A very good scholar with a very good dissertation (all right, it's Anthony Paul Smith) was recently told that I couldn't be in his viva in the UK via Skype. WTF, really? The reasoning was bizarre for a Yank (recently defected). Somehow we would all start demanding to be flown over there.
But wait—I did two long distance vivas (or defenses as they're called here) last year: one for CU Boulder, and one for Duke. I did them by phone for Chrissakes! Not even visual chat...
Come on Brits, you have broadband, we are willing to work for nothing (really), and we should make the most of this globalization transatlantic bla bla thing.