It seems that there has been a lot of complaints about mumbling to the BBC. I don't do twitter so not sure but Samantha Morton could have been better.
shareI'm watching it at home on my Mac and I have to wear earphones to catch what they are saying, so I agree about the mumbling. But otherwise, Morton and Roth are both superb!
shareI could actually hear what she was saying. I lost Roth in amongst his foggy mumbling at times.
shareI could hear her as well
shareI know it doesnt help with the sound in the show but on John Christie's wikipedia page it says
'While serving as an infantryman during the First World War, he was apparently injured by a gas attack, which he claimed left him permanently unable to speak loudly'
That may account for why the director chose to quieten his speech.
I have read the same thing regarding his voice in a book on serial killers.
That's because they all use the same reference point - Attenborough's performance.
Christie lied, lied and lied again. It's what psychopaths do. He was gassed, but he was returned to service, which couldn't have happened if he had no voice. We only have his word for it that he could not speak for three and a half years - years in which he saw out his service and took various jobs.
Friends, neighbours and relatives talk of an upright man who spoke clearly and with authority, when demanded. He did have what an Express reporter called a "gravelly grate", though - but that's very far from the whispering voices given him by Attenborough and Roth. I think Attenborough got as close to Christie's voice as he could, and being unable to reproduce the grate (which most of us only get with a sore throat), elected to do the whisper,
I've noticed mumbling complaints a lot with everything from Peaky blinders to Happy Valley. Do people not have volume buttons. I've never had a problem with any of these programmes. For some reason the media monitor twitter accounts and create stories around one or 2 complaints as if the whole country is moaning.
shareI hate people moaning about mumbling. None of them mumbled and apparently Christie really spoke like this.
shareSeveral shows have had complaints about mumbling or dialogue too quiet compared to the music.
In some cases people's TVs have the sound set wrong or not optimum at least. It's worth checking the TV's sound settings. The default "flat" EQ often gives a narrow sound depth, so it's worth upping the lower and upper frequencies and leaving the middle one pretty much as it is, making a "smile" effect. There's usually five faders. This improves separation between sounds. If there's no actual EQ, and only treble and bass settings (as on my slightly vintage Sony), turn them both up to about 70-80%. Vary it to your own taste of course.
Another thing worth checking is making sure there's no widening or "virtual surround" effect on. This is a pretty naff effect, and nearly always increases sound coming out of the stereo image (music and sound effects) and reduces anything panned central (especially the dialogue), so there's an obvious advantage to making sure that's off.
So this is planet Houston