Hulu famously defeated the basic workaround, posted here so we need to go a layer deeper. Turns out that a VPN is exactly what i'm looking for. A VPN converts your IP address into the one on the server you connect to, so for example i'm in the UK - and I connect to a USA VPN server, and instantly my IP address changes to a USA one. Winner.
Next step to find a fast reliable VPN provider. Google was my friend here, and turned up several options. Being a bit of a sucker for a pretty site, I decided to give Overplay.net a chance - $9.95 seemed a reasonable price, and their T+Cs allowed multiple connections, so i'd be able to link up all the computers in my house. Filled out the signup form, and after paying via paypal i had a VPN account ready to go. Step 2 complete!
Now to find a decent way to connect. I'm using Ubuntu so I figured it'd be not quite as simple as usual, but turned out to be easy enough.
1) Click Applications/Accessories/Terminal
2) type 'sudo apt-get install network-manager-pptp' -- you'll likely need to reboot here.
3) Click the Network manager icon in the top right hand corner of the screen
4) Choose VPN Connections->Configure VPN
5) Click Add, choose 'Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol', and then click Create (overplay also seems to support OpenVPN - but pptp is easier on linux)
6) Give the connection a name, and type the address, username and password into the 3 boxes below. I left NT Domain blank.
7) Click Advanced, and check 'Use Point-to-Point encryption (MPPE)', then click OK
8) Click Apply
9) Click the Network Manager icon again, Choose VPN Connections, and then click on the connection you just created, it should start the connection, and hopefully a padlock will appear over Network Manager once connected.
At this stage I tried hulu.com again.... and it worked!!
Success within 10 mins.
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