Rowan, I don't think it's fair to call it 'resistance' to accents as if it's snobbery. There are some British productions which are much much harder to hear clearly than others, and if you can't understand the words you have no choice but to give it a pass. I have no problem making out most 'furrin' versions of English, but there are some films where the audio is bad, the actors swallow their words or speak rapidly, etc. where I simply can't follow what's going on.    I think it's the same reason Tommy Sands wasn't more popular over here, just can't follow the words well.