Are Time Lords British?
Watching John Barrowman's fascinating documentary on BBC Television last night ("The Making of Me", BBC One), I was struck by the extraordinary change in his accent when he talked to his parents.
His American twang disappeared to be replaced by a strong Scottish brogue.
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We all do it a bit, I suspect. Chameleon-like, we change our tone slightly to fit in with our surroundings.
I was brought up in Scotland but had any trace of an accent knocked out of me at secondary school in Hampshire. However, even now I find a Scots lilt creeping back on trips north of the border.
But as Barrowman's voice changed to broad Glaswegian, I couldn't help myself seeing the actor in a different way. Even though he describes himself quite correctly as a British actor, his Illinois intonation is perplexing. Despite the illogicality of the argument, something inside me suggests he can't be properly "British" with a voice like that.
While Scots-born Barrowman appears in Dr Who (and the spin-off Torchwood) as Captain Jack Harkness with an American accent, Scots-born David Tennant as the eponymous hero puts on an English accent - disguising his Scottish tones.
Apparently scriptwriter Russell T Davies insisted he drop his Paisley lilt for something less obviously "regional".
Tennant makes an interesting observation on this: "Not that a slightly off-London accent isn't a regional accent, because it is" he says, "But it reads slightly more generically than a Scottish accent does."
Previous Doctors have had accents - Christopher Ecclestone imbued the character with his Manchester accent and Sylvester McCoy played him as though the Time Lord hailed from Argyll.
Accents clearly matter to the way we see people because we think they tell us something about their upbringing and influences. Geographical accident of birth seems less influential than the values and social background we interpret from the way they speak.
There has been much consternation in the past week about the inclusion of seamer Darren Pattinson for England in the second cricket test against South Africa. Although born in Britain and holding a British passport, the bowler speaks with a strong Australian accent having spent most of his young life down under.
Writing in The Times this week, former England cricket captain Mike Atherton gave this insight into the dressing room debate:
"Matthew Hoggard was annoyed to hear that Pattinson talked with an Aussie twang. I know Hoggy has not been in the England dressing-room for a while, but has he forgotten how Tim Ambrose talks, or Kevin Pietersen?
On the basis that it is where you are brought up that counts, England have assimilated South Africans (Allan Lamb, Smith, Pietersen), Zimbabweans (Graeme Hick), Australians (Ambrose, the Hollioake brothers, Geraint Jones) and any number of West Indians (Gladstone Small, Ellcock, Roland Butcher) over past decades. That is not a roll call of shame, but a list of which to be proud."
The British have always been unsure about their relationship with people who sound foreign. Tennis star Greg Rusedski is a case in point. Born in Montreal but with a British mother, he chose to adopt the UK as his homeland. I suspect that if he had a broad Lancastrian accent, no-one would have been bothered. But his Canadian tones mean we just quite can't bring ourselves to believe he really is a Brit.
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I think we do put too much on accents. I am essentially English, my dad is English my mum well I suppose is (Scottish/Polish grew up in Derby) and I grew up (16.5 years) in Hertfordshire. My accent is southern England. I wasn't born over here and may not have had such an accent when I was younger. I am defined as English purely by my accent. If we had moved back over here and settled in Scotland, I would be considered Scottish. In the end i just consider myself British (as it says on my birth certificate). I think we should just be pleased by the fact that people who either weren't born here but grew up here or were born here and grew up elsewhere want to play for England (or even for Scotland, Ireland or Wales). We can't help judge people by their accents, it is the clearest communicator of a form of identity. We can't always help where we grew up, it's just good to know your roots.
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I'm constantly judged on my accent. Due to a stutter when I was younger I've got a very slow drawl which makes a lot of people think i'm simple and mentally retarded. People have wrongly guessed that I'm from Holland, Belgium, Devon, Birmingham and South Africa.
I've had situations where after talking to someone for a while they've actually said "Oh, you are intelligent aren't you!" like it's a complete surprise to them.
I't very frustrating especially in situations like job interviews vecase you're always fighting an uphill battle agains ttheir original preconceptions.
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A friend of mine was told point blank at a job interview for a teaching position that with a Brummie accent he had no chance at their school. When advertisers want to portray a character as thick, slow and boring they often give him a Brummie accent. The BBC is one of the worst offenders of such regionalism (despite its deeply entrenched political correctness). When was the last time the BBC had a reporter or newsreader (sorry anchor - I forgot we're culturally American these days!) who had a regional (i.e. working class) accent? As long as people have clear diction they should not be discriminated against by the BBC or any other employer.
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I have moved around a lot and as a result have a hybrid accent- part Australian, part English. I grew up in a couple of places in England but have made Australia my adopted homeland.
When in Australia people hear my English accent and see me as being English. When in England people hear my Australian accent and see me as being foreign- though not all can tell the difference between an Aussie and a Kiwi accent- maybe that's partly due to my accent not being fully Aussie.
I do find people judge where I am from by my accent and I quite like the fact that my accent reflects the fact that I have moved around.
I don't feel that I can say I am from a single place. I find it interesting that other people who have moved around a lot can feel so strongly that they are from one of the places they have lived. Is this a manifestation of a desire to feel that they belong somewhere?
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What about British pop stars who insist on singing in a fake American accent ? And young black men, born and brought up in the UK who fake a Jamaican accent ? The truth is that we all change accents when it suits us
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Of course Time Lords are not British. They're Gallifreyan!
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I'm from Hertfordshire and have been living in the U.S. for 11 years, married to a California for the last 8 years. Americans still note my English accent and when I speak to English ex-pats, I feel myself using a different vocabulary than I normally would but my accent doesn't change.
However, when I'm in England, it seems I always fall back into the dialect of my home town. I didn't notice this at all until my husband came back with me for his first visit to the UK. He told me that he couldn't understand a word I was saying since we'd arrived. Whereas I can appreciate he would find it hard to get the gist of everyone else he met whilst in England, it amazed me that I, quite unbeknownst to myself, was obviously changing how I spoke too - so much so that the person I had been living with couldn't comprehend a word I said.
In my experience, it isn't something you "put on" conciously - it just happens when you are in familiar surroundings which you've moved on/away from.
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I'm from Hertfordshire and have been living in the U.S. for 11 years, married to a Californian for the last 8 years. Americans still note my English accent and when I speak to English ex-pats, I feel myself using a different vocabulary than I normally would but my accent doesn't change.
However, when I'm in England, it seems I always fall back into the dialect of my home town. I didn't notice this at all until my husband came back with me for his first visit to the UK. He told me that he couldn't understand a word I was saying since we'd arrived. Whereas I can appreciate he would find it hard to get the gist of everyone else he met whilst in England, it amazed me that I, quite unbeknownst to myself, was obviously changing how I spoke too - so much so that the person I had been living with couldn't comprehend a word I said.
In my experience, it isn't something you "put on" conciously - it just happens when you are in familiar surroundings which you've moved on/away from.
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An accent is a wonderful thing. I am a Brit living in Canada and while I will change my language to suit my surroundings I try hard to maintain my accent. It tells people who I am and where I have hail from. Whilst I would be disappointed if someone discriminated against me because of my accent I am happy for it to be noticed and commented upon because it is part of what makes me, me and is just another way in which we are all different and individuals.
*a voice from the back*
"I'm not"
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Changing accents to fit in is real - we live in Canada now and almost immediately my 10 year old daughter adopted a Canadian accent when speaking with her friends - she just mimicked how they spoke and yet at home she will speak very English but with that awful upward infliction at the end of every sentence which drives my husband mad! As for me as an adult I will probably not lose my English accent although at a recent job I had my customers from the southern states of the USA would think I was either Australian, South African as well as English of course.
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I was born in Scotland of Glaswegian parents, live in Wales from age 1 to 5 (Welsh speaking with Welsh accent), but have lived in England since then. I find my accent changes to match the people I'm with, it's not a conscious thing and sometimes I try hard not to do it (if I notice!) as people can get offended if they think you are mimicking them. I don't think I get as broad Scottish as Barrowman did when I talk to my parents, but my language and rhythm of speech definitely change.
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I was born and brought up in South Africa. My mother spent a lot of time trying to stop me talking in the local accent,
People here think I'm English.
The most amusing thing is that I have a cousin here who also talks as if she was English. Her husband tries to but his SA accent is obvious.
My brother actually used to read the news on SA radio in the seventies in an English accent. He still lives there and was an English Literature lecturer.
Accents here are bewildering.
On the bus I can hardly understand the ones of those who get off near the local prison, presumably on day release, yet I spent many years defending criminals, and had no problems understanding them.
Peole who don't read communicate in an ever simpler way in snorts and half-words.
Will we all end up bleeping to each other?
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It amazes me that my dad speaks as if he was born and bred in England, (someone even thought he came from Somerset), yet when he speaks to fellow Irish people, (or indeed any one with an accent), his Irish tones comes out in all it's glory.
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Chris Ecclestone does not have a Manchester accent, he is from Salford in Lancashire.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but last time I looked Salford was in (Greater) Manchester ;o)
I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to accents. When watching the above programme and noting JB change in accent my hubby declared - he's as bad as you. My accent is "everyday Cheshire" for want of a better expression, but I always inadvertently pickup the accents of wherever I am and adopt them as my own - a week away anywhere marks a complete change in my speech. I have no idea why it happens and no awareness of it in myself, but it's great fun seeing the confusion on other peoples faces...!!!
BTW, of course Timelords are British - why do you think they always keep coming back here
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I am a born and raised Californian. Within the US, Californians are known at the people who "sound like TV," which I have always understood to mean complete lack of regional accent. My boyfriend is British. I have noticed that over the years with him, I have adopted speech patterns that are decidedly non-Californian. I have to wonder if this lack of a regional accent makes us Californians more prone to accent-cloning. I had to explain to my boss once when we went out to a pub with numerous Brits why I sounded more like them than her. "It just happens that way..."
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One of my favorite shows, the American show In Treatment, is fun for this. The actors are from Ireland, South Africa, and all over the Uk but this knowledge only sneaks out in hints.
I didn't realize Gabriel Byrne's accent until he had a row with his on screen wife. His lovely accent came shining through!
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