Fiona Bruce turns action hero in BBC HD ad

The BBC is promoting the launch of its new high definition TV channel with an ad promoting the improved picture quality on offer featuring newsreader Fiona Bruce as an action hero.

Bruce is seen diving athletically to save a falling vase that has just been valued at £2m by an Antiques Roadshow expert.

The BBC HD ad, developed by ad agency Fallon and produced by Red Bee Media, opens with what appears to be a typical episode of Antiques Roadshow with a man and woman who are told their vase is worth £2m.

It is then accidentally catapulted into the air and the scene spirals into a chain reaction of events that sees antiques destroyed and a car flying through a brick wall and bursting into flames.

As the car explodes Bruce is seen diving clear and then spectacularly catching the vase and saving the day.

The campaign aims to promote the improved picture quality of TV programmes delivered via HD using the strapline "TV goes cinematic".

It includes 40-, 65- and 95-second versions of the promotional trail as well as a radio ad.

Viewers of the BBC HD channel and cinemagoers across the UK will be the only people to see the 95-second version of the promo.

The BBC HD channel broadcasts for four hours a day, from 8pm until midnight on weekdays and six hours a night on weekends, with some flexibility to extend hours "during key live events". The BBC Trust gave approval for the HD channel last year.

As the number of BBC programmes shot in HD increases the channel will build to a nine-hour schedule by around the end of 2009.

The BBC HD channel will air programming including coverage of the Olympics, the Euro 2008 football championship and Wimbledon.

Other output includes drama, factual and entertainment programmes such as Glastonbury, the Proms, Strictly Come Dancing, Torchwood, Heroes and Gavin & Stacey.

The BBC HD channel is available on Sky, Virgin Media and via newly launched Freesat – the ITV and BBC joint venture free-to-air service, unveiled today.

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