Cher on Masterchef and Mad Men? Pop icon collaborates with EastEnders’ Barry for UKTV campaign

UKTV has unveiled a new advertising campaign showcasing global icon Cher in scenes from some of the network’s most popular shows.

The TV commercial was created by UKTV’s in-house creative agency in collaboration with HunkyDory Films, under the direction of Scott Russell, UKTV’s creative director.

The concept for the advertisement started with the intention of showcasing UKTV's diverse range of programs and was initially planned to feature a sheep singing Sonny and Cher's hit, I Got You Babe.

UKTV’s content is fully digitized, so the production team used the broadcaster’s media asset management system, Curator, to locate the clips for the ad.

They selected clips that had either empty spaces or characters that could be digitally removed to insert Cher into the scenes.

To address licensing issues, some clips, including the one featuring Orlando Bloom, were actually recreated. “We sent it to Jimmy Carr who turned up and did a rerecord on his voice,” Russell added.

After securing all the necessary rights, Cher arrived on set.

“She was there for six hours and we had every set-up ready and we just kept moving her around,” Russell continued.

“She was so good. You would expect her to be ‘Cher’, suddenly being in a studio in West London with all these props, like we got a MasterChef apron made for her to wear with her name on it. Everyone was saying to me, she won’t do that Scott, but she just said, fine, no problem.”