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  • #6515
    Lula @lula

    @phaseshift  Ugh, that awful Amy intro!  BBC Am tacked that onto the opening midway in S5, I believe, and it was so insulting.  I realize the program started becoming uber famous in America once Eleventy (as I call him) stepped into the Tardis, but many of us have watched for years and we felt BBC Am was dumb-ing down the show for all the newbies.  There’s been none of that with Clara–yet–and I hope it stays that way.  I loved Amy–and Rory–but that intro mess was just ridiculous.

     

    @elwingt  Hi from Virginia!  I’m a proud Georgian (originally from Warner Robins), but have been in extreme Southwest Virginia for over ten years.   I get home to visit my family fairly often, and have several friends in Atlanta (metro and surrounding areas), so we make stops there, too.

    #6520
    Juniperfish @juniperfish

    @htpbdet – So sorry to heart you have been in hospital! Hopefully you are out now and feeling a bit better. A warm welcome back.

    We had a discussion just before you popped in about keeping discussion about the ongoing series to the episode spaces and saving the sofa for general chit-chat – so I’m going to go and answer your thinkings on the Hide thread!

    xx to you too

    #6523
    Craig @craig
    Emperor

    @phaseshift Things are slightly complicated by us also now having an @danmartinuk who, despite not having completed sign-up, requested a new password a couple of days ago but has still not completed. Who knows which is which?

    @scaryb I take full responsibility. Hoping to pass that off to others soon though. You volunteering? 😀

    @whisht I remember the desire lines from January. Is still an interesting theory and fits in with a lot of what Jakob Nielson talks about – let your user design your interface. Am kinda trying to do that, sort of…

    #6524
    HTPBDET @htpbdet

    @craig

    i am sorry if I have posted in the wrong place. Not sure how I should delete?

    #6525
    ardaraith @ardaraith

    @craig – my password email went to the ‘spam’ folder. I eventually searched for it, though I had begun to fear the fish bowl was off limits!

    @htpbdet – hope you are feeling better.

    #6526
    Craig @craig
    Emperor

    @htpbdet Just glad to have you back. Don’t worry, this forum is freeform. Nothing anyone does here is wrong (unless they’re internet spammers – in which case they get deleted without mercy). This is mostly a no apology zone.

    Sorry you’ve been laid up. Glad you’re up to posting again.

    #6528
    Craig @craig
    Emperor

    @ardaraith I’ll look into that. Thanks.

    #6534
    Lula @lula

    @juniperfish  I called the Guardian scary because I’d come away from reading the comments there with a big ol’, “WHAT.” So much hate watching going on, it seems.  I just don’t understand viewing a show, hating it, then reading recaps of said show and extending your hatred via the comment section.  If one dislikes a particular program, why continue expressing your disdain?  I get that hate-watching is something people do for fun, I reckon.  For example, over here the show “Smash” is famous for being hate watched–but it seems to be in good fun.  People watch as it airs and lament–usually via Twitter–in real time.  But over on The Guardian, it seems the same people spew their vitriol every week, and I had to sit on my fingers to refrain from commenting, “If you hate Doctor Who, STOP WATCHING.”  I dare not be so bold, though!

    Further, I’d regularly see remarks (on The Guardian) of the,”Doctor Who is being dumbed down for Americans,” variety.  Admittedly, the Amy Voice Over Intro that BBC America tacked onto the opening credits was ridiculous.  But nearly every episode of Who leaves me having to Google or ask an English friend, “Uh…what was that?”  Witness:  the Sindy doll, the Beano, and Carlysle/Carlisle.  (Ignorance is Carlisle?  I’m thirty-eight years old, well-traveled, and have a college degree–and I have never heard that saying.  Forgive my ignorance!)  I’m sorry if anyone feels the show has been “dumbed down” to please an American audience, because I just don’t see it that way.   I love programs like Luther, Sherlock–Moffat’s version, not the mess that airs over here–and basically anything that Richard Armitage shows up on.  I just watched all of Broadchurch (illegally, shhhhhhh!) and loved it.  I appreciate good television, regardless of the country that delivers it to me.

    *End rant/explanation of why I quit reading the comments over on The Guardian.*

     

    #6535
    Craig @craig
    Emperor

    @htpbdet I don’t do this a lot as I’m not keen on time being rewritten, but I thought your post did deserve a wider audience on the “Hide” board so I moved it. Any objections from anyone and I will put it right back.

    As @juniperfish said, we had a little discussion earlier about general posts and I argued for a more Guardian orientated approach, in that each week would beget its own theories.

    I’m not wedded to that but am yet to be convinced otherwise. So I’d love to keep each week’s theorising in one place if at all possible.

    P.S. Glad your feeling well enough to post.

    #6543
    janetteB @janetteb

    @lula. It must be time for R.A. to do a cameo in Dr Who, as a meglamaniac Time Lord perhaps. He would be a good Master but I doubt he would commit to more than one episode what with being a famous Dwarf and all.

    Cheers

    Janette

    #6545
    WhoHar @whohar

    @lula

    There is a general level of twattery on the Guardian blog now which is disappointing.

    I too am very anti the anti-American comments which I find to be quite offensive and ignorant. Most of those posters prob never been to the US let alone lived there (I have btw, loved it) so are not commenting from a position of authority IMHO. They would be known here as “tossers” (“dickwads” perhaps in US terms).

    Btw the Carlisle / Carlyle quote is not common in Uk parlance to my knowledge, which is why it has been the subject of much talk.

    #6547
    vizier @vizier

    The whole point of the Carlisle quote was that it was a joke. They were trying to express what was the opposite of bliss? (ie: something wonderful) and they came up with Carlisle (ie: something not wonderful). It was no deeper than a dig at the place in Cumbria.

    #6548
    WhoHar @whohar

    @phaseshift

    Liking the What’s in the Tardis game. My list:

    A television with An Unearthly Child on constant loop. 100 pts.

    Copies of all the lost DW episodes. 200 pts.

    Lee Harvey Oswald’s rifle. 500 pts.

    Wally. 1000 pts.

    It’s a bit quiet on the nightshift. It was either make this list or talk to my friend Edward again and he’s not much of a conversationalist. Then again, he’s a potato.

    #6549
    blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave

    Hello @whohar!

    If I recall correctly, you said that said that you had recently moved to one of the colonial outposts in the south. If it is anywhere near where I live, the fact that your best friend is a potato means that you will fit right in! (Why else would I spend so much of my time in the Qantas Club Lounge on the way to…somewhere…anywhere…) Actually, there are many charms to the colonies, although you may find the butler from WhoHar Hall (assuming you have brought him) beginning to develop bolshie tendencies.

    I love your list of what we might (or in a perfect world, should) find in the Tardis. It sounds so…well…Kennedy and 4th wall!

    #6550
    WhoHar @whohar

    Hello @blenkinsopthebrave.

    Good to hear from you.

    Yes I am safely esconced in the Colonies in a very southern city. Quite liking the natives and their, ahem, forthright talk.

    I sold the outdoor privy at WhoHar hall to a couple of guilable Americans who’d previously bought London Bridge. Using the proceeds I plan to disassemble the main building (Old Sexy I call her), ship it over here and rebuild. Once Fortescue has labelled all the bricks he will indeed be joining me along with the rest of the staff and animals.

    The chattels will arrive soon, including the bath, so very much looking forward to that.

    Yes the 4th wall theory seems to be out of favour of late but perservere. Remember only dead fish swim with the stream.

    #6552
    janetteB @janetteb

    @vizier. Maybe Moffat holds a grudge against Carlisle because they enshrined the Bishop’s curse on the Border families including the Moffats.  Can’t think of any other reason for it. Surely there are many worse places than Carlisle?

    I have one item to add to the TARDIS list.

    A work room filled with boxes of K.9 kits.  (not sure what rating to give that one.)

    Cheers

    Janette

    #6553
    blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave

    @whohar. The colonies are richer for your presence, and (as some would argue) my absence.

    Now, I must see if there is life in the 4th wall theory yet. (Although the recent episodes provide little solace for me in that regard, I fear.) Perhaps the time has come to adapt, and I particularly like the recents posts that focus on the constant reference to ghosts, forests and libraries. Must ponder more.

    #6554
    vizier @vizier

    @janetteb I suppose that this Border curse is linked to the place Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway? Which is only about 50 mins up the A74M from Carlisle. Does Stephen Moffat hail from those parts? I do love the speculation on this site.

    #6557
    badwolf99 @badwolf99

    WhoHar
    Participant

    @lula

    There is a general level of twattery on the Guardian blog now which is disappointing.

    I too am very anti the anti-American comments which I find to be quite offensive and ignorant. Most of those posters prob never been to the US let alone lived there (I have btw, loved it) so are not commenting from a position of authority IMHO. They would be known here as “tossers” (“dickwads” perhaps in US terms).

    (As  American will chime in.  Its interesting that many of us Americans have the exact opposite attitude towards England. We pretty much hold a high esteem and regard for the people overall and high quality tv productions. Im watching Doctor Who/Ripper Street/Copper/Orphan Black and like them all alot.  To the degree that a person is aware and appreciates good production values ,we really appreciate the style and writing of British shows and as far as I know, mostly those are not being changed , just because at some point they will reach our shores 🙂   Its because the style is different that makes us appreciate them.  Its hard to agree with the Americanized view with Doctor Who in mainly this respect.  Each episode causes an outburst of theories as to exactly what (did we just watch) and what does it all mean?  You dont see much of that in our TV.  Lost was our closest version and it ended badly.  If I have one suggested thing to say, it would be that I dont wont the ending to be (its done by magic 🙂 and a quick explanation about love ect… Hopefully we will end with some , at least,  good sounding  science in the mix.  You do have different levels of society here, like everywhere, but many do appreciate high quality writing 🙂

    #6558
    badwolf99 @badwolf99

    badwolf99
    Participant

    Central Theme, Alot of cool posts. Well it keeps coming back to this for me. ( Clara can do impossible things :)

    Someone ponted out it she is like Mary Poppins :) , very astute and accurate as well. A sci-fy version of her.

    I think its setting up a resolution where (in the same fashion as Amy) , she has this magical moment to save the doctor and restore everything to normal. And like Amy it will take alot of backtracking and thought to figure out the how/why. While there will be some attempt to explain it in a timey/whimy fashion there may very well be some parts left to our imaginations to work-out. Sort-of like , well, she just can, because she is who she is, something like that. Regardless its a fun enough ride, good stories, though this year more then most I do think the plotlines are more similar to a few stories we have already seen. I think of Matt Smiths first three of seasons (very original stuff for the most part), this year aside from the Clara plot, not as much new stuff.

    Wonted to reprint this here as to what Im thinking, Yes Im a dumbed Down American, lol

     

     

     

     

    #6563
    janetteB @janetteb

    @vizier  re; the curse, sorry I wasnt’ being very precise, was called down upon the Border Reivers, the clans living in the Cumberland/Scotland border region in the 16th century. It has been comemorated in Carlisle in a carving causing some dispute in the local council. The name Moffat is a prominent Reiver name so I assume that Moffat’s ancestors were border folk. Hence the reference to Carlisle might have been bit of an “in joke”, though the episode was scripted by Cross not Moffat so it might have signified something altogether different. I was digging about for any significance re’ Carlisle that might explain the line and that was all I found.

    It is amazing what one learns through an obsession with Dr Who. My own family were from the Cumbria/Scotland border region though they don’t have a Reivers name, and I knew nothing about this until yesterday.

    Cheers

    Janette

    #6588
    elwingt @elwingt

    @phaseshift – Those Amy promos were terrible! But thankfully no Clara explanations or intros. They’re doing better with the programming overall too. More or less owning Doctor Who as their marquee attraction. I do get reports that due to commercials BBCAmerica can do some creative editing of the show. And that bothers me just a little. I would rather watch it exactly how the Moff intends it to be seen.

     

    @lula – I love Atlanta! I’m originally from Bombay, and have been in Atlanta since 2008, but been in the States since 2005. I really like this city (it got voted nerdiest city in the US! that’s a good clue for why I feel like I fit in). I hear they have some decent Doctor Who panels at Dragon Con, but I haven’t been yet. Maybe this year!

    I also spent a chunk of my childhood in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which is one of the reasons am a rabid Anglophile and am eating chocolate digestives with tea right now.

    @scaryb – I’ll be nice to the fishies! I promise. I kind of like them.

    @badwolf99 – I agree with you. Americans generally look up to the beeb for quality programming. There’s usually an undercurrent of admiration for many shows. Right now tho I think both the UK and the US are having some great TV moments. US TV is having some kind of golden age, with great shows like Breaking Bad (greatest drama ever for me, though I haven’t watched the Wire), Mad Men, GoT, etc. Even in the UK, I love the Hour, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Call the Midwife! It’s really just a great time to love watching TV 🙂

    #6595
    ScaryB @scaryb

    <waves to everyone with eyes tight shut. Must not look at spoilers page… much discussion over there… must not look… must resist…!>

    @elwingt I don’t think @juniperfish, @jimthefish and the rest of the slippery finny clan are going to be much reassured by your “I kind of like them”!!! ;-)

    #6606
    Lula @lula

    @badwolf99

    Agree with everything you said…except the part about Lost ending badly.  I was a hardcore Lostie–watched from the pilot, September 22, 2004, till the finale on May 23, 2010–and loved the finale.  I have zero disappointments with how the show ended, but I realize I’m not in the majority.  I can’t even care, because it was and most likely will be my most favorite television program of all time. Doctor Who is in my top five, but Lost is firmly set at number one.

    Doctor Who is the only show I’ve spent any amount of sussing on, with the exception of Lost.  (And Fringe, to an extent…I miss Fringe so very much.)  It’s just so much fun.

    @elwingt  Definitely watch The Wire when you can–truly an excellent show.  Plus…Idris Elba, ahem.   I’m an enormous Breaking Bad, GoT, and Mad Men fan, too.  And you’re absolutely correct–both the US and UK are offering so much quality programming that my husband and I rarely go see a film because TV is just better.

    I’ve never been to Dragon Con, but a close friend attended last year and spent most of the day texting photos of all the cosplayers, including a group of girls dressed as Weeping Angels.  They looked incredible!  And of course Atlanta is nerdy!  It’s home to Georgia Tech.  (Said the Georgia Bulldog’s #1 fan in the world.)

    #6608
    PhaseShift @phaseshift
    Time Lord

    @lula and @elwingt, thanks for the info! I agree, things like those Amy lead-ins are usually pretty horrible, but I do have an interest in how the show is promoted and seen overseas, so I thought I’d ask.

    When I post trailers and suchlike from YouTube I’ll usually watch the UK, US and occasionally other territories if available. I find the “Talkie” US version really disconcerting when I see them. Feels wrong somehow.

    @elwingt – Bombay to the US via Newcastle-upon-Tyne!? Now that has to be one hell of a story.

    @lula – if you like Idris, and ever got the opportunity to see it, there was a short series called “Ultraviolet” in the UK in which he was as great as ever. There is a link to a wiki entry here about it. It also features Stephen Moyer, in a vampire role way before True Blood.

    #6610
    HTPBDET @htpbdet

    @phaseshift.      I loved Ultraviolet!

    #6613
    PhaseShift @phaseshift
    Time Lord

    @htpbdet – Splendid wasn’t it?

    Hope you’re feeling better – all the best for a speedy recovery.

    #6616
    HTPBDET @htpbdet

    @phaseshift.     Always liked Hex too.

    thanks for your ( and everyone’s ) kindness and good wishes. Have to go back in tomorrow and not sure if I will be out by Saturday night…but fingers crossed.

    Enjoy all!

    #6621
    PhaseShift @phaseshift
    Time Lord

    @htpbdet – Good luck with it. I think we may have a lot to talk about with this episode!

    Night all – Early to rise for me again I fear.

    #6622
    Lula @lula

    @PhaseShift  And I call myself an Idris fan–have never heard of Ultraviolet, but that’s being remedied immediately, thanks to Amazon.  I see that Jack Davenport is the lead role,  which furthers my need to watch.  Thanks for the recommendation!

    Also–your Who promos aren’t “talkie?”  After finishing supper, my next stop will be to You Tube.  I remember the UK promos for Lost being stellar–enjoyed watching them via You Tube, because they were so different from what ABC gave us here.  Granted, ABC is too busy promoting Dancing With the Has-beans, which…no.  I reckon BBC America has all the talking because we Americans love an accent.  That’s not a slam, it’s a generalized truth.  Now if I can just get people here to differentiate between an Australian and English accent!

    Finally–and this is for anyone reading my drivel–I have good friends who live in Bedford (she’s English, he’s Irish) and they continue to complain about Jenna-Louise Coleman’s accent on Doctor Who, telling me, “One minute she sounds her native Blackpool, the other, London.”  Of course I noticed when it was a plot point in The Snowmen (“Do your other voice!”), but I haven’t in any of her subsequent episodes, forgive me.  Is this a genuine complaint or are they being persnickety?  Because if it’s legitimate, it’s another rabbit to chase down the hole.

    #6624
    Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip

    Genuine complaint and there is no non-show reason for it – Jenna-Louise Coleman was brought up in Blackpool, she’s spent years working at jobs that used her Lancashire accent, they’ve even given her screen parents from the area.

    And yet she is audibly wobbling between a clearly Northern accent and something much more ‘London’, even drifting into ‘London middle class’. Yet, in The Snowmen, ‘Miss Montague’ had perfect RP.

    Similarly, Matt Smith in last week’s Cold War was also audibly wobbling between ‘London’ and Eleven’s normal RP.

    So I’d say, yes, rabbit, hole. The rabbit is probably wearing a fob watch.

    #6626
    HaveYouFedTheFish @haveyoufedthefish

    @elwingt @scaryb – just to remind everyone, its HaveYouFedTheFish, not HaveYouAteTheFish … Small, but ever so important difference :O/

    #6627
    HaveYouFedTheFish @haveyoufedthefish

    @lula @bluesqueakpip – hell I’m just enjoying hearing a cosily familiar accent on telly, wobbly or not from JLC. Not heard often enough (comedy continuity announcers do not count)

    I can’t say I’m noticing it wobbling so much myself, but it does seem odd as its her own natural accent (Matt slipping from RP makes sense). I reckon she’s simply gone a bit trans-pennine (like trans-atlantic but smaller and more bumpy) – i.e. it’s her own accent, but meed-yar land over the last few years has blurred it. If so, I’d hate to think what your friends in Bedford would make of mine these days!

    #6628
    HaveYouFedTheFish @haveyoufedthefish

    @lula @badwolf99 – a shout out for Breaking Bad from me too; I’ve met all sorts of people hot and cold on Wire, Mad Men (especially) and the Sopranos etc. But I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t gripped by BB from episode 1. I stayed up all night watching the whole series – I have never done that for any other show, before or since.

    On a completely different tack, but on my mind because I was lucky enough to see it earlier today; The Book of Mormon is every bit as good as the hype, if not twice as good (and unexpectedly sweetly supportive of the importance of church and faith, it turns out). If you ever get the chance, do, do, do. I’ve seen hundreds of live shows, but only ever seen two genuine (spontaneous, and the whole audience as one) standing ovations – this was the second.

    #6631
    Lula @lula

    @haveyoufedthefish  Can you explain what “RP” means?  Admittedly, I’ve never noticed any differences in Matt Smith’s voice.  Well, on Doctor Who, that is…he sounds much less proper (posh? I don’t know the appropriate description) in the film Womb.  Which…yeah…that movie.

    Breaking Bad is sheer excellence in programming.  Season 4’s finale–which I won’t spoil here, but Gustavo Fring!  I’m still wowed by it.  The only other show I’d deem just as flawless is Friday Night Lights, which is my favorite show in the universe–after Lost.  It’s 100% Americana–life in a small, southern, football-obsessed town, but it’s truly wonderful, with the critical acclaim and Kyle Chandler’s Best Actor Emmy to back this up.  Whether or not you care about American football on the high school level (and let’s face it–most people don’t, unless you’re from Texas or any other southern state), it’s a completely exceptional drama.  I gush because I love it so very much.

    I’m desperate to see Book of Mormon–one of my best friends lives in NYC and we’re planning a trip this fall.  I must see BoM, as well as Once, especially now that Arthur Darvill is performing the lead role.  Rory on Broadway!

    #6632
    janetteB @janetteb

    @lula. Another Fringe fan. That nicely filled the gap between Who series for me. (There was a brief discussion of Fringe over in the TV thread some time ago.)

    Cheers

    Janette

    #6633
    janetteB @janetteb

    @HTPBET. Hope all goes well and you are back with us at the weekend, fully recovered.

    Cheers

    Janette

    #6634
    WhoHar @whohar

    @lula RP = Received Pronunciation aka BBC
    English.

    The sort of accent the BBC newsreaders have.

    #6635
    badwolf99 @badwolf99

    Well, Since we are talking shows (and I feel the same as Lula, tv is so good who needs movies?) , I confess here and now. I havnt watched Madmen or Breaking Bad 🙁   YET        I forgot my whole family loves Merlin, also forgot Sherlock.  I do like The following pretty well and am a big Dexter fan :), granted we are getting into some violent stuff but its TV.  Elementary is decent also I think.  Primeval/Torchwood  2 others we watched 🙂 on the BBC side.

    As to Lost, Well I just think they could have balanced the explanation better instead of a straight (purg.) ending.  The  show was so good at putting in some twisty time travel/freaky science stuff I didnt get the total walk away from that except they couldnt finish and explain alot.  Even some of the cast didnt get the ending 🙁    It was still a very good show and amazing cast that you dont see often.

    #6636
    Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip

     I reckon she’s simply gone a bit trans-pennine 

    @haveyoufedthefish – that’s what’s puzzling me. Her first job was four years in Emmerdale and her character was from Lancs; so it’s not like she immediately had to adopt Received Pronunciation. She’s used to using her natural accent throughout a script.

    I’ll have to listen next time I rewatch.

    #6637
    Anonymous @

    Hope it all goes well, @htpbdet. Best wishes and hope to see you back here fully regenerated soonest…

    #6638
    Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip

    Yes, @htpbdet, hope everything goes well.

    #6639
    WhoHar @whohar

    And my good wishes @htpbdet also.

    #6645
    Lula @lula

    @janetteB  Fringe was a beautiful show about familial and romantic love, masquerading as Sci-Fi drama.  I loved it.  In a a parallel universe, Walter Bishop and The Doctor are problem solving together, with strawberry milkshakes and Jammie Dodgers.

    @badwolf99  I love Dexter, too.  The last couple of seasons haven’t been the best, but I’m hoping this final season will be amazing.  Definitely check out Breaking Bad–Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul are two of the finest actors on television.  Mad Men is one of my favorites, too, but there’s been a few missteps over the past 5 years.  The acting makes up for it, though.  See also: the fashion.  It’s a cultural time warp every week!

    @WhoHar  Thank you for that explanation–I get it now!  While I can definitely tell a difference in say—Jason Statham versus Benedict Cumberbatch’s accent–Smith and Coleman sound pretty much the same to my ears, honestly.  It must be like distinguishing the difference between someone from the deep south (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana) and someone from Virginia or North Carolina–they’re all southern, but deep south has a twang to their cadence.  Similarly, a person from Boston versus a New Yorker…I’ve never lived anywhere but the south, however I can easily differentiate between a Bostonian and someone from the Bronx.

     

     

    #6651
    HaveYouFedTheFish @haveyoufedthefish

    @bluesqueakpip – I didn’t necessarily mean professionally; i just mean she’ll have spent a lot of time in the last few years either living, workshopping or auditioning round London, hanging out with the London media crowd in soho etc. It inevitably wears the edges off your natural accent, especially if professionally she’s not had to concentrate on maintaining a “working” accent (e.g. RP) but has been on cruise control using her own.

    That’s basically what happened to me (I’m not an actor though), noone can ever place my accent now. I’ve always suspected that the softer accents from lancashire/derbyshire/cheshire are quite prone to erosion (where as a hard Mancunian accent like Ecclestones will withstand a thermonuclear strike)

    #6652
    HaveYouFedTheFish @haveyoufedthefish

    @lula – with pleasure (although @whohar has already got in an excellent concise answer)

    RP is “received pronunciation” – its the accent the all actors and announcers working on the BBC were trained to adopt for “maximum clarity” for the majority of listeners right through to the end of the 20th century . What’s odd about it is that it’s not an accent of anywhere – no-one naturally speaks like that in “real life” (though it’s fairly pervasive to anyone who’s been through the top end of the public school system). It’s an accent of a posh nowhere, but because it’s what’s in our TV, it’s what most people outside the UK think of as a “British” accent.

    What’s ironic is that when it was actually researched, it turned out that most people found certain posh regional accents with high over-ennunciation – especially those from around Aberdeen (such as Cults) – actually had the most clarity and were the easiest to listen to. This has lead (along with a general effort to be seen to decentralise the BBC away from London) to RP being phased out in favour of a mix or regional accents.

    All Doctors up till Ecclestone used RP, and because it’s so pervasive in their working life, many actors just end up talking with it all the time.

    I say all this needless detail as a preamble to a question: is there a US equivalent to RP?

    Trivia: there is for frogs! There is only 1 frog in the world which goes “Ribbet” and it happens to be found just outside LA. Because it was the first frog an early talkies sound engineer recorded (and which everyone has thereafter reused – lazy sods), we’re now all – incorrectly – convinced that is the sound all frogs make … but they don’t …

    #6654
    Lula @lula

    @HaveYouFedTheFish  Your response isn’t needless detail–I find it fascinating, so thank you! I realize Eccleston didn’t use RP because his accent is much stronger to me.  But what about Tennant?  Of course I know he’s Scottish, but would his Doctor accent be considered RP?

    If there’s an equivalent in the US, I don’t know of its title.  People like Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, and Kyle Chandler are all southern born and bred, but they’ve been trained to speak with no accent.  That is, until they’re cast in something that requires playing a Southerner, or when they’re around other Southerners–then their legitimate voice is evident.  Kyle Chandler is pretty southern in real life (he was born in New York but raised in Georgia), and tends to play southerners–such as in Friday Night Lights, or his character in Argo, for example.  But then he appeared in Zero Dark Thirty and didn’t use his normal speaking voice–he sounded like Nowhere, America which I’m guessing was the point.

    And then we have some actors who try their hardest to escape their upbringing, but usually fail.  I’m speaking of Matthew McConaughey here…that man will sound pure Texan until the day he dies.  A true southern accent is hard to emulate–which is why it sounds completely phony when a non-southerner attempts it.  Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin are enormous offenders, but I still love them on True Blood.  However, the few times Alexander Skarsgard’s character has had to slip into a Louisiana Bayou tongue, he’s nailed it perfectly.  Swedes!  They’ve got talent.

    You’re correct about frogs–I live in a small, rural town in the mountains of southwest Virginia, and we’ve got frogs by the truck full.  I’ve yet to hear a single “ribbet” from any of them–the frogs here croak. Loudly.

    #6655
    PhaseShift @phaseshift
    Time Lord

    @lula

    Happily, we never get “talkie” trailers in the UK. Way back when the trailers for series 6 were released, BBC America did a good promo with Mark Sheppard doing the voice over – “Doctor Who is coming to America….” etc. Some good clips at the end, but it seemed a bit lifeless after the UK promo (which made me feel like a seven year old, overdosed on sugar).

    That trailer is here, and is pretty standard. Absolutely no talking allowed!

    #6657
    HaveYouFedTheFish @haveyoufedthefish

    @lula – I’m the worst person to ask about accents because I have no ear for them at all. From what I’ve heard of Tennant (I’ve seen him on stage a few times before Who, notably in Look Back in Anger in Glasgow) his RP isn’t great (the Scottish inflection kept leaking through). His Who is generally what I think most people would call “esturary english”, which shares the same southern root as RP, but has a strong inflection of working class London Cockney mixed in. I reckon they asked him to use that to cover up the hints of scottish-ness he couldn’t reign in, but I still think they kept escaping, especially when he starts shouting, or saying things like “Ohhhhh Yesssssss”.

    Actually I say all the doctors pre Ecclestone were RP, forgetting poor Sylvester and his marvellous RRRRRRRrolling R’s hailing from Argyll (Scotland). I did say that my accent is just mental – at some point I picked up rolling R’s and I’m looking right at you McCoy to blame for that one (actually its just a tremendously good way to do some scene stealing in meetings. Unexpectedly dropping into broad Yorkshire works pretty well as well. Aye lad, that t’it does n’all)

    #6658
    ardaraith @ardaraith

    @haveyoufedthefish and @lula – Regarding american accent for actors. We are taught to use Standard American, which is unaccented and hyper-articulated. “Standard speech” as it is also known, is spoken nowhere. Most American film actors do not come from a theatre background, so you hear their regional dialect. Whereas presenters and actors with theatre training use SA / SS. It’s the same concept as RP.

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