That Stringer Bell & Mayor Carcetti are also from the UK?

Sorry to go off on a tangent right away, but my biggest accent surprise has been the actor Gabriel Byrne. IN TREATMENT, which I'm currently devouring on DVD box set, is the latest success story for HBO. Gabriel Byrne, Dublin actor with a perfectly fine American accent in many Hollywood films, has reverted to an incredibly thick Irish brogue for his leading role in IN TREATMENT (for which he won last year's Golden Globe for Best Actor in a TV drama). It's an interesting choice on someone's part and frees the actor's brain up for much more subtle work.

And what work it is! Why has WORD not alerted us to this phenomenon? I humbly beg all WIRE addicts to get on board now. I ordered my box set from the US Amazon; no UK network has picked up the series. I find this incomprehensible. The acting and scripts are even sharper than the Wire. Yes! And (a new departure) the violence is all verbal! It takes place almost entirely in a shrink's office (Gabe being said shrink). Each episode is only 30 minutes long and represents an analytical session. The same patients show up at the same times on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, Gabe goes to his own shrink (Diane Wiest) as he's "losing patience with his patients". If that sounds undramatic, believe me, it isn't. I can't remember being so hooked by a series and I'm an old Sopranos die hard.

Sorry for the tangent, Retro Guy... please resume normal service.

I think this just about fits into the topic of unexpected backgrounds.
West Ham can just about claim to have had two rocket scientists playing for them in recent years - almost at the same time:

Shaka Hislop - goalkeeper - degree in Mechanical Engineering, ex-intern at NASA.
Iain Dowie - degree in Engineering - ex-employee of British Aerospace.

I was in a band - well, sort of - see "imaginary bands thread -
with an angry young man who wrote lots of lyrics along these lines -

I'm so bored with a life I hate
living my life on this sink estate

Frankly, the only estate he got near was his father's when he went shooting there. He is a QC now

On a related point we would have to disown quite a lot of our record collections if we were to only allow those from under-privileged backgrounds. Out would go Jagger, Gram Parsons, Nick Drake, The Doors, Floyd - amongst others. We would also need to ask the credentials (street branch) of a certain editor of this parish

aren't silver spoon chewing kent born wwii sound mirror faced minor royality but actually rough tough lovelble cockernee sparra mudlarks !

..Danny La Rue was a MAN !! , from my hometown of Cork !!. Well, I never
Also found out that the boffin from the original Knight Rider, Devon I think his name was, was also from Cork

Revelation ahoy, so public schools contain a mix of humanity. That's a turn up. Next you'll tell me that kids from comps go to university!

but us toffs get very sensitive on occasion.
The pretend image of many a person in real life, let alone showbiz, is always remarkable to me, quite often coming across families where siblings have completely re-invented themselves away from the family norm, both up and down the social scale, with adoption and affectation of accents to cement their preferred rung on the ladder of others perceptions. Britains most famous Brummy (at least in B'ham, where he is world famous) had little or no accent at school, I am told.

is a good example of someone from a modest background to playing the role of the Toff to perfection.

Or is McNulty the least convincing performance in The Wire? Something just not quite right about his portrayal.

it's the not very good actorness!