The 100 Greatest TV Ads

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Charting roughly 40 years of inter-programme endorsement,this is an immensely worthwhile television experience.Consider how much TV the average modern-day person has watched in their lifetime by the age of 35.Well,it's one of many fascinating revelations this show makes that by this time they've observed 150,000 TV commercials,which is the equivalent of 75,000.This alone should show just how prominent they have become in the eyes of the majority.The list itself is satisfying enough,with the bottom ten including the illuminating Mecanno ad,Parker Pens being endorsed by Penelope Keith,not to mention the first ever TV ad,for Gibbs SR,which was of particular relevence.The next twenty or so are kind of unremarkable,but from 70-40 are memorable ones,such as the British Gas If You See Sid campaign from 1986,the cleverly constructed Hello Tosh Toshiba one from 1984,and the one that reigns supreme above them all is the dark,diverse 1999 Guiness ad with the horses dancing in the water.It's all to lengthy to mention,it probably would have made more sense to have split it into two parts ,rather than showing it all in one go,making it run out near the three hour mark,and Graham Norton doing the presenting honours doesn't do it any favours,but nonetheless this is a fantastic display that deserves praise and recognition.****

By the time we are 35 we have seen 150,000 adverts on television. That's 75000 minutes or more or less two whole months of your life. Some of these will have featured a hungry Graham Norton, still seeking a vehicle that is suitable for this "style" so perhaps it is only fitting that he presents this marathon countdown of the most popular (greatest, if you will) commercials of the 21st century.

Those who have seen more than one of the list programmes will pretty much know the score with this; it is a long list programme with lots of contributions from those involved in the adverts as well as the usual array of celebs who may or may not have once seen or heard about the advert. However, having said that, the list mainly has good contributions from the people involved in the adverts and often where nobody involved was available (or had anything of value to say) they will just play the ad and let it speak for itself. Of course there are some people who drew a raised eyebrow from me – Gail Porter was terribly unnatural and stiff while the occasional celeb was pointless. I'm not sure how one gets a job as a "cultural commentator" but some of his contributions were interesting even if others were a bit pompous. Norton presents in his usual fashion – I don't see the appeal but I understand that others do.

The adverts themselves are mostly interesting. It helps to be aged 30 or there about because then you will know most of them. Some are "classics" but actually not that good apart from the fact that they are part of the public conciseness. Some though are really good and very memorable – funnily enough many of the middle numbers in the countdown are fairly ho-hum while the bottom end and, obviously, the top end are mostly pretty interesting or will spark some degree of nostalgia. Tony Kaye's adverts are pretty cool to see again although it is strange to see how, with so many "classic" and "classy" adverts, Melanie Sykes with her gorgeous looks and northern accent is still one of my favourite ads off the list.

Too long by far and probably best watched recorded so you can use the fast-forward button liberally but still an engaging collection of adverts that is worth a look.

This was amusing enough fare, but hugely biased towards the English and in particular the "Home Counties".

There were at least two brands of Lemonade mentioned that I've never heard of before (I live in NE Scotland) yet there was no mention of Barr's Irn Bru.

Irn Bru was responsible for many of the longest running and funniest ad campaigns on TV, many of which were spoofs on some of the "bigger" soft drinks companies such as Coke and Pepsi.

The reason for their omission - they didn't advertise in the South of England.