I’ve long been a fan of Sir Roger Moore, so was amused by
his appearance in the latest Post Office ad.
Once I’d got over the shock of seeing Sir Roger in this
context - after all he’s more associated with boring, worthy charity work for
the likes of UNICEF these days - I couldn’t help feeling a bit depressed.
Has it really come to this? A man of Sir Roger’s stature, he
was once James Bond for God’s sake, is reduced to flogging financial products
for the Government.
The ad itself is predictable but no great embarrassment (Sir
Roger does a knowing raised eyebrow to camera and is involved in a cheesy
“smoothie” gag but by no means disgraces himself).
But then it seemed sad to see him spending time doing this
stuff rather than enjoying himself in the South of France or on the ski slopes
somewhere.
He can’t need the money but that’s never really mattered to
Sir Roger who just seems to like earning the stuff. And why not? Sir Roger has
always been the type to turn a turkey into a golden egg, seeing film as a
highly commercial enterprise rather than an artistic endeavour. Any man who has
starred in movies such as The Cannonball Run, Bullseye! and Spice World can’t
afford to take himself too seriously.
And hopefully the ads will prompt UK TV producers to
consider Sir Roger for parts again as he’s never actually retired from acting. The Midsomer Murders creators could do worse than revisit their idea of approaching Sir Roger and his friend Sir Michael Caine to feature in an episode.
