Peter Kay fans rejoiced as the side-splitting Lancastrian swaggered back onto our telly boxes for a new sitcom.

Cradle To Grave is adapted from Danny Baker’s memoir Going To Sea In A Sieve, charting the funnyman’s awkward adolescence in the 1970s. Peter plays Fred, the jovial, wheeler-dealer, Del Boy-like patriarch of a family.

Now Peter Kay may be a past master at TV sitcoms, but here there was a new challenge. Because Danny Baker grew up in Bermondsey, south London – which meant northern lad Pete had to master the Cockney accent.

Viewers were unnerved by what they heard. Social media reaction ensued.

1. The verdict came pretty sharpish.

2. But was it just shock? After all, Peter has one of the most famously northern voices in the land.

3. Some people seemed to be having a physical reaction.

4. The term “undecipherable” was probably a little unfair…

5. At points – especially during the shouty bits – you could hear those Lancastrian syllables trying to escape.

6. But it wasn’t just the north-west sounds…

7. People reckoned Peter had coined a new patois.

8. And there were obvious comparisons (again, a little harshly) to the most famously terrible Cockney accent of all time.

9. Although other comparisons were available.

10. Even some Americans were emboldened by Peter dropping his t’s and h’s.

11. Some other examples of the north-south incompatibility were raised. Hypothetically, you understand.

12. A few wondered why a Londoner wasn’t playing a Londoner.

But why should it be a Londoner? None of this accent nonsense meant Kay didn’t put in a cracking turn.

In fact Danny’s already said this: “Peter, yes, Bolton to his boots, but he’s also an actor. He always wanted to be like his hero Ronnie Barker and he has that quality; I think he’s the natural heir to that sort of actor.”

The more important thing about the show was people found it genuinely hilarious.

And the bit with the tortoise was very good…