To coincide with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (which was filmed in the UK), we take a look at the UK’s television and film industry. However, we naturally couldn’t resist revelling in our innate nerdiness and so we also take a look at the influence of the Star Wars saga on society.

May the stats be with you, always . . .

1. A not so long time ago (2008), in a place not too far away (the UK) there were 15,115 businesses in the television and film industry. More recently (2014) there were 22,055, an increase of 6,940.

Download the data.

The increase in the number of businesses in the UK television and film industry may reflect the impact of the UK film tax relief scheme, introduced in 2007. This scheme provided over £1billion in support to over 1,000 British films between 2007 and 2014, and continues to provide support today¹.

Along with The Force Awakens, the latest James Bond film Spectre was also filmed in the UK.

2. “GRRRARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!” It’s costing a lot more to see Chewie on the big screen. Between 2005 and 2015 the price of a cinema ticket rose by almost 50%.

This means the price of your cinema ticket for The Force Awakens will be around 50% higher than your cinema ticket for Revenge of the Sith, released in 2005.

3. Likely video streaming Yoda you will be. The basket of goods used to calculate inflation is continually evolving – in 2014 video streaming services like Netflix were added.

The headline UK inflation rate is calculated using a ‘basket’ of goods and services bought by people in the UK to see how the general price level is changing. The changes to the products included in the basket reflect a shift in the way people watch films and TV programmes since Star Wars entered our social consciousness.

In 1977 when Star Wars: A New Hope was released, televisions were included but video recorders were not, in fact these didn’t come in until a decade later.  In 1999 when The Phantom Menace was released (the first of the Star Wars prequels) video recorders were still in, along with colour televisions, satellite TV subscriptions, video rentals and PCs. DVD players entered in 2002 with DVD recorders joining in 2003. In 2014 video streaming services entered the basket for the first time, but while DVDs and DVD players are still in, DVD recorders left in 2014.

View an infographic about how the CPI basket of goods and services has evolved or see more specific basket of goods information.

4. In the 2011 Census 176,632 people identified themselves as Jedi. May the force be with them all!

The census allows people to write in their religious identity if they do not identify with the main categories on the census form. Analysis of written responses to the ‘other religion’ option revealed that 176,632 people identified as Jedi in 2011 (0.3% of the population) , although this was less than half the 2001 figure (390,127 people, 0.7% of the population).

Take a more detailed look at “How religion has changed in England and Wales”.

5. The name Anakin first appeared on the baby names list in 2000; the year after this character first appeared in The Phantom Menace. 

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If you didn’t know, Anakin was Darth Vader’s name before he turned to the Dark Side. Let’s hope his namesakes turn out differently!

See more pop culture influences on baby names or investigate the data yourself.

6. Fewer and fewer men are getting the chance to say “Luke, I am your father” as the popularity of the name decreases.

Download the data.

The name Luke has decreased in popularity from 5,664 births in 1996 to 1,322 births in 2014. Looking at the popularity of the name Leia (Luke Skywalker’s twin sister) over the same time period, it peaked in 1999, the year The Phantom Menace was released. In 1999, 90 baby girls were named Leia, making it the 357th most popular name for girls. In 2014 its ranking had fallen to 563rd (75 baby girls).

 

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For more information, please contact: better.info@ons.gsi.gov.uk