The Role of Regional Accents in Television

There was a time when everyone on the BBC spoke with heightened RP, which is that old fashioned version of BBC English. These days you're much more likely to hear regional variations and local accents on prime time TV. We shouldn't judge each other by our accents because it's no indication of the value of that person as an individual. But I think that people doJudge each other by their accents, for good or bad. It also relates to time to an extent, meaning sort of the past. Heightened RP, that kind of posh English, used to be a lot more common than it is today.