Dream Me Up Scotty!

When actor Alex Norton made the film That Sinking Feeling directed by Bill Forsyth, the film had to be re-dubbed for non UK audiences. Norton was fortunate to be able to re-dub his own voice by softening his Scots accent.

Here Norton takes a lighthearted and sideways look at the Scottish accent in TV and film, the good, the bad and the totally baffling of mock jock acting.

There are early examples of Katharine Hepburn in The Little Minister made in the 1930s, to more authentic lilts in films such as Trainspotting and the Disney cartoon The Brave which displayed various regional Scottish accents to acclaim.

Once actors had to tone down their Scots accents when Hollywood came calling and you get to hear from Scottish actors as to their experience when working for the screen especially Hollywood.

Norton throws himself enthusiastically in recreating some scenes from famous Scottish set films but its nothing more than lightweight but lighthearted romp.

Being of Scottish origin, it does make me sad that the makers of this programme are so affected as to feel the need to show their chip on their shoulder. It should have been a programme solely about how the accent has been depicted so badly and how now it's accepted in film and TV in its raw form just like other UK regional accents. The makers seem to think that Scotland is the only English speaking country in the UK (and the world) with its own regional accents and words.

Comments like - we've been told for so long our accent is unacceptable (by whom?), that 'the Scots accent in Hollywood was given to the lowest, commoner' (they showed three films as an example, and not one proved them right), or a Scottish actor telling viewers, 'I'm fed up of this anti-Scots accent - this is the way I speak, YOU need to understand me; YOU make the effort'. WOW! The bag of chips is getting bigger!

The programme makers seem unaware that there are many, many accents within the UK, some so regional they are difficult for others to understand. Also within Scotland, there are many varying dialects - this wasn't picked up on. The BBC, who they accuse of not wanting Scots accents, also didn't want ANY regional UK accents. Sadly that has now changed. We were shown Brian Sewell, who tongue in cheek (along with a plum and silver spoon) telling us how much he disliked the Glaswegian accent - not the Scots accent, the Glaswegian. We weren't shown his stance on the Essex accent. Bag of chips expanding even more.

We saw a session of actors being shown to speak 'proper scots'. Maybe we also need to be shown Scottish actors learning how to speak with a Welsh, N Irish, London (south, east, west) , Cornish, Norfolk, Yorkshire accent. Scots actors like MGregor, Tennant, Capaldi and Compsten (Line of Duty) have their performances ruined by their attempt at English accents and it lowers the standard of that performance. I also thought Compsten and Capaldi were dreadful actors until I saw them acting In their natural, wonderful voices. Not many actors can get an English accent AND performance right. Our Scottish is different, and fairly easily done.

I loved the fact that the presenter bemoaned the fact that 'Scottish' films always showed the views of how Scotland should be, yet here he is, next to a waterfall, in a valley surrounded by hills, walking through a field surrounded by HIGHLAND cattle, on a roof overlooking a town. Ironic. Also with the rising patriotic stance of people moving to Scotland and accepting Scotland blah blah blah, I thought I was watching yet another case for independence!!

As for TV/films: the funniest thing to come out of Scotland was Rab C Nesbitt, the best programme Taggart. All the other Scottish made films, dramas and comedies he mentioned have been forgotten to the past - even Still Game, which at one time I loved, lost its appeal with a poorly written script. This needs to change. We were told of one comment about a Scottish made comedy - the writer was told 'it was funny, but I didn't understand it'. Instead of being encouraged by the fact the comedy was liked, the writer says 'how could they say it was funny if they didn't understand it?' . He should be thankful they liked it, so they didn't understand what was being said, they understood the comedy (they probably had the subtitles on),

Comments like: we are so proud of our accent, MORE than anywhere else in the UK - really? Try telling that to the people of Wales, N Ireland, Yorkshire, Somerset, Cornwall, Devon, Norfolk, Lancashire, Cumbria, Hereford, London and surrounding areas, Suffolk and all the other areas within the wonderful UK.

What an absolutely daft programme to make, yes show us how the accent has been attempted in film over the years, show us the 'cringe' of Scottishness, but PLEASE don't even think about trying to tell all that we are more proud, more patriotic, more loved and any better than other nationalities within the UK.

NB: There's another programme, albeit exactly the same topic, called 'Wha's Like Us'. Oh dear here we have a 'comedian' whose only part to date has been playing an Indian shop keeper in the aforementioned, unfunny Still Game. This actor is strolling along the countryside bemoaning the fact that NOWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD BUT SCOTLAND WILL YOU FIND SUCH GREGARIOUS, CONTENT, CHEERFUL, GENEROUS, SOBER, ASSERTIVE PEOPLE. I was expecting to see the saltire to fall behind him. I assume he's met every Scot, English, Welsh, Irish, American, Polish, Norwegian.....................

I love my Scotland, I also like some of the Scottish people, I don't like all of them because I've not met all of them, but of those I've met, some are nice, some are not so nice. As in Scotland, within the UK, the regional accents are very different, some are nice, some are not so nice, some are easy to understand, some are bloody difficult.

I found the programme confusing, at one time we're being told to be proud of our accent, that it's known to not always be understood (like most regional accents: Scots and UK), yet on the other hand, we are being told: if listeners can't understand us, we are not changing the way we speak for anyone. Scotland need to understand that it is NOT the only country with regional accents and words. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.