Hovis: Boy on the Bike
A classic slice of British advertising history, though that hill's not as Northern as it looks...
Old Ma Peggoty's house at the top of the hill in a fictional 'Northern' (actually South-Western) town is the last delivery in Ridley Scott's 'Boy on a Bike', voted one of Britain's best-loved adverts ever. Freewheeling down the cobbles of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset, our young hero rides into the sunset in what is one of the most iconic moments in TV advertising history. There's wheatgerm in that there bread - but also a claim that falls foul of today's advertising standards, so the 2019 reboot had to re-record the narration. This restored version preserves the original in all its glory.
The BFI National Archive worked with Ridley Scott Associates to remaster the film from the best surviving elements - three original distribution prints. The Archive's technicians had to deal with colour fading, mould, scratches and missing frames, meaning that in the end parts of all three copies were used to get the best possible picture and sound. All 1146 frames and the digitised soundtrack were put through a range of automated and manual processes to clean them up and conceal damage, dirt or persistent scratches, leaving this classic slice of TV advertising looking as good as when it was first baked.
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Commercial Break: British Advertising on Screen
Few films capture our hopes, fears and desires in such a compact expressive form as the screen advertisement.
A part of the film story from its earliest days, advertising grew up with the cinema, going on to transform television and colonising the online world with seductive viral videos. Look out for famous faces both before and after they had their big break, and the illustrious names of those behind the camera who, like Ridley Scott and Alan Parker, took their talents into mainstream cinema.
Here are snapshots of what we ate, how we travelled, and the lives we aspired to. But remember: other lifestyles are available.
10 videos in this collection
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Hovis: Boy on the Bike
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Rudge-Whitworth - Britain's Best Bicycle
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Coca-Cola: Mary Hopkin
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The Daz with the Blue Whitener
6
What We Want Is Watney's Army
7
Sam Goes Shopping
8
Buzby - Gossip
9
Babycham: Clovelly
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