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Picard's British Accent

In my personal canon, England conquered France.

Picard's mother had a French accent, because she was from Corsica.

England never bothered to conquer that.

Lol, I love that idea. That's got to be it. :guffaw:

I just used to think of him as British unless France was specifically mentioned, then I just liked to assume it was a writing error :p Your way's much better.
 
I think until Picard the only British accent we'd ever heard on Trek was the guy on the Reliant (at least if memory serves it was the Reliant).

um SCOTTY?!

Reed? (played by an English guy)

Bashir?

Bashir's dad, both of Reed's 'rents...
 
1. Picard’s family could be from the UK. Just because he has the name ‘Picard’ doesn’t mean the family haven’t spent several generations living in the UK. One of his parents could have been completely British.

Perhaps the Picards were Huguenots who fled France after the revocation of the Edict Of Nantes in 1685, settled in England, and gradually become English.

Then, at some point over the next seven centuries, some of them moved back to France.

That would help explain the Captain's fondness for Shakespeare, along with his family's English-accented English, and the fact that he considers it noteworthy that one of his ancestors fought at Trafalgar.
 
I think until Picard the only British accent we'd ever heard on Trek was the guy on the Reliant (at least if memory serves it was the Reliant).
um SCOTTY?!

Reed? (played by an English guy)

Bashir?

Bashir's dad, both of Reed's 'rents...

That's still not very many though, proportionally speaking.
 
I think until Picard the only British accent we'd ever heard on Trek was the guy on the Reliant (at least if memory serves it was the Reliant).

um SCOTTY?!

Reed? (played by an English guy)

Bashir?

Bashir's dad, both of Reed's 'rents...
He said "until Picard", so Bashir, Reed, and their families don't apply, as they didn't come into being until well after Picard.
 
That would help explain the Captain's fondness for Shakespeare, along with his family's English-accented English, and the fact that he considers it noteworthy that one of his ancestors fought at Trafalgar.

Yes, fought at Trafalgar at the English side! Was that famous ancestor a traitor? Honestly, I've no problem with his accent, but sometimes it seemed that the writers forgot that Picard was supposed to be French.
 
He said "until Picard", so Bashir, Reed, and their families don't apply, as they didn't come into being until well after Picard.

This is correct. :) But I did forget about Scotty! :alienblush: In my defence, I was thinking "English" not "British" (although I did say "British" but that's because I've been conditioned to say "British" when I think "English"!)
 

I really had to think about that one - oh the prequel

I think for such a small - if over populated - island we do ok, and by the time of Star Trek the only thing left that is English will be the English Language, mainly thanks to our American cousins :D
 
How about Edith Keeler? I don't think she sported an American accent. Then there was "Leo Walsh" in Mudd's Women.
 
That would help explain the Captain's fondness for Shakespeare, along with his family's English-accented English, and the fact that he considers it noteworthy that one of his ancestors fought at Trafalgar.
Yes, fought at Trafalgar at the English side! Was that famous ancestor a traitor? Honestly, I've no problem with his accent, but sometimes it seemed that the writers forgot that Picard was supposed to be French.
Yeah, I just imagine that Picard was actually English, aside from the French name and the rare reference to his French background.

Maybe they should have dropped the French thing when they cast Stewart in the part, and made the character an actual Englishman instead.
 
That would help explain the Captain's fondness for Shakespeare, along with his family's English-accented English, and the fact that he considers it noteworthy that one of his ancestors fought at Trafalgar.

Yes, fought at Trafalgar at the English side! Was that famous ancestor a traitor? Honestly, I've no problem with his accent, but sometimes it seemed that the writers forgot that Picard was supposed to be French.
Did he say his ancestor fought on the English side?
 
...the fact that he considers it noteworthy that one of his ancestors fought at Trafalgar.

Lost causes are quite romantic, though, especially after a few centuries. Bashir mightn't have had relatives at the Alamo, but if he had those, he'd sure want to mention them.

Also, the French navy at the time was famous for winning battles and wars by using their superior agility for clever retreating. It was virtually impossible to strike a decisive victory against French naval forces, meaning nobody could deny them the control of the seas. In later days, though, the amazing stereotype has emerged that the French always retreat from combat, and thus a French person separated from the glory days of France might have an urge to prove that at least his ancestors didn't retreat at Trafalgar. Even when this actually means that said ancestors were tactically inept...

Timo Saloniemi
 
Did he say his ancestor fought on the English side?

No. I thought that the uniform in the painting was a Royal Navy uniform. But now that I think of it, I'm not sure anymore. They looked pretty same at those times I suppose. French officer would probably have had epaulets, though. But it makes more sense to assume that he fought on the French side, so better stick with that.
 
As we all know (and are used to), the Frenchman Captain Picard has a British accent. When TNG first aired, did that bother a lot of the fans?? Does anyone remember?

See, one day, Stewart was in an accident, and had to give a blood donation to actor Christopher Lambert. As luck would have it, a week later, Stewart needed blood for an operation, and Lambert returned the favor. As a result, you have Lambert, who played a Scotsman but still sounds French, and then Stewart, who played a Frenchman but still sounds like a resident of the British Isles.
 
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