‘Broadchurch’ Complaints: David Tennant's Accent Incomprehensible As He Goes ‘More Scottish’ in Season 2

David Tennant has gone “more Scottish” in the new season of “Broadchurch,” or so some viewers have complained. The former “Doctor Who” star’s natural Scottish accent apparently became more pronounced as the second series of the crime mystery show started.

The 43-year-old actor received critical acclaim and award nominations for his role as Detective Alec Hardy in the British program since it launched in March 2013. But as the show kicked off its second series in January this year, there had been some complaints from viewers about the show’s apparently unrealistic plot and other issues.

One baffling concern, though, was from a few viewers who thought Tennant’s accent is difficult to understand. According to them, they need to turn on subtitles just to understand Tennant speak because he somehow got his accent thicker in season 2.

As the Daily Mail reports, some viewers took to Twitter to whine about Tennant’s “mumblings” in season 2. One twitter user claimed she needed someone to translate “heavily accented mumbling” to understand the dialogues.

“Has Tennant gotten more Scottish in the new series of Broadchurch?” another Twitter user wrote. “David Tennant is doing some kind of weird Scottish accent,” a different user added.

ITV already addressed the issue after the show aired on January 5. It said some viewers accused the actor of “mumbling,” but there were only “fewer than five” complaints then. A spokesman from the network also said on Tuesday that Tennant was only speaking in his own accent “as he usually would in every day life.”

As the network said, there were just a few complaints about Tennant’s accent. Fans took to Twitter to defend him from critics, saying his speech is actually easy to understand.

Tennant’s acting was generally well received in “Broadchurch” and even in the show’s American version, “Gracepoint.” However, in the U.S. series, Tennant also got a few flak regarding his American accent. In “Doctor Who,” Tennant spoke with an English accent rather than his natural Scottish English, and there didn’t seem to be complaints about that.

Apart from Tennant’s thick Scottish brogue, “Broadchurch” has also received complaints from viewers for getting police and legal procedures wrong. For example, a dead kid’s body was exhumed by court order but was done without approval from the boy’s parents. That same parents had also named the prosecuting barrister taking over their son’s case, but legal experts claim they simply did not have this right.

A courtroom judge was also noted by observant viewers as wearing the wrong wig, and this same judge allowed unrelated questions about someone’s sex life in court. These errors were perhaps the reason why it suffered a ratings slump. According to the Mirror, it kicked off with 7.6 million viewers when it aired the first episode on January 5 in the UK, but that figure fell to 5.6 million after four episodes.