Tom Hollander as Dylan Thomas

I thought it (and him) excellent. An original recording I once heard of DT revealed rather more clipped BBC vowels (surprisingly) though.

DT called it his 'cut glass accent'. Apparently his father discouraged him from speaking in a Welsh accent. Tom Hollander looked and sounded so much like him that it was almost spooky. What a genius DT was, such a damaged genius. We had a record of him speaking some of his best known poems - Fern Hill, And Death Shall Have No Dominion, Do Not Go Gently... But personally I think Richard Burton speaks Under Milk Wood better.

Richard Burton reading DT - available on Amazon and I couldn't resist ordering it. It's a compulsion. Help!

I thought Hollander was excellent as Thomas. As both Burton and Thomas had Welsh accents I don't understand where a cut glass accent comes into this

Anniebach, DT himself referred to his 'cut glass accent'. Both he and Burton could slip easily in and out of either accent. Expat Scots like me can do the same - up to a point.

It's referred to in this article

Thank you annodomini. There is always confusion about a Welsh accent , there is no such thing as a single Welsh accent just as there is no single English accent. Forgive me, difficult to explain. In England we speak of Liverpool, Birmingham , Dorset etc accents , but no matter where a person hails from in Wales they have a Welsh accent , Yet North, South and West are so different, even the valleys in South Wales do not speak with the same accent . Burton didn't slip into a Welsh accent , he did a 'how green was my valley' accent lol

A person from Anglesey can speak the very same sentence as a person from the Rhondda in half the time . Their diction was due to elocution lessons but the softness is still there as is the drama , we do so do drama lol . Listening to Thomas read ' Do Not Go Gently' or Burton as the first voice in Milkwood and the fact they were Welsh can not be disguised .

Did you watch the BBC production of Milkwood with the thirty odd Welsh actors / singers ?

Which channel was it on?

It's okay, I found it. The Guardian critic did not seem very impressed but I'll probably give it a go. I loved Under Milk Wood.

Anniebach the best Welsh accent is the South Wales one IMHO.

petallus, the South is much softer isn't it , I am such a mixture, born and raised in the Merthyr valley with one half of the family from North Wales , a Welsh mongrel lol. I quite enjoyed the BBC production of Milkwood - spotting who was in it, Tom Jones was captain Cat, I will say no more on that, Charlotte Church was very good, I was surprised. Sheen was first voice , impossible for anyone after Burton isn't it? First time I have heard one village with so many different accents lol . I love Milkwood , such use of the English language and typically Welsh, why use five words when you can use fifteen

We have a plethora of Scots accents too, Anniebach. A strong Aberdeen one is almost unintelligible to the uninitiated (me) the accent of my native Ayrshire can be quite whiney. We were not encouraged to use it in our household. I think the most pleasant accent is that of a native Gaelic speaker speaking English.

Just so annodomini, and it's the same in N Ireland , we say Scots, Irish Welsh accents but not English accent, do you think it's size of the countries? or the Celt thing ?

I have difficulty understanding one Scots accent but don't know which part of the country it's spoken , have only visited Dumfries and Galloway, found the accent there gentle

Now I'm a East Londoner but am mistaken for an Essex girl - the accent is quite different and different again from my parents who were both cockneys. Husband is posh boy from North London - swears with a very suave accent and not often.

A strong accent from almost anywhere can be hard to understand even for other Scots. One day at CAB I took a call from a Fifer. A good thing it was me because none of the rest of the volunteers could possibly have understood him. What I cannot abide - and forgive me, any Edinburghers present - is the supremely affected Morningside accent! Kelvinside accent in Glasgow is almost as bad!

suebaily, do tell me please, I have cousins born and brought up in Watford, what accent do you think they have from that area? I have no need to swear posh, I can swear in Welsh, such freedom lol

annodomini, one City with different accents, that is unusual isn't it? Cardiff is our capital and they don't have a Welsh accent of any kind

And what is wrong with Morningside? Where sex is what your coal is delivered in?

We need Rab C. Nesbit to come and give his opinion on accents.

Must watch Tom Hollander as DT as soon as I get the time, it's sure to be good.My favourite poem ever is Poem In October by DT, and I have always enjoyed Under Milk Wood.Saw this performed years ago at the theatre in Plymouth[1978 or thereabouts] and Bernard Bresslaw was the narrator surprisingly.

Soutra 'you'll have had your tea?' [said in genteel Morningside accent.]

Not all Edinburgers speak Morningside, and the reaction of most of them when they hear it is the same as yours, Anno. Also, a Morningside accent and a fur coat were often associated with queue-jumping (in the days when you waited in a real shop to be served by a real person).

I didn't mean to imply that all Edinburgers spoke Morningside, any more than all Glaswegians speak Kelvinside.

I know you didn't!

I know I'm not alone in finding Thomas's 'poetry reading voice' really annoying! It's not his natural tone at all. I must also say that much of his poetry is not to my taste. Of course the nation's number one vilanelle, 'Do Not Go Gentle', is superb.

Under Milk Wood has been with me since it was first broadcast in the BBC Third Programme - I sequestered myself in our kitchen, where there was an extension speaker from the big old wireless in the 'front room'. No light, other than the glow from the little coke boiler we had in those days - and I was transported! Such word magic and music... Meantime the rest of the family were watching television in the dining room.

I still love it.