To be heartbroken about Douglas Henshall not being a lovely guy I thought he was.

[HairyNipple]

Just that really.
Love him in Shetland. Followed him on Twitter and found out he is not a nice guy at all. Quite shocking tweets to be honest - and he's been like that for years!
I know about actors being different people to their characters, but somehow I imagined him being more like Jimmy Perez and less like a prick he seems to be. I am genuinely upset.

What I mean is, he’s speaking with a Shetland accent - but he’s using dialogue written by a Scots/English scriptwriter. It’s just not how Shetlanders speak - “knapping” is when they’re speaking in dialect.

it’s the equivalent of Frankie Boyle retaining his accent but speaking like he’s straight outta Eton.

to put it into perspective, a Shetland fisherman told me when they were in port in Friesland, the Dutch told them to stop “mangling English” and to just knap as they found it easier to understand.

I shared a flat with a guy from Shetland. It is like a whole other language. Peerie was the word I remember most.

There are some really odd comments about Shetland on this thread. I really hope that the BBC isn't giving people the idea that the dialect spoken in Shetland is similar to Glaswegian. So little knowledge from Scottish people about a (now) part of Scotland. Whenever I go abroad, people seem to have far more knowledge about Shetland, where it is and its connection with Norway/vikings than many people in Scotland!

And yes, Shetland is far closer to many European cultural elements and languages than parts of the west of Scotland, which really have a culture of all of their own. Lerwick was drained by Dutch drainage experts hundreds of years ago, the name means "muddy bay" in the Scandinavian language that was spoken there at the time.

There are some really odd comments about Shetland on this thread. I really hope that the BBC isn't giving people the idea that the dialect spoken in Shetland is similar to Glaswegian

It's always the same with Scottish dramas. The casting director can't differentiate between a Dundee accent, a Glasgow accent, an Inverness accent. It's just all "Scottish". So you have a Glaswegian playing an Orkney born and bred fisherman, or a Fifer kidding on that they are a highland crofter. Has always been that way and only those of us in Scotland ever pick up on it.

It's the same with Irish accents. There are so many different accents. You can tell roughly where someone is from by their accent.
Just like English accents. I presume Wales is the same.
I can't tell an American from a Canadian accent.

@AchatAVendre ive met people who believed Shetland ponies were mythical creatures. 😂🤦‍♀️

To be fair this happens with generic northern accents too... you can narrow down a lot of Yorkshire people to their town from their accent, but you'll often get a Lancashire accent popping up supposed to be Yorkshire.

I think there has to be some willing suspension of disbelief when watching any drama. Local accents may need to be toned down so they can be understood by viewers at the opposite end of the country - I believe Trainspotting had subtitles in the US. Actors might not get the accent completely right but nobody except a local would notice and, in any area, there might be incomers anyway. I don't speak with the local accent or dialect where I am although I have lived here half my life.

@TheLassWiADelicateAir

honestly I have enough going on in my life to start a crusade about “Fenians, Huns and sectarianism in Glasgow.”

that does make a good tv title though.

Trainspotting is a good example. Robert Carlyle, who is Glaswegian through and through, playing an Edinburgh gangster. Euan McGregor is from Perthshire but that accent isn't so different. The blonde guy is English - both he and McGregor far too "well spoken". Diane who he sleeps with on a night out - Glaswegian. The only authentic accent in the whole thing was the guy who takes speed and goes to a job interview - Spud?

But to audiences outside Scotland - all Scottish.

Scottish guy uses the C-word liberally. Pass the smelling salts.

I was watching some Hollywood film on Netflix recently and the two baddies were Scottish brothers. The one with the REALLY convincing Glaswegian accent was from Lancashire and the Scot from Edinburgh. All Scottish.

surely highlander is the most fucked up? A Frenchman playing a Scot and the Scot playing a Spaniard.

To be fair to Sir Sean, his attitude to accents was "fuck that". Whether he was King Richard III, an immortal Spaniard or James Bond, his accent was exactly the same.

Well the topic has changed a bit hasn’t it?

Speak for yourself.

But agree that not all Scottish people swear a lot. I don't. Certainly not AT people. And I'm 50 and have never once in my life used the c-word about anyone.

I always feel disappointed that someone who claims to be an actor does not do accents. Surely it’s part of the job.

He was definitely a postgrad at the John Wayne School of Accents.

And James Bond was Scottish, admittedly also Eton

You are clutching your pearls a bit. So he gets a bit sweary sometimes? So what? He seems like an OK guy.

I understand what you mean! 🍪🍪🍪
Hate written swear words, especially the C word. Surely the D or P word is so much worse???
There is no need. 🤓

Now we’re expanding to other Scottish actors, both Brian Cox and Peter Capaldi said playing sweary characters increased their real-life swearing a lot.

Full circle. 😁 Brian cox did a brilliant “Shetland accent” as Magnus Bain.

Ffs. They are all ACTORS. Suspend your disbelief.

Peerie is a great word. I actually went to Shetland this summer (after loving the Shetland programme so much) and I loved the local accents I heard. A few of them really sounded Scandinavian. But yes, peerie was one word that stuck out to me.