BBC One viewers were pleasantly surprised when they tuned into the first episode of The Responder on Monday night and heard Martin Freeman flawlessly pull off a Scouse accent.
Set on the streets of Liverpool, The Responder required Martin to master one of the most difficult English accents, and fans think he absolutely nailed it.
Take a listen for yourself here:
The police drama series follows urgent response officer Chris Carson (Freeman) as he takes on the night shift in Liverpool, while also struggling to keep his personal life and mental health under control.
Written by Liverpudlian and former police responder Tony Schumacher, The Responder also stars Adelayo Adedayo, MyAnna Burin, Ian Hart, Warren Brown, and Josh Finan - to name a few.
Viewers are already loving the series, and are rushing to BBC iPlayer to binge the remaining episodes.
Judging by the response on social media, it seems that Martin's impeccable Scouse accent is what has really won fans over.
One viewer tweeted: "My word...must be said, #martinfreeman has absolutely nailed the #scouseaccent. Never heard anyone perfect it like that. Must have worked hard to get it down like that. Respect to him."
Another wrote: "Well #MartinFreeman has nailed the Scouse accent in #Responder bloody brilliant ! Gritty and real!"
"Jesus #MartinFreeman is insanely talented, he sounds like he’s lived in Liverpool his whole life #responder" commented a third.
One local commented: "Having a hometown with a distinctive accent is a curse. A bad Scouse accent in a tv series or film is a MASSIVE distraction. Martin Freeman’s attempt in #Responder is pretty great."
"Three mins into the #Responder and I think Martin Freeman has cracked the accent," tweeted a second.
Ahead of the series premiere, Freeman confessed that he had spent the last year and a half speaking in Scouse to prepare for the role.
.jpg)
"I walked around for a year and a half, occasionally just talking to myself in Scouse. Even though you’re not always the best judge of your own thing, I do trust my ear," he told Metro.
"If I say something, I know when it sounds off. I got very, very exact about that stuff. You have to be because if I don’t do it well, it’s a terrible accent to get wrong.
"There are some accents where you don’t want to be in that city among the inhabitants of that city making a balls-up of it."
Looks like all of that hard work paid off, Martin!
Watch episode two of The Responder on BBC One at 9pm tonight, or catch up on BBC iPlayer.
Featured Image Credit: BBCTopics: TV And Film, BBC
Ali Condon