 Re: Standard British or North Country Accent?
Linguistically speaking, "the north" is a very big place with lots of variations in accent and dialect.
There are some common features, though, and these include:
1. the short "a" in words like "cat" is usually pronounced nearer the back of the mouth than in southern England or America.
2. the long "a" in words like "fast" is usually pronounced like the short "a".
3. the short "u" in words like "shut" is usually pronounced like the "u" in "put".
4. diphtongs, like the "a" in "gate", tend to be pronounced as single, long vowels, much like the "pure" vowel sounds you tend to get in Italian or German.
That, of course, accounts for some of the accents in northern England. Scotland is another kettle of fish altogether.
The character of Daphne in the sitcom Frasier speaks with a northern English accent; she is supposed to come from Manchester, but unfortunately the actress speaks with a more Yorkshire accent. Also, the actors playing her brothers have Cockney (i.e. London) accents, which is really confusing for a British viewer (well, this British viewer anyway).  | 
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