MovieChat Forums > Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012) Discussion > No Australian accents on this show?

No Australian accents on this show?


Seeing as this show was produced in Australia, I was expecting some Aussie accents but it's all very English! Am I missing something?

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No . . . .there are a variety of Australian accents. . . .depending on the area people are from. Just like the USA. . .eastern accents (many), southern accents, Midwestern, western. . .etc. The accents are there in Miss Fisher. .. listen carefully. 

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Same with South African English accents!

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It's also taking place in the 20's high society. So they tended to speak with more of a British accent.

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Jack's is most Australian indeed.

And the supporting actors are.

Phryne lived in Europe a lot so I just assumed she ended up with a more continental accent that was closer to British than Oz.

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They all have Australian accents, with the exception of Phryne's aunt - there is more than one Australian accent. I can understand why people might mistake the upper class accents as being English, because I've seen Cate Blanchett's accent mistaken for being British (presumably they meant English) too. I don't know how anyone could mistake Burt and Cec, or even Jack and Hugh, for sounding like they're from anywhere else though.

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phryne's aunt is played by Miriam Margolyes, who was born and lived in England until she moved to australia in her 60s. she was in at least one Harry Potter movie.

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I know. She's great. I believe she's an Aussie now, although she still has an accent. I don't think she exclusively lives and works here.

She was on a political panel show last week, Q&A. I was disappointed that she didn't speak up more.

Worst. Rescue. EVER!

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There is no such thing as an English accent. Every region has an accent - my uncle was able to differentiate (40 years ago) between the accents in a dozen different parts of Bradford.
What people should be saying is that the character speaks Received Pronunciation or "Queen's English" see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation

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I would say that there are both English and Aussie RP accents on this show...which is not to say that those are the only sorts of accents that exist in either England or Australia. Just that I think people often miss an Australian accent when we speak "properly" (so to speak) and mistake it for one of the English accents.

(I say "we" because I'm assuming you're an Aussie from your other posts. I apologise if that's not the case)



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Isn't Phyrne from elsewhere, not Australia? She went to Australia on a job and decided to stay, I think? The actress herself, though, is from Australia, I think.

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I think she was a poor kid from Australia, but she was raised elsewhere after a relative died and her family became wealthy.

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Essie Davis is most definitely from Australia - Tasmania to be exact.

Phryne's history is meant to be from Richmond, grew up poor until her mother's moneyed relatives all died in WW1 and she became the heir to the family fortune. This allowed her to get away from poor beginnings in Melbourne and travel, be educated and become so generally fabulous.

The series starts when she has returned to Melbourne to settle down, in her own fashion.

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No, her FATHER'S relatives died, leaving HIM money and a title, thus making Phryne Honorable. Her mother's family was always rich.


Chase: Wow. Yeah, I get it. House is adorable. I just want to hold him and never let go.

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When considering accents and characters of different 'status' it is worth remembering that at this time the official view was that they were not so much Australian as British but living in Australia so that for those who could afford it, popping 'home' to catch up with family and 'society' in England would be quite normal ... and any but an upper-class English accent would be quite out of the question in the mother country!

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Very interesting. I too wondered why (sounded like) no Aussie accents, yet, there were there all the time!

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I think most people outside Australia have a somewhat skewed idea of what an Aussie accent is- it's often confused with a strong kiwi accent. The only accents in this show that aren't Aussie are Phryne's (due to an English influence) and Aunt Prudence's (because she is English). Otherwise, the actors are using whatever their normal accents are- welcome to normal Australian accents!

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hear hear!!

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The only accents in this show that aren't Aussie are Phryne's (due to an English influence)
I hear a lot of people say this, so you're not alone....but am I the only one who doesn't hear it? "Jack!" just doesn't sound like that with an English accent.

It's just not an accent you hear very often in modern Australia. TV presenters and politicians all sound like that in old TV clips from the mid twentieth century, though.


Worst. Rescue. EVER!

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