SAS Rogue Heroes viewers were left confused and distracted by the latest episode of the BBC series after they picked up an odd blunder.
The drama, from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, follows rebellious Paddy Mayne (played by Jack O’Connell) as he takes control of the SAS and attempts to prove that the regiment remains essential to the war after former leader David Stirling (Connor Swindells) is captured.
However, as O’Connell’s character began, viewers at home spotted something “wrong” with his Northern Irish accent.
Taking to their X account, one noted: “I’d hoped Jack O’Connell would have worked on his North Down accent. Maybe spend some time in Newtownards. Seems not… #SASRogueHeroes.”
“#SASRogueHeroes slightly weird NI accent,” another pointed out before a third said: “#SASRogueHeroes What’s going on with the Irish accent?”
Someone else wrote: “The accent is sending me into orbit! Was there not a single Northern Ireland actor available? #sasrogueheroes.”
Fans were confused with Jack O’Connell’s accent
BBC
A fifth expressed: “Accent and speech pattern is completely wrong #SASRogueHeroes.”
However, not all were unimpressed with the acting skills, as one praised: “Jack O’Connell was born to play this role #SASRogueHeroes” (sic)
Alongside Paddy and David, a whole host of familiar faces returned to the drama including Dominic West as Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Wrangel Clarke and Theo Barklem-Biggs as Reg Seekings.
Last year, Swindells spoke about the challenges of filming the second series of SAS Rogue Heroes, which included losing “a lot of weight”.
Paddy Mayne returned to help capture David Stirling
BBC
He said his problem-solving character was “descending into madness” in his cell, both “thirsty and malnourished.”
The Sex Education star said of the new show: “I lost a lot of weight for this series.
“I knew in reading the scripts I was going to have to and that was a big challenge, as it’s something I’ve not done before.
“I felt like I had to do that in order to get to this place, I had to try and live as much like David as I could.”
He added: “To feel the hunger of ‘I need to get out of here’. I didn’t realise how helpful it was going to be to lose weight for a project like this, but it was really helpful.”
The new series is based in Sicily but filmed across 81 days in Croatia, Italy, England and Scotland.
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Swindells noted that he had to come to terms with “missing out on all the fun” as his cast mates were “shooting in very wonderful conditions and I was in a cave.”
He said: “It was a challenge to shoot at times, but ultimately it’s been a great joy and an honour.”