Mainstream Trends and Masterpiece Traditions

Author(s):  
Eva N. Redvall

The chapter explores the successful meeting of “mainstream trends” and “masterpiece traditions” in the commissioning and production of Downton Abbey (2010–2015), and the way in which this “postheritage drama” marks a significant transatlantic encounter between different broadcasting cultures and storytelling traditions. Drawing on recent research on the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States in television drama, the analysis first details how this period drama became a collaboration between the commercial UK broadcaster ITV and the American PBS station WGBH and its Masterpiece series. The chapter then investigates how the long-form narrative with soap opera elements was designed to tap into the UK tradition of heritage drama, while drawing on the speed and storytelling style of US television series. The chapter closes with a discussion of Downton Abbey’s production story in relation to the series’ remarkable popularity in the United Kingdom, the United States, and beyond.

Author(s):  
Thomas Klammer ◽  
Neil Wilner ◽  
Jan Smolarski

Capital expenditures can be crucial to firms long-term success, especially in a complex global environment. As companies increasingly compete in the global market place, it is important to study project evaluation processes from an international perspective. Capital investments involve substantial monetary commitments and risks that affect long-term firm profitability and influence capital allocation decisions in the future. Survey research in the area of capital expenditure analysis has been extensively done in both the United States [US] and the United Kingdom [UK]. This research is the first comparative survey of practices in both countries that we are aware of. A direct comparison of the use of project evaluation, management science, and risk management techniques in the two countries is made. The survey instrument used is an adaptation of the Klammer [1970] instrument that has been used repeatedly in surveys of American firms. This is the first time that it has been applied to British firms. The use of a common instrument allows for more meaningful comparisons. The samples consisted of 127 American and 59 British firms with sales of at least $100 million and capital expenditures of at least $10 million. Preliminary results indicate a continued extensive use of discounted cash flow techniques by US firms. Techniques such as payback or urgency continue to be used, but to a lesser degree than discounting. Firms in the UK also make extensive use of discounting but do so to a lesser degree than their American counterparts. Payback is widely used in the UK. Risk management techniques are widely used in both countries, with sensitivity analysis being the most popular technique in both countries. Extensive use of technical and administrative procedures, such as detailed budgets, standardized forms and post-audits, are evidenced in both countries. The paper offers reasons that have to do with organizational structure and form, as well as market differences, to explain our results.


1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. D. O'Brien ◽  
W. C. Shaw

The role of dental and orthodontic auxiliaries in Europe and the United States is reviewed, and the advantages of their employment in the United Kingdom are discussed in terms of increasing the cost-effectiveness of orthodontic treatment provision. A three-stage programme for the evaluation of Orthodontic Auxiliaries in the UK is proposed.


2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Williamson ◽  
Sheila McLean ◽  
Judith Connell

In the United Kingdom there is a growing conviction that CECs have an important role to play in helping health care professionals address ethical dilemmas. For example, the Royal College of Physicians, the Nuffield Trust and the unofficial Clinical Ethics Network, which has received financial support from the Department of Health, commend the use of CECs in the UK. The growth of such committees has been influenced by the legal and policy support they have received in the United States. However, there is increasing concern about both the benefits and the quality of work produced by CECs. In addition, despite the rapid increase in the number of CECs in the UK, outside of the United States they remain under-researched and no formal mechanism exists to assess their performance. As a result we know little about the structure, function, impact and effectiveness of CECs. We are currently conducting a research project funded by the Wellcome Trust that seeks to interrogate the competing claims regarding the benefits and disbenefits of CECs. This initial account of our research provides a detailed analysis of theoretical issues that surround the development and use of CECs and points towards the questions that lie at the heart of the social science strand of our project.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 558-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wyn Rees

The Obama administration played a surprisingly interventionist role in the UK referendum on membership of the European Union (EU), arguing that a vote to leave would damage European security. Yet this article contends that US attitudes towards the EU as a security actor, and the part played within it by the United Kingdom, have been much more complex than the United States has sought to portray. While it has spoken the language of partnership, it has acted as if the EU has been a problem for US policy. The United Kingdom was used as part of the mechanism for managing that problem. In doing so, America contributed, albeit inadvertently, to the Brexit result. With the aid of contrasting theoretical perspectives from Realism and Institutionalism, this article explores how America’s security relationship with the United Kingdom has helped to engineer a security situation that the United States wanted to avoid.


Author(s):  
Łukasz Danel

This article is devoted to the "special relationship" between the United Kingdom and the United States: a strategic partnership that has united these two countries for good after WWII, even though in many respects it has lasted since the first half of the 19th century. The author starts with presenting the historic outline of the "special relationship" with an emphasis on the characteristics of mutual ties and dependencies. The author also analyses the political circumstances in which tightening or loosening of the British and American relations took place. In the final part of the article, the author refers to the most recent political events, which in 2016 took place in Great Britain and in the United Sates. In this manner, the author is trying to answer the question on how the decision on leaving the European Union by Great Britain (the so-called Brexit) and the election of Donald Trump as the US president will influence the shape of the British and American alliance


This chapter offers the first account of the beginning of subtitling in the United Kingdom and in the United States. The release of foreign-language films with superimposed English titles began in both countries in the course of 1931, and became generalised in 1932. The chapter discusses early experiments in titling, including the use of interpolated titles after the fashion of silent films. It also raises a number of methodological problems, including the difficulty of interpretation of press data. This difficulty means that as yet we have only a provisional picture of early subtitling practices in the UK and USA, and for several of these early subtitled versions the nature and extent of the titling is not known. The chapter also discusses the question of survival of the material artefacts of these subtitled versions.


Author(s):  
Christopher S. Browning ◽  
Pertti Joenniemi ◽  
Brent J. Steele

The chapter reinterprets the United Kingdom-US special relationship through the lens of vicarious identification. It demonstrates how historical proclamations of the special relationship have responded to recurrent British anxieties related to its postwar, post-imperial, and now, following Brexit, its (impending) post-(EU)ropean decline. Vicarious identification with the United States is seen to offer the chance to reaffirm core narratives of self-identity central to British ontological security and which when successful enable the country to avoid serious reflection on its current situation. The chapter highlights the historical continuities of this move but also shows how vicarious identity promotion operates as a foreign policy strategy designed, not only to legitimize the special relationship, but also to entice the United States and its citizens to reciprocate in kind. Beyond exploring the temptations of vicarious identification as a form of foreign policy strategy, the chapter also explores its vulnerabilities, vulnerabilities crystallized during the course of the Trump presidency.


Author(s):  
D L Tolley ◽  
G J Fowler

This paper examines the impact of the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) in the United States and the Energy Act 1983 in the United Kingdom on the nature of the purchase tariffs for co-generators and combined heat and power (CHP) plant, and considers the reasons why the prospects for investment by private generators might be enhanced in the United States.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Roth

Universities and Colleges are utilizing virtual worlds such as Secondlife in increasing numbers worldwide. Virtual Worlds also contribute to access to knowledge and the economic development of countries. The capacity for continued utilization and development of virtual worlds is influenced by government policy and investment.   The worldwide performance index of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the Network Readiness Index (NRI) of the World Economic Forum. This paper compares and contrasts the performance of the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia since 2006.   This paper then provides a comparison of the UK, US and the Australian government ICT policies and expenditure, as well as each governments approach to cyber-security and Virtual Worlds. The US and the UK have embraced virtual world technologies and Australia has ignored the opportunities presented by Virtual Worlds. 


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