Hearing is not what it used to be, Brain 100%

Christie had a problem with his voice, apparently, and couldn't speak any louder. Tim Roth was playing him as he was, supposedly.

Diction/elocution gone out the window. It used to be taught in schools. There was a rreason why, in the past, it was known as received BBC English. It wasn't posh, just spoken clearly.

Ailma. Tim Roth in Rillington Place was awful. Couldn't hear a word he said!! I could hear everybody else but not the main protagonist.

I will never rate Eddie Redmayne as an actor. I was really looking forward to the BBC adaptation of Birdsong. He ruined it for me, mumbled all the way through. My hearing isn't that bad, if the actors speak properly, the sound engineers put some effort into their work and the background music takes a back seat I can hear everything. Heard every bit of Rillington Place, perfect.

Totally agree with comments above. I am not deaf but often find myself saying, "what did they say ", to my husband, who has no more idea than I have! Very frustrating. Doesn't help to turn up the volume, because it is then just louder mumbling and louder irrelevant background noise.

Ana you are so right about BBC in particular. I have seen letters in newspapers about this. The background music and other effects (eg a trotting horse clip-clopping, or a motorcycle engine) are too loud, and the sound engineers do not bring up the voices, many which mumble anyways. A whisper is totally lost amidst props being touched moved by the actors, the dialogue volume needs to be enhanced. This is about poor directorship as well as slopping scene engineering and editing with after-effects.

I work on 3D modelling and am in an animation workshop and these are big issues. So it's not about older people being deaf!

Victoria Coren-Mitchell is pretty damn near perfect in so many ways.....????. As is her husband of course - what a fine dynasty in the making. The old fashioned RP was very clear, there's no getting away from it.

I do not go to the cinema any more either, and always have the sub-titles on, but there again I do wear hearing aids, however the other half is finding it more and more difficult to hear the t.v. (radio is fine) and I am sure they speak far faster than they used to and a lot of presenters these days seem to 'swallow' the last sentences.

I don't go to the cinema,can't understand a word they say,especially American.

I'm sure I read somewhere that people actually do mumble these days.
I find some American programmes difficult to hear.
I did do a phone test of some kind, and my hearing came back as ok.

Bad enough that people mumble they then add loud background music

Some dramas (especially BBC ones!) seem to have poor sound quality and the actors are mumbley.

I don't usually have a problem though and can't stand the volume if I ever go to the cinema!

We sometimes use subtitles and turn up the sound -
then Gary Lineker comes on at top volume.
Time to turn off

I find Victoria Coren-Mitchell very easy to understand - if only everyone spoke as clearly as she does.

I don't have hearing problems but some TV presenters seem to mumble at times.

Films and drama programs too.Im deaf as a post,wear two hearing aids.But when I watch a old film I can usually hear it.new stuff I rely totally on the subtitles.