Both seem to present a different perspective on British culture. This difference could be seen as how 'we' see Britain, and how 'they' see Britain (or more probably, how we/they want to see Britain). Thomas Elsaesser, in his book Images for Sale, puts it like this; 'British cinema celebrates its renaissance's with such regularity because it always functions around another polarisation - what one might call an 'official' cinema and an 'unofficial' cinema, a respectable cinema and a disreputable one'. This distinction is defined by a convention of myth and counter-myth. The myth is 'home counties, country house, public school, sport, white flannel, rules and games; Edwardian England, Decline of the Empire, Privilege and Treason; male bonding; female hysteria'; films such as Chariots of Fire, A Passage to India and A Room With a View. The counter-myth is 'Scotland, Liverpool, London; dockland, clubland, disco, football, punk, race-riots, National Front; working class males, violent and articulate; working class women, sexy and self-confident'; Gregory's Girl(1980), My Beautiful Laundrette and Letter to Breznev.

A popular criticism of this counter-myth sub-group, and particularly the type of film championed by Film on Four, were their lack of scale. They were less cinematic, lower budget and of less appeal internationally. In my opinion, these films seem to represent Britain trying to keep a grip on its cultural identity against a tide of international, particularly American, influence.

British film in the eighties was barely more than a cottage industry, it had accepted that it couldn't compete with the huge American budgets post-Star Wars(1977) but could still exist on a smaller scale, even if it was starved into producing, what were regarded in some quarters as overblown TV movies. Despite low budgets many of Film on Four's, and the other independent companies, productions were very high quality cinema.