Piecing together what happened, when and by who is hard going for TV cops investigating murders at the best of time. If it wasn’t, who’d watch?
But for many viewers of the second series return to ITV of Marcella last night, the real mystery was in trying to deduce what the heck was going on with Anna Friel’s accent (er, she’s northern and she moved to London? It happens, people!).
Read more: Call The Midwife viewers rejoice at return of Reggie
And although the first series also contained a dramatic soundtrack of largely unsettling background music, last night’s sound made for a muddled listen.
One viewer tweeted:
Seriously @ITV my volume is so high, I’m watching in HD, my subtitles are on and I still cannot hear what’s going on! #marcella 8 weeks of poor sound?? Sort it out!!
— Belle (@hkp074) February 19, 2018
Others agreed, reminded of ‘Mumblegate’:
Same here too!! Corrie was fine, then #Marcella came on – couldn’t hear a bloody thing, turned sound up, put subtitles on too, still struggling yet adverts booming out!! I thought it was BBC dramas you couldn’t hear! 😬
— TwistedSister17 (@twistedsister17) February 19, 2018
#Marcella Is it just me who has had to turn the sound up?
— pollyk (@joy9kat) February 19, 2018
Anyone struggling with sound on #Marcella – extra loud adverts during breaks – poor sound in programme?
— Anna (@LancashirePR) February 19, 2018
And then poor Anna’s accent came in for it, lumped in with the sound quality concerns.
Sound quality and her accent – which keeps changing – are spoiling tonight’s episode for me #Marcella
— Robin (@Cannock_Hatter) February 19, 2018
#Marcella Is it me or does Marcella keep slipping out of her accent?
— Jamie Holmes (@JamieHo58564859) February 19, 2018
Love that Marcella is back but what is up with her accent 🤔 has she always spoken like that?! Never noticed it before 🙈🙈
— Kayleigh Johnson (@k_leexjx) February 19, 2018
A detective should be put on the case of tracking #Marcella accent @ITV
— Gino (@Gino09071959) February 19, 2018
Oof! And then they came for Marcella’s walk… which did seem to be somewhat lopsided… but that’s for character, ok?
Anna Friel is spoiling this, the walk, the face, the accent 😩 #Marcella
— AbbyJones (@AbbyyJones1) February 19, 2018
Why does she walk so weirdly? Did anyone else notice? #Marcella
— Ruth Richmond (@Ruthie170) February 19, 2018
Thanks to the joys of social media, Anna was on hand to answer all and any walk-related worries.
She was, however, keen to point out that she does not share the same style of moving about as her cop character.
I will admit to an unusual gate….yet Marcella walks like Marcella not anna! Xxx
— Anna Friel (@annafriel) February 19, 2018
Marcella has her own walk.. that’s all I can say
— Anna Friel (@annafriel) February 19, 2018
Some characters have a funny walk.. Marcella is one of those. I self conscious. Has no time and too many troubles to care what people think! X
— Anna Friel (@annafriel) February 20, 2018
Now then, what’s happened to Marcella’s parka?
Read more: Marcella actress Anna Friel reveals fears over ‘harrowing’ detective role
Could you hear what was going on in Marcella last night? Could you understand what was going on? If you did, please let us know by commenting on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix!