Any thoughts on the Olivers seen so far? I have heard people criticse the Welsh one saying he couldn't do it because of his accent - what do you think?

In the book Oliver was in a Midlands workhouse - he certainly wouldn't have a posh or London accent. Should a child's accent have a bearing on whether he plays Oliver?

If the accent is that strong yes - welsh is fine, but it needs to be 'dumbed down' for foreign audiences to understand the diction.

See 'Who's Your Favourite Oliver thread'. We've exhausted the Welsh accent storyline.

I'm not sure why people complain about the Welsh accent....children can be taught to sing and act with a different accent.

The Billy Elliot children are all taught to sing with a regional accent, working with a dialogue coach...they've even had an American kid as a Billy Elliot who've had to retrain his accent for the stage.

Any kid that comes out of Oliver school will probably work with an accent coach. And it's extremely easy for children of that age to pick up different accents, it's like picking up another language. However, it's much harder to train a kid to act and sing quickly, which is why I think the panel is not too worried about the accent, and more focused on the acting and singing.