Dodgy British accents in American programmes

[rugbychick1]

I'm currently recovering from surgery and binge watching "Bones" for the first time. Why do the accents for any British characters all sound the same? Now I've noticed it, why can't I un notice it?

Oh, @CarolinaInTheMorning don’t Americans also refer to a “pinky toe”? I don’t think we do. They took the Scottish pinky and ran with it (literally, ha ha).

Location continuity doesn't matter to the producers/directors, they are making a show for entertainment, not a travelogue. 99.9% of the audience will neither know nor care.

It's quite fun when you notice location dislocations. Eg in Brideshead Revisited from the painted room at castle Howard straight into the fernery at Tatton Park (or perhaps the other way round). There was a comedy series A Very Peculiar Practice set in a uni medical centre which was extra funny if you'd been to Birmingham.

Even within a country the accents can be dreadful. In Shetland only Steven Robertson is a Shetlander and the rest of the (Scottish) main cast don't even try to modify their accents, beyond saying Ler'ick for Lerwick.

I guess there are a limited number of actors from Shetland and it's probably not an easy accent. Of course not all the main cast were meant to be local eg Tosh.
Otoh the Shetland kept breaking through when Robertson attempted some sort of Lancashire accent in The Bay.

Oh yes, "pinky toe" is definitely a thing here in the US.

We just call it our “wee toe”.

I was using Scots for ease of use tbh, I don’t know whether Welsh’s intent is Scots or accented English... but Edinburgh definitely has Scots words ken being the most obvious, lol.

I am Scottish and I don’t think people realise how much Scots they do use, words and grammar - because they’re told it’s an accent or slang and it’s discouraged....

Tynesider

Michael Caine's accent is explained in the film.

But it's a pretty weak explanation, he's not likely to have lost a Geordie accent and turned into a Cockney in a few years.

I think Renee Zellweger's British accent in Bridget Jones was pretty good. I had work experience at a big publishing house around the time it came out and that was a typical accent. Particularly, over 20 years ago in the home counties as it wasn't as diverse then.

Does it work both ways? Do British actors in US sound like Dick Van Dyke to them?

Watching Kelly Reilly as Beth Dutton in Yellowstone it never occurred to me at all that she was English. Did American people notice?

I watched Pride and Prejudice recently and it threw me to recognise her as Caroline Bingley with a cut crystal accent.

Presumably they tried him doing an accent and he couldn't. Better as I was than a Dick van Dyke style atrocity.

It's a classic and wouldn't have been the same film without him.

Presumably they tried him doing an accent and he couldn't. Better as I was than a Dick van Dyke style atrocity. It's a classic and wouldn't have been the same film without him.

Oh, I don't disagree, just having a minor whinge!