When In Rome

To adopt an accent or not, that is the question. Zen, the newest addition to the BBC stable of policemen, is Italian - not that you'd know it from the way he speaks. "Set in and around Rome, and based on the best-selling novels by the late Michael Dibdin, the series features many of the combined attractions of Italy and the Dibdin novels – thrilling investigations, fun, warmth and beautiful people". Those are the words of the BBC press office announcing that Rufus Sewell had been cast in the lead role. Nothing there about the tricky problem of what to do when you set a series for British consumption in a country where - dammit - they have their own language.

Wallander took the Van Der Valk route. Many years ago Barry Foster played a Dutch Policeman solving crimes in Amsterdam, again a British TV show for a British TV audience. English was spoken by everyone concerned but the dialogue had a Dutch feel. Wallander had everyone speaking English but it also retained a Swedish feel. The producers of Wallander have also produced Zen but here we have a mish-mash of accents. Zen speaks in an English accent, his best friend has a tinge of Irish, the bad guy was rough-neck out of the RSC, Zen's mother speaks English with an Italian accent as does the woman in his life. Hmmm. All a bit confusing.

And where were the waving arms? I live next door to an Italian, he can't say "Good morning" without describing forty shapes in the air. Surely if you are going to create a series set in  Italy it should have some Italian characteristics, otherwise why not set it in Bolton? (Perhaps there is an Italian series set in Bolton where suave, handsome, Italian men race around Topp Way and Folds Road depicting Lancashire's finest bobbies in rich Italian tones).

Whether to adopt an accent is always a tough call.

I remember when Michael Caine was chosen to play a German officer in The Eagle Has Landed, people wondered what kind of mangled Cockney/Tutonic garble would be the result. What he cleverly did was play the character speaking a kind of clipped English, thus giving the impression of German without resorting to 've haf vays off making you tok". In Zen the inconsistencies in the actors accents have a habit of getting in the way of the story. Which is a shame because it was a good yarn.

But I do have other niggles, you see Rome is one of my favourite places on Earth: the history, the architecture, the fashion-conscious people. I love it. And anyone who has every been will know that every car - and I mean EVERY car - has at least one dent in it if not half a dozen. Not Zen's. Also, the Eternal city is crawling with priests and nuns and the Light there is fantastic. Well, we didn't see a dent in a car or a cleric and why did they chose to shoot Rome like it was Sweden? The picture was graded in a similar fashion to the Wallander episodes.That I found peculiar.

I know, I'm carping. But you see how a problem with the way people speak can set me off. Let me say this; there is much in Zen to enjoy. I can forgive the pristine cars and the lack of nuns, I hope I don't get distracted by the lack of Italian sunshine but I wouldn't be surprised if the inconsistent accents don't bug a lot of people - not just me.