Lord Sugar struggled to understand what the cast of The Responder was saying (Picture: Rex/BBC)

Lord Alan Sugar has criticised Martin Freeman’s Liverpudlian accent in BBC drama The Responder, claiming that his wife Ann Simons ‘couldn’t understand a word’.

The five-part series kicked off on Monday (January 24) and sees The Office actor portray morally compromised, unconventional urgent response officer Chris in what we’ve hailed as his best performance yet.

Ahead of filming the show, Martin spoke to himself ‘spoke to himself in scouse’ for an entire year and a half.

And while many viewers applauded him for his dialect for being ‘spot on’, Lord Sugar wasn’t so impressed.

‘Why did the BBC make Martin Freeman speak with a Liverpool accent in The Responder,’ he wrote on Twitter.

‘Hard to follow what he and other cast are saying. No disrespect to people of Liverpool they are nice down to earth people. My wife gave up watching she said she could not understand a word.’

Why did the BBC make Martin Freeman speak with a Liverpool accent in The Responder. Hard to follow what he and other cast are saying. No disrespect to people of Liverpool they are nice down to earth people. My wife gave up watching she said she could not understand a word.

— Lord Sugar (@Lord_Sugar) January 25, 2022

Unsurprisingly, Lord Sugar’s tweet was met with a bit of backlash, with one viewer pointing out that the show is set in Liverpool.

Responding to the message, the business mogul penned: ‘It might be set in Liverpool. I can understand Steven Gerrard. I can’t understand the character. Sorry but true.’

Martin Freeman plays an urgent response officer tackling a series of night shifts on the beat in Liverpool (Picture: BBC)

Another suggested that he could simply switch on subtitles to help aid his viewing experience, but Lord Sugar resisted.

‘Easier not to watch it,’ he said. ‘Hate subtitles.’

A third went on to warn the television star that it would be a ‘shame’ for him to miss The Responder because it’s the ‘best thing Martin Freeman has done’.

‘I am sure Martin Freeman is great in it,’ Lord Sugar replied. ‘He is a superb actor, but sorry I could not understand him and others in the cast.’

Looks like there’s just no convincing him.

The Responder continues on Monday at 9pm on BBC One.

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