Oh dear. There's a stonking number of Brits and Australians* in the cast of Lost, aren't there? So how come, when the show does its first proper flashback to England, they still manage to put together something that doesn't even approach realism.
Not since the likes of The Fall Guy and other 80s classics of television have we been subjected to such tourist rubbish. UK viewers who haven't seen the episode yet: I'm not spoiling you, I'm preparing you.
* Every single Australian over the age of 21 has been to London on a backpacking holiday at least once, so they could provide useful advice, too, I'm sure.
Here's a traditional London pub. Looks authentic, doesn't it, with that big Union Jack/Flag, everyone drinking pints and those dinky little table lamps?
Here's a traditional London “roasted chestnuts” vendor, which of course all locals visit whenever possible. Again with the Union Jack.
Here's an army recruitment poster for the Royal Scots. Notice how we now spell honour without a 'u'.
Here's a photo seller on the South Bank, somewhere around about County Hall. Notice the imposing shape of the London Eye, the clear open skyline and the authentic 60s architecture. Oh wait... Here's what it should look like.
And, of course, it's the US tourist double: the red telephone box and the good old British Bobbie. Let's not forget to give them minor cliché points for the flat hat on the chestnut seller.
Okay. Let's face it, 99% of the worldwide Lost audience won't notice these problems. You have to be a local to pick up on it. I, for one, have no idea if there's any realism whatsoever in the depiction of various parts of Australia or Korea in past episodes. But I'm pretty sure Lost's version of Nigeria was more like Somalia, so maybe others have noticed these problems and been irritated, too.
What do you all think? Should we care when TV programmes made and filmed in other countries get it wrong? Should we expect them to consult with locals first? Or should we just accept it's never going to be perfect and swallow it up, wherever we live?
February 15, 2007 | Reply
This happens all the time to New York City, even when they're filming here! In the first half hour of 'The Godfather', Luca Brasi walks up the hallway in the building where I work - next shot, he's in a totally different building with two elevator banks. (We only have one.)
Woody Allen showed the Little Church Around The Corner on 29th St. as an establishing shot just before showing his character talking to a Catholic priest. The Little Church is of some other denomination.
And the other day I was watching an old episode of 'Naked City' with Keir Dullea and his friends riding horses up West End Avenue. Five seconds later, they're crossing Central Park West into the park! (No time editing because there was a conversation in progress.)
'Law & Order' is constantly recreating NYC - they put a restaurant on my street once, which was a neat trick. Good luck in finding it!
Just remember, it's not our world; we're just watching it.
February 15, 2007 | Reply
OH! And let's blame the Nestene Consciousness for the missing Eye of London!
February 15, 2007 | Reply
I'm still in awe of the bit in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves when Kevin Costner lands at Dover, says 'tonight we will dine at my father's castle' (in Nottingham, presumably) and the next shot is him and Morgan Freeman walking along Hadrian's Wall.
But yes, the Wrong London thing is annoying. Maybe they thought that, as it's not on Channel 4 anymore, nobody in Britain's going to bother watching it...
February 15, 2007 | Reply
Given that Hawaii has stood in for Korea, Australia, Africa and various parts of North America as well as the UK on Lost, I do think it's pretty petty to whinge when they don't painstakingly recreate one part of it just for one relatively small part of the worldwide audience.
Plus, this is LOST we're talking about, people - picking geographical nits is the least of it...
February 15, 2007 | Reply
I just watched the episode again and this time it stood out when the Shopkeeper mentions that it will be a few more years before Desmond enters the sail around the world race. It would be a few months after that at least before he is shipwrecked in the year 2000, and then he spends the next three years pushing the button.
The Wheel was officially opened at the end of 1999, but how long did construction take? At the time "Desi" and Pen were in the South Bank area, the segments of the Wheel might not have even been carted up the Thames yet. (Just read about it at Wikipedia.)
So there's a possible splainin.
Can't cover for them in the spelling of 'honour'/'honor' though...
February 15, 2007 | Reply
It took forever. Construction started in 1998 and I commuted past it ever day as they slowly put it together.
February 15, 2007 | Reply
The thing that gets me is that it was painstaking. Red phone boxes aren't 10 a penny on Hawaii and neither are British cars, police uniforms or black cabs. Plus there were some pretty good composites and one or two shots that made me think they really had filmed in London. It's just for all that expense, they never bothered to ask a local "Does this look right?"
Still, it's their cash.
February 15, 2007 | Reply
I remember now that they actually built the Eye on the Thames itself in the right position and then pulled it into the vertical position. So it would have been out of shot c. 1998. County Hall would have been in shot though, being early 20th century.