Hi! I'm a 'Generation Lestrade' RG fan and British. Lestrade's accent is a hybrid: it isn't a clear fit for any one UK region. One UK critic called it 'estuary' (= counties east of London, or upper-working-class-made-good-and-moved-out-to-Essex), but there's a bit of West Country (the Somerset part) there too.
However, I'm pretty sure Lestrade's voice/accent was constructed for the series (i.e. it's not RG's everyday voice). RG has been in London since he was 18, so there's no way he'd have a 'natural' Somerset accent by now; also, he's from near Bristol (different accent from Somerset farmers). I've seen one interview where he claimed that when he first came to London he had a 'really bad, fake cockney accent' but with Bristol vowels ('foive' for five, etc). So maybe that feeds into Lestrade's way of speaking!
Last, the surname 'Lestrade' fits with the east London/Essex/'estuary English' idea, as it could easily be a Huguenot name (= French Protestant emigres who settled in east London in the 17thC due to persecution).
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-01-18 10:15 pm (UTC)However, I'm pretty sure Lestrade's voice/accent was constructed for the series (i.e. it's not RG's everyday voice). RG has been in London since he was 18, so there's no way he'd have a 'natural' Somerset accent by now; also, he's from near Bristol (different accent from Somerset farmers). I've seen one interview where he claimed that when he first came to London he had a 'really bad, fake cockney accent' but with Bristol vowels ('foive' for five, etc). So maybe that feeds into Lestrade's way of speaking!
Last, the surname 'Lestrade' fits with the east London/Essex/'estuary English' idea, as it could easily be a Huguenot name (= French Protestant emigres who settled in east London in the 17thC due to persecution).