| If you really want to get a feel for opinion | | | | to a global audience. Yet an appreciation of |
| on the street, there can be few better pit | | | | regional accents on a daytime TV show takes |
| stops than the message boards from BBC | | | | on the mantle of academic enquiry compared |
| America where the entertainment value is a | | | | with the interests of the sisterhood |
| good deal higher than the shows themselves. | | | | elsewhere. You will have to read a great many |
| The comments are not confined to The Antiques | | | | websites before you come across anything |
| Roadshow alone as there is a burgeoning | | | | close to the unadulterated drivel posted by |
| interest in Flog It, Bargain Hunt and Cash in | | | | some of these fans |
| the Attic too. The most revealing aspect, in | | | | |
| more ways than one, is the unerring focus on | | | | "A big thank you to Alistair Appleton's |
| the personal attributes of the presenters by | | | | parents for blessing us with his presence." |
| female viewers. There really is no end of | | | | |
| drooling and these ladies let it all hang | | | | "He also is a lovely piece of eye candy." |
| out, so to speak. There are no less than | | | | |
| thirty five postings on the accent of Bargain | | | | "Yes, I must agree they are all delicious. I |
| Hunt presenter, Paul Hayes, one of which | | | | must stick with Alistair though! My mum, |
| relates | | | | however, is in heavy lust over Phil T. She |
| | | | stops what she is doing when he is down to a |
| "One of the reasons I watch BBCA - in | | | | tank top on Invaders!" |
| addition to the fact that I don't see any of | | | | |
| the shallowness I find in the shows or people | | | | The debate and angst over the sexuality of |
| as in my native US - is the ACCENTS! I'm | | | | Alistair Appleton and Leigh and Leslie Keno, |
| currently working on picking up the | | | | brothers and co hosts of the US version of |
| difference between a Scotch and Irish | | | | The Antiques Roadshow, reached a level of |
| accent." | | | | intensity on these boards that made the G8 |
| | | | summit on debt relief look no more than a |
| There must be some pretty desperate | | | | minor squabble between friends. It is |
| housewives across Middle America, and indeed | | | | reassuring to know that dimples and a lack of |
| Middle England, if they feel sufficiently | | | | facial hair can be such a vote winner in |
| compelled to convey such innermost thoughts | | | | these troubled times. |