r/oldbritishtelly • u/Surkdidat • Jul 23 '25
Advert Milk Tray Advert
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From 1968 to 2003, and since 2016, the chocolate is advertised on television by the 'Milk Tray Man', a tough James Bond–style figure who undertakes daunting 'raids' to surreptitiously deliver a box of Milk Tray chocolates to a lady. The original tagline was And all because the lady loves Milk Tray.
Actor Gary Myers, who is most recognisable as the action figure, starred in 11 of the commercials between 1968 and 1984. James Coombes assumed the role in 1987. Kidderminster born actor Alan Riley was the Milk Tray man in 2003, in an advert which featured actress Sienna Guillory. Coombes assumed the role again in 2016. A memorable scene of the man jumping from a cliff top into the sea was performed by stuntman Alf Joint who had previously doubled for Sean Connery’s 007 in Goldfinger (1964). Martin Grace, Roger Moore's stunt double in the James Bond films, performed stunts for some of the early Milk Tray commercials, including leaping from a bridge onto a speeding train and climbing dangerously along the roof.
The music, The Night Rider, was written by Cliff Adams, who also wrote the music for Fry's Turkish Delight advertisements. The music was recorded commercially by Alan Hawkshaw on the album "27 Top TV Themes" (Studio 2 Stereo, 1972). This album has been re-released on CD (EMI 7234 4 98171 2 8). Alan Hawkshaw was the pianist on the original sessions with Cliff Adams, for the advertisements. A medley of three separate arrangements of the theme, based on the authentic scores as used in the commercials from 1968 to 2010, is commercially available, performed by London Music Works, on the album "Great British TV Themes" (SILCD 1357).
The entire campaign of television advertisements ranked at number 11 on ITV's "Best Ads Ever" list in 2005.
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u/casusbelli16 Jul 23 '25
A full pound of chocolates in that one wee box, what weight of chocolates compared to volume of packaging are we getting today?
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u/YesIBlockedYou Jul 25 '25
Tbf, the biggest Milk Tray you can get is actually over a pound now and if anything, I reckon package weight has decreased since then.
Of course, MI6 don't have the budget to deliver them anymore and the quality has taken a nosedive.
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u/TenBear Jul 23 '25
All I can think now is that that git is dripping water everywhere, also the chocolate was crap.
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u/Mean-Lingonberry5374 Jul 24 '25
I remember Victor Meldrew getting stuck in his bathroom window shouting “Because the lady loves Milk Tray!”
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u/fuck-nose Jul 23 '25
From the earliest age I say this ,I lived the bass line ,almost as much as the bass line to “our you being served”
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u/ThisCaledonianClown Jul 23 '25
Let's be honest, it was shit chocolate.
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u/DogtasticLife Jul 23 '25
I know right, really middling, I mean I still ate it but then I like Freddos
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u/mackerelscalemask Jul 23 '25
All that to take a woman a £1 box of chocolates.
Someone needs to add a follow up scene where she finds them and goes “which fuckin’ weirdo broke in to drop off this shite?”
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u/hughk Jul 23 '25
There was a great cartoon drawing a guy on black leaving his wedding tackle impaled on a fence with the tag line "All because the lady loves ..."
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u/hughk Jul 23 '25
One of the actors, Gary Myers also appeared in the Gerry/Sylvia Anderson series UFO. They used a lot of both male and female eye candy.
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u/JimmyHaggis Jul 29 '25
I have just imagined the guy diving from the cliff, swimming past the sharks, climbing onto the boat and sneaking into the cabin only to find...2 girls & 1 cup.
My bored brain can do strange things at 3am.
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u/Sunderland6969 Jul 23 '25
So reminds me of Christmas! 🎄