ‘more normal’ production values, as in what the rest of the world generally has available. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/12 "2012-01-26T13:18:52Z")
I think part of it also has to do with a lot of British SF being shot on video instead of film; it has a different depth-of-field. > [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I wonder if it has something to do with the grading of the picture. British TV also uses PAL whereas American TV is NTSC (never the same colour) so it does just look different. A hijack, but is NTSC vs PAL still a thing now that almost everyone is going HD? Are there separate NTSC and PAL (and Secam, I suppose) versions of HD? Or is 1920 x 1080 the standard everywhere. (Yeah, I know, 50hz vs 60hz is in there too.) ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/13 "2012-01-26T20:08:24Z")
It’s the teeth. Kidding. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/14 "2012-01-27T02:23:04Z")
> [@tanstaafl](#): > > I think part of it also has to do with a lot of British SF being shot on video instead of film; it has a different depth-of-field. > > A hijack, but is NTSC vs PAL still a thing now that almost everyone is going HD? Are there separate NTSC and PAL (and Secam, I suppose) versions of HD? Or is 1920 x 1080 the standard everywhere. (Yeah, I know, 50hz vs 60hz is in there too.) I’m not sure, but a lot of people are still watching in non-HD formats (like DVD), so it’s not like the problem is entirely gone either way. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/15 "2012-01-27T02:36:16Z")
So why do I love _Quatermas And The Pit_ as much as _Star Wars_ ? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-scifi-have-a-certain-look/610667/16 "2012-01-27T02:47:11Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Also, most of them are _contractually obliged_ to feature scrubby Welsh stone quarries as backdrops for outdoor scenes (as opposed to the ubiquitous chaparral from Trek/Cali SF and the BC rainforests from every Vancouver-made series) Which are also contractually obliged. > **[Kirk's Rock - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KirksRock)** > > The American equivalent of the BBC Quarry, a distinctive set of striated sandstone slabs, dozens to hundreds of feet tall, sharply-angled and pointed at their tops. Familiar from its use as an exterior location in any number of Science Fiction …