Christopher Eccleston blasted for ‘dodgy’ Belfast accent

Former Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston has come under fire for his Northern Irish accent.
TV viewers were less than impressed by the Englishman’s attempts to play a Belfast father struggling with life after his wife walks out on the family in Come Home.
And many Northern Irish locals, who checked out the BBC show when it debuted on Tuesday night (27Mar18), took to Twitter to poke fun at Eccleston’s attempts to master the accent.
One viewer suggested Belfast actress Paula Malcomson’s character left her husband because of his “dodgy Irish accent”, while @Andrea_G22 wrote: “Christopher Eccleston is trying… But that accent is painful”, and @lisa488 added: “That accent is terrible. There are plenty of fabulous NI (Northern Irish) actors.”
Eccleston had his fans as well – @SaxSurely defended the actor by tweeting: “For everyone complaining about his accent, obviously we all know he is not Irish, he is an actor. That is what they do. It is their job to act out parts and pretend to be other people. Anyone seem Wicked? That girl isn’t really green!”
Christopher thought he’d mastered the Belfast accent and recently told the BBC, “I worked with a magician! A brilliant dialect coach called Brendan Gunn. I also spent a lot of time in pubs listening to locals.
“Belfast is my favourite city in the world; I love New Orleans and Glasgow, but Belfast beats them all! It’s such a great city to make television. I tried my accent out with the locals, they were supportive and critical when they needed to be but it helped and I stayed in character when I was in between scenes.”