I HAD to laugh when reading reports this week that ITV had received complaints about David Tennant's accent in the second series of Broadchurch.

 

Viewers had taken to social media to complain that they had to use subtitles while watching Monday night's episode because, wait for it, he was just too Scottish.

Too Scottish? What does that even mean?

In my opinion David Tennant is one of the finest actors this country has ever produced and we have been spoiled for choice over the years with his array of fantastic accents in various different performances.

However, when he portrays a character in this natural dialect some viewers have decided to find fault with it.

It raises an interesting question though, is his accent difficult to understand or are some people just to lazy to really listen.

The UK is made up of many many different regional accents as is demonstrated in Broadchurch with the majority of the cast adopting a west coast accent which I can understand with no problem whatsoever.

Granted it's not a dialect I hear often and it's a million miles away for my own Glaswegian tongue but I don't throw my tartan toys out of the pram and start complaining about it.

To be honest it's something I've experienced first hand living in London for five years especially with London taxi drivers.

The minute I got in the cab and attempted to tell the driver my destination, nine times out of 10 I would get interrupted with, "Na love sorry can't understand a word you're saying. You'll have to speak slower Scotch."

This was utterly infuriating for many reasons because, a) I hadn't even got the words out of my mouth but as soon as the driver heard my accent he immediately assumed he wouldn't be able to understand me and, b) Scotch is a whisky.

My fury didn't last long though as I got my revenge on those handful of intolerant cabbies by paying them from my stash of Scottish notes I saved for such special occasions.

There is nothing on this earth that sends London taxi drivers over the edge more than a crisp purple £20 with old Robert the Bruce's coupon staring right back at them.

I've been lucky enough to travel all over the world because of my job and I almost never encounter communication problems because of my accent.

Although I will hold my hands up and admit to losing the language battle when it comes to automated services over the phone and can often be heard shouting, "Customer Service" in a slow drawn out voice over and over again when trying to speak to a human being about a utility bill of some nature only to be told by said automated voice, "Sorry, request not recognised," yeah you're telling me love.

I think it's fantastic that all the wonderful dialects throughout the UK are represented on TV because linguistically we are an extremely diverse nation so people need to accept that, concentrate a little more when watching TV shows and if all else fails turn up the volume.

I know I'm having a bit of a rant especially when probably only a very small number of people behave in this manner but it just really annoys me when I read that people actually think you can be too Scottish and that it's a negative thing.

Maybe we should get an online petition going to have Rab C Nesbitt read the 10 o'clock national news each night and that would really cause a rammy, quarrel, brawl, stooshie, upset, carnage, depending on what part of the

country you're in.

I'm delighted to see that the hugely successful Butterfly and Pig brand is setting up shop in Glasgow's South Side. With doors set to open this weekend it looks set to be a most welcome edition to the social scene in Shawlands which is really on the up thanks to many new businesses opening over the last year or so.

Everyone knows how passionate I am about this area of Glasgow not only because it my home but because of how beautiful the place is and how friendly its residents are.

The Butterfly and Pig is renowned for its fantastic food and drink not to mention its sensational reputation for live music, something I'm sure everyone will be looking forward to experiencing when doors open this weekend.

For more information you can log onto www.thebutterflyandthepig.com