9 out of 10 actors who attempt a Suffolk accent end up speaking with a Cornish one (or something roughly akin to it, at least). The other 10% do manage to get a bit closer though - with a Norfolk accent (which is the ultimate insult to people from this fair county!)
We used to have an elderly man that lived near us from Suffolk. Such a lovely chap. Loved the accent. He would often begin conversations with, "When I was in the Navy.... :-)
Radio plays seem to be getting just a little bit better, Rosie29. At least they seem to have stopped using women to play young boys. (I can't be the only person who finds the voice of a woman in her 20s or 30s is absolutely nothing like the voice of a 10-year-old boy but, up until recently, radio producers clearly didn't see it that way!)
It would be much simpler just to change the script and rewrite the Suffolkian as a Rastafarian (possibly on holiday). It would tick a diversity box, and avoid the need for subtitles.
// 9 out of 10 actors who attempt a Suffolk accent end up speaking with a Cornish one//
no it is standard mummerzet
Hardy wivvart da Darzet accents gets me - Bathsheba ( which they called Barfshebber) in Far from the madding crowd
should have been Not far from Mile End....
and then when she said - oh Mr Oak, in Hampshire, hurricans hardly happen.... I turned off
I have a friend born & bred in Lowestoft, Chris. He has a very pronounced Suffolk accent. You're right - totally unique and very hard to emulate. I'm pretty good at recognising accents from across England but, unique as it is, the Suffolk accent often gets me stumped. I can understand actors having trouble with it.
PP: You might be right that it's the Somerset accent that gets confused with the Suffolk one. To be honest, I get a bit confused between the various west country accents anyway!
Granddad was a Norfolk man and I lived with him for many years. Still got some inflections.
Thought I would try to learn Cornish at one time but couldn't understand teacher in English most of the time.
Strong accents can be difficult.
Having lived in foreign parts, mainly the Midlands, for years I have lost most of my Suffolk accent, sadly, except when I'm cross or excited or back 'home'. People often accused me of coming from
Somerset, most upsetting.
My dad had a very strong suffolk accent, I have cassettes of him and his friends having a mardle. Makes me miss him and Suffolk even more listening to him.