The crashing dollar and the end of various forms of tax financing worth up to 50% of budgets have left the U.K. with just two reasons why any producer would come to shoot there: talent and material.

Fortunately, Britain is blessed with an abundance of both.

Phillip Noyce’s Mary, Queen of Scots is a good example of the sort of indie project it still makes sense to film in the British Isles. Although producers Alexandra Milchan and Melanie Johansson are American, the script was originally developed by BBC Films with local writer Jimmy McGovern.

The historical subject matter argues strongly for production to take place somewhere closely approximating the authentic locations of the story.

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