hi there! Sorry for the long winded title!

I'm new to film making, after just completing my first music video (see a you-tubed (read: out of sync due to the encoding process!) version of it here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=GLVigv9UuvM - would love opinions!) and i have a few questions now that i have 'the bug'!

Basically, my creative companion and I want to make a pilot for a tv series (or it could be used as a 45 minute film). However, the last few weeks i've been watching various tv shows with a more technical eye and have noticed stark differences between the way shows are filmed, which brings me to the question - whats being used where?

I love American dramas, such as Lost and 24. Both these shows (in my opinion) look fantastic. Conversely, I feel a lot of UK shows look unnatural, harsh and... cold? I've watched a boat load of making of's and behind the scenes, but rarely do they cover elements of what type of cameras used, what type of film stock (if any) used etc - and thats what I really want to know!

If anyone can shed any light on the differences between shows like Lost, 24, and Doctor Who, Primeval etc it would be greatly appreciated. I want our tv pilot to look classy, like the american shows, whereas even ITVs 'big budget' Primeval looks poor and low-budget to me! I really believe that the overall look of these shows is what stops them getting good licensing deals on to other nations/networks, and I would hate for mine to fall under that category!

Cheers, and sorry for the long first post!