Actor Mandip Gill – who Doctor Who fans will know as Yaz from the current series of BBC’s sci-fi extravaganza – has answered the concerns of American viewers who are struggling to understand her accent.

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Ever since Gill materialised on screen as Yaz alongside Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, she’s been speaking in her native Yorkshire voice, which, although a source of pride for many northern viewers, left some US fans turning on the subtitles.

However, Gill isn’t completely sure why Americans are so confused considering the other British talent to grace their screens.

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Speaking to Stylist, Gill said: “We were made aware that could be an issue from the beginning, but how I justified it was like, ‘You’ve got Scary Spice in the States, and she’s way more Northern than we are. So if you can understand her, which you completely do ‘cause she gets that X Factor job again and again, you can definitely understand us!’”

Of course, this isn’t the first time the cast’s accents have been a talking point. A US chat show struggled to subtitle Whittaker during a recent TV appearance, captioning her pronunciation of Huddersfield as “HOODEZFIELD”.

And to Gill, this proved once and for all that Whittaker is more northern.

But it sounds as if both actors get more northern while filming together, judging by what Whittaker told RadioTimes.com on the red carpet for the new series.

“When I sit with Mandip at lunchtime I get all ‘yack yack yack’," she said. "We just get broader and broader throughout the day."

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Doctor Who continues on BBC1 on Sunday

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Authors

Susanna LazarusAssociate Editor, RadioTimes.com
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