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1985: Talking Proper - What's in an Accent? | Forty Minutes | BBC Archive
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March 2, 2026
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March 2, 2026
100,204
2,479
610
3.08%
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39:27Now PlayingAccents and dialects provoke strong prejudices and reactions. In a film that examines why this should be, broadcaster Janet Street -Porter, Scottish announcer Susan Rae and actor Peter Bowles are among those who have suffered because of the way they speak.
Meet the Queen's English Society, which keeps a candle burning for the purity of the spoken word, and the Devon Dialect Society, which has very different ideas about how vowels should sound.
Eavesdrop on an elocution class, hear from Scottish schoolchildren whose accents might affect their job prospects, and go behind the scenes at the BBC Pronunciation Unit and the northern auditions for the Speaking Clock. See how fashions have changed over the years, and how trends are likely to develop in the future as we enter a world of talking robots and computers....
Camera Operatiors: Colin Deehan and Keith Taylor
Film Editor: Jane Val Baker
Executive Producer: Roger Mills
Producer: Judi Conner
Clip taken from Forty Minutes: Talking Proper, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 17 January, 1985.
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