an icepick through the keyhole

Does rather look like fun...

I've been thinking about the Doctor having a recognisable regional accent (as opposed to what's called "Received Pronunciation" or "BBC English" which is akin to the accent of some parts of the south-east) and trying to come up with a reason why I don't like the idea that doesn't boil down to "he doesn't talk the way I do." People in the north have been watching him for decades and feeling that, after all. As have Devonians, Cockneys, Cornishmen*, men* of Kent and Kentishmen*, Fenlanders, Scousers, Geordies, Welshmen*, Ulstermen* and people from every corner of the world.

The only thing I can come up with is that, like it or not, BBC English was represented to the world and to space for fifty years as being the standard form of our language as spoken in this country, in so far as one existed. If the Doctor is to be identified as "British," and you aren't going to have him shuttling through accents at the rate of one a week so that no-one feels left out, then you need to give him an accent that can be regarded as "standard" and will offend the smallest number of people. BBC English has the weight of precedent behind it, and one can justify it by saying he learned it from listening to Alvar Lidell and Muffin the Mule beaming out into the galaxy from fifty years ago.

But there we are. RTD decided otherwise. Just something else to get used to.