- Viewers complained they had to turn the volume up or switch on the subtitles
- Naaz Radhid said: ‘Can’t work out dialogue between two native English speakers’
- Another viewer added: ‘What is it with these new dramas? Sound is just terrible!’
BBC drama Little Women has become the latest flagship programme to be hit by a mumbling row after viewers complained they couldn’t hear what the ‘mumbling’ actors were saying.
People watching the three-episode dramatisation starring Michael Gambon and Angela Lansbury took to Twitter to claim they had to turn to volume up, while some even switched on the subtitles.
Naaz Radhid said: ‘As if I didn’t feel battered and bruised enough, can’t work out dialogue between two native English speakers.’
People watching the three-episode dramatisation took to Twitter to claim they had to turn to volume up, while some even switched on the subtitles
Claire Greenham wrote: ‘Why must we have muffled American accents – can barely understand what’s being said #LittleWomen’
Hazel Dobson complained: ‘Had to turn on subtitles in order to understand Little Women on BBC.’
Claire Greenham wrote: ‘Why must we have muffled American accents – can barely understand what’s being said #LittleWomen.’
Another viewer added: ‘What is it with these new dramas? Sound is just terrible!’
Little Women also faced complaints for casting 20-year-old Kathryn Newton as the character Amy Marsh, who is meant to be just 12.
The adaption of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel is the last in a long line of television dramas to face claims of poor volume quality.
One of the first to fall victim to the mumbling curse was the BBC’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s gothic novel Jamaica Inn.
One of the first programmes to fall victim to the mumbling curse was the BBC’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s gothic novel Jamaica Inn
The BBC received 546 complaints over the opening episode, with viewers saying they had to switch on subtitles or turn the volume to maximum to hear what was being said.
But despite promises that the problem would be fixed, the second episode drew 252 complaints in a day – bringing the total to at least 798.
Then viewers of SS-GB complained it was easier to understand the Germans because they could not hear what the mumbling English actors were saying.
The first episode of the alternate history drama, set in German-occupied London in 1941 after the Battle Of Britain, featured subtitled German dialogue.
But many of the 6.1million viewers said they turned on subtitles for the English exchanges because the actors were ‘muttering’ and ‘whispering’.