His overcoat gets mentioned in obituaries. It was very nice but I remember ' Private Eye' more. A Kingston resident as the Bishop would have pointed out.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13069441
'Both brogue and overcoat became at times a bit of a trial to him. He did not enjoy the relentless jokes about his Belfast vowels, the Private Eye parodies in which every other paragraph started "hondootedly", or incomprehensible Spitting Image send-ups. He resented the public-school condescension from which they emanated, as if to speak in a Northern Irish accent was somehow quaint or invalid, a second-class way of talking compared with official English.'''
I liked him.
There is also a cold logic in using regional accents in media - statistics discovered some time ago that people trust regional accents more than RP/generic. Ever since, certain regional accents have been ubiquitous and often sound as if the speaker is over-emphasising their accent for effect. (Like a lot of things we take for granted, it all boils down to money.)
Yet some accents are still taboo - I can't recall anyone in adverts/voice-overs etc using the universally-disdained W Mids accent. (I actually believe the W Mids accent to be far more pleasant than many other UK accents. E Mids I regard as one of the worst in the country. W Country I'm not too keen on either.)
Last edited by Yuca (2013-11-08 13:25:45)
Last edited by Sammy Ambrose (2013-11-08 21:09:08)
Regional accents are fine, but when you get the grating hard inner city accents by the likes of Janet Street Porter, its just horrid.
Important to add that JC wasn't there just for his voice - Far from it.
A real loss.
'Pfffffffft' - If you've got the gig it's for a reason.
Dear Old (Horrible?) Michael Winner (Bless... Sometimes...) used to agree with me about the nature of 'Puppets'... A Puppet is a Puppet because it wants to be a Puppet on whatever level.
Expectations are always managed - This is how Customer Service works - Tell somebody you'll ring them back in 10 minutes and then ring them back in 5. They'll love you !
In reality you knew the answer to their question from the start but you have created a 'theatre of value' to their enquiry.
... ... ... ... ... ...
Janet Shtreey-Pawtah wools OK!
RP/BBC English was honed and enhanced by the wireless and television age and, as mentioned above, its great advantage is that everyone can understand it and, at its best, it does not raise class-hackles at all - think of Richard Burton, or Peter O'Toole. However, regional accents are in fashion and top of the heap is eshtuary. Ugh. Even Anthony Hopkins has abandoned his (vapid) approximation to Burton and reverted to being very much a boyo from the valleys. John Cole was so out of the ordinary for his time that his voice was an entertainment in itself, besides the fact that he was on the money with politics.
You cite Burton, surely, his rich dulcet tones of poetry and genius from the Valleys are much preferable to the hard urban accents we hear today?