Olivia Colman in new Warburtons advert: The most famous bread adverts of all time - including Ridley Scott's Hovis ad and Robert De Niro's 'GoodBagels'

The Crown star, 51, will appear in a new advert for the company during this Saturday’s (May 3) Britain’s Got Talent episode in which she will storm into the headquarters of the Bolton bakery.

Colman, who grew to fame with her role in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, will be seen in the TV spot storming into the building as part of the ‘Department of National Treasures (D.O.N.T), demanding to inspect the bakery’s crumpet production line. The actress follows in the footsteps of stars including Samuel L Jackson, Robert De Niro and George Clooney in advertising Warburtons.

Warburtons chairman Jonathan Warburton said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have Olivia Colman join us for this adventure. I might be biased but I certainly believe our crumpets deserve national treasure status, and if Colman’s enthusiasm for the inspection is anything to go by, I’d say she does too.

“I’m confident our crumpets will rise to the occasion, even if that occasion is simply being a delicious breakfast or snack at the Colmans’ for many years to come.”

Colman added: “You butter believe it was a tough job, but I was more than happy to oblige. Though I’m surprised Jonathan, aka Baker Boy didn’t rumble me from the start and, let’s be honest, who really needs convincing that the Great British crumpet is a national treasure? I was simply there to ensure a lifetime supply landed in my kitchen. In all seriousness though, it was a whole load of fun to film. Warburtons, you’ve got yourselves a crumpet connoisseur for life.”

The starring-turn has got us reminiscing on some of the most famous bread adverts to hit the airwaves in the past - here are some of the most beloved TV spots.

Ridley Scott’s Hovis advert

In 1973, a then-little-known Ridley Scott took the reins as director for a new advert for Hovis bread. The Bike Ride depicted a young boy pushing a bicycle laden with Hovis loaves up a picturesque village street as a nostalgic narrator described the journey up the steep hill that he took in his youth. The advert was soundtracked by Ashington Colliery Band playing the largo movement from Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World".

Released years before Scott’s Oscar-nominated work in Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, the advert is noted as one of the Hollywood’s director’s first major works.

‘The Bike Ride’, filmed on Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset, is beloved by the British public, who named the advert as the nation’s favourite in a 2006 poll. In 2019, it was voted as the most iconic and heartwarming advert of the past 60 years. A memorial to Hovis bread now sits at the top of Gold Hill, which is still used as a filming locations in film and television.

Robert De Niro’s ‘GoodBagels’

Olivia Colman is not the only Hollywood star to appears in a recent advert for Warburtons. Viewers were gobsmacked when screen icon Robert De Niro popped up in a 2019 advert for the bread maker in a take on his ‘GoodFellas’ role, presenting ‘GoodBagels’.

The Oscar-winning legend appeared in the ad alongside real-life chairman Jonathan Warburton, with De Niro playing a New York bagel gangster unhappy with Warburtons’ claim that ‘Bolton bakes the best bagel’ and his attempt to ‘muscle in’ on the bagel business. He then takes his ‘family business’ to Bolton, snapping up Warburtons’ sales and slapping the name ‘GoodBagels’ on the company’s bagel products.

De Niro’s starring turn for the Lancashire-based bakery turned heads, with the actor saying: "It was a pleasure to fly to the UK to film this ad with the Warburtons family, and star alongside Jonathan. Getting into the bagel business has been great fun, and I hope everyone enjoys the final cut."

Allinson’s ‘Bread wi’ nowt taken out’

In the 1980s, bread maker Allinson debuted an advert that featured a cheery poem read by actor Brian Glover. The poem described the history of founder Tom Allinson and his love of wholemeal bread.

The advert had viewers up and down the country copying Glover’s broad Yorkshire pronunciations. Famous phrases taken from the advert that stick in the minds of viewers everywhere include the description of wholemeal loaves as “bread wi’ nowt taken out”, which became a catchphrase used by the company for many years.

Sylvester Stallone’s Warburtons movie pitch

Not to be out done by De Niro and Coleman, Sylvester Stallone is another Hollywood heavyweight who has lent his time to Warburtons over the years. In 2015, an advert for the bread maker, which premiered during Britain's Got Talent, showed the Rocky star pitching a movie idea to Jonathan Warburton, who appeared in the spot as himself.

In a parody of his famous action films inducing Rambo and The Expendables, the pitch included Stallone playing a “tough, uncompromising Warburtons delivery driver” in Bolton as he puts together a “crack squad of bakers hell-bent on being the best”. The advert even included humorous moments where Stallone inadvertently gets in the wrong side of the British delivery vehicle and screams in pain as he gets stuck in a motorway traffic jam on his way to delivering the loaves.

Stallone said of his starring role: "I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Bolton and particularly loved spending time in the bakery. Maybe I should have stopped beating up bad guys a long time ago and gone into baking instead."

Samuel L Jackson’s ‘mad about the bread’

Warburtons appear to have Hollywood on speed dial as in 2023, Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson became the latest name to front the bread maker’s marketing campaign. The Pulp Fiction star portrayed Jonathan Warburton, reacting angrily to a customer comment that described Warburtons’ Toastie Loaf as similar to other ‘toastie loaves’.

Jackson is seen kicking down a door at Warburtons headquarters telling the camera: “Hell hath no fury like a baker scorned,” before describing the intricate process that goes into making the Toastie Loaf one-of-a-kind.

Jackson said at the time: “It was a pleasure to meet the man at the helm of Britain’s biggest family bakery. And what an honour to follow in the footsteps of ‘Bolton alumni’, George Clooney and Robert De Niro. We had a lot of fun on set so I hope people enjoy the finished product – the ad AND Toastie Loaf!”

Kingsmill’s bread and butler

In the 1990s, Kingsmill established itself as the classy option for loaves with the famous ‘bread and butler’ series of adverts. Starring a butler who handed out sandwiches in a normal, family kitchen, the advertisements became famous for its tagline.

Taking from its regal name, the advert played on this, telling customers that a Kingsmill loaf was a “loaf that’s better bred”.