TV star Martin Clunes left some viewers unconvinced when he attempted to master a Scottish accent in new drama Arthur And George . The Doc Martin actor , 53 , plays Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the three-part ITV series , which made its debut last night . But his attempt at delivering the novelist 's Edinburgh accent left some unimpressed , with many saying that his brogue kept changing in the new biopic . Scroll down for video . Martin Clunes , pictured , has been criticised on the internet over his 'wandering Scottish brogue ' The Doc Martin star , left , was playing Edinburgh born writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle beside Arsher Ali , right . One Twitter user said : 'Martin Clunes does a good Scottish accent , shame he forgot to do it in the first scene ' Steve Oliver wrote : 'Martin Clunes does a good Scottish accent , shame he forgot to do it in the first scene . ' Matt Hill said : 'Was going to ask what part of Scotland Martin Clunes 's accent was meant to be from , but he keeps changing it ! ' Shona Gibbs added : 'Do n't think I can stand Martin Clunes ' Edinburgh accent any longer . ' Mark Grainger wrote : 'The biggest mystery in Arthur and George is where Martin Clunes ' accent keeps wandering off to . ' And Adam Cooke said : 'Martin Clunes ' Scottish accent is atrocious . ' The show started with more than 6 million viewers , but this slipped back to an average of 5.49 million , compared to last week 's Broadchurch finale which averaged more than 7 million viewers . Some Broadchurch fans complained when the show returned in the New Year , that the former Dr Who star David Tennant was too Scottish , with some taking to Twitter to claim they needed to turn on the subtitles to follow the action . Clunes , pictured , said he was worried about playing Doyle as he was a 'very famous Scotsman ' Others defended the star , with one viewer , tweeting as 'perfecto-cheese ' writing : 'Not every Scot speaks like Billy Connolly ! ' William Forbes wrote : 'Really impressed with Martin Clunes ' Edinburgh accent . ' Annette Gordon added : ' I thought Clunes pulled off a Scottish accent very well . Very subtle ' . The comments came after the Men Behaving Badly star admitted that he was daunted by the role and that he used a dialect coach to work on his Edinburgh accent . 'Conan Doyle is a very famous Scotsman so I had to speak with an authentic Scottish accent , ' he previously said . ' I was terrified at the thought of playing him . ' Arthur And George is adapted from Julian Barnes ' book and tells the story of the novelist 's attempt to clear the name of George Edalji , who was wrongly convicted of a crime in the 1800s . ITV chiefs were left red-faced last night after a modern lorry could clearly be seen in the background of the 1903 drama Arthur & George . The drama featuring Doc Martin star Martin Clunes faced mixed reviews last night over the main character 's Scottish accent . The story is based on the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who created Sherlock Holmes . The lights of the modern day lorry can be seen behind the actor on the right 's shoulder . The show 's creators took a great deal of time ensuring that the characters were dressed in period appropriate clothing and used vehicles from the time . But in one scene , overlooking an area of open space , a modern lorry can be seen slowly moving across the screen from right to left with its headlights switched on .
Twitter users criticised Martin Clunes for his attempt at a Scottish character . The Doc Martin he was playing detective author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle . Clunes said he had some concern about playing such a famous Scotsman . ITV 's Arthur and George debuted with more than 5million viewers . It was the most popular programme last week in the crucial 9 pm slot . However , ITV lost more than 2 million viewers compared with Broadchurch .