TV bosses put pressure on directors working on Scottish programmes to watch the “language” of actors so English audiences can understand, an award-winning filmmaker has said.
Two-time Bafta winner David Blair (below) told The National he was aware of a “snobbery” from English production companies about Scottish accents on screen.
He said: “When I did Crime, we were getting things up the line about the language and you’re thinking: ‘You commissioned Irvine Welsh, what do you fucking expect?’ If you take the language away, you’ve no Irvine Welsh left.”
The show's executive producer said that he had asked actors to speak slower in scenes where "quick and heavy use of dialect was involved".
The director contrasted that experience with working on the TV show Four Lives, starring Stephen Merchant (below) and set in London, where he said great care had been taken to make sure the actors all had “authentic East End accents”.
Blair added: “We still have this snobbery – sometimes it’s not blatant but it’s clearly alluded to – just be very careful that we can understand everything you say.
“But everyone the world over understood Taggart, Trainspotting. You make the effort or not to be engaged. If you’re not engaged, it’s not simply because of the language, it might just not be good enough.”
Tony Wood, executive producer of Crime, said: “When quick and heavy use of dialect was involved I very occasionally asked for less rapid performance to ensure the dialect was distinguishable to a non-Scottish audience.
“At no point did ITV censor the production on dialect and neither did any of the show’s international broadcast partners.
“Our ambition for Irvine Welsh’s Crime was to remain as true as possible to Irvine’s voice and mostly, the language was not moderated except for taste and decency.”
