1. John Townshend and Luke Dunphy
Much like his alter ego from Modern Family, the boyish and rambunctious Townshend has frequently found himself involved in scrapes. Having left Rapier under less-than-hilarious circumstances, Townshend is currently doing his own thing at Now – something of which we’re sure that Dunphy would approve.
2. Jonathan Allan and James ‘Arg’ Argent
Famous for his preferred casual flip-flops and shorts dress sense, Allan could maybe stand in for the tubby/tragic Arg next time the classy TOWIE crowd decide to go holidaying in Marbs. It would certainly be the sort of hit show that Channel 4 is crying out for given that its ratings performance has been somewhat anaemic this year with its all-time share tumbling to just 5.8 per cent.
3. Sean Thompson and Ed Balls
Thompson arrived at Dare this summer with a brief to reinvigorate the agency’s creative product across concept, design and tech, and his credentials as a former global creative director at 180 Amsterdam certainly seem to hold him in good stead. Critics say that Balls, on the other hand, might find that his credentials from his time in government are more of a hindrance to his dream of becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer.
4. Jim Thornton and Sid James
Cor, blimey. The VCCP creative director is famed for his frankness, his jovial nature and infectious laughter – much like the late Sid James (who admittedly was rather smuttier than the gentle-natured Thornton). Among James’ best lines was this from Carry On Cowboy: "Once talked peace with a Sioux – but you can’t trust them… one minute it was peace on – the next, peace off." Thornton, meanwhile, helped come up with O2’s "be more dog" positioning. Sir Bruce Forsyth once described James as "a natural at being natural". We feel the same about Thornton.
5. David Golding and Andy Coulson
As he is married to the woman who has everything (Sarah Golding), it seems unlikely that Adam & Eve/DDB’s strategy chief would ever stray. And he probably daren’t. On the other hand, Andy Coulson, the former editor of The Sun and director of communications for David Cameron, had an affair with Rebekah Brooks, according to the ongoing trial into phone-hacking at News International.
6. Russ Lidstone and Peter Davison
Lidstone successfully regenerated from an advertising planner to an agency chief executive; Davison, meanwhile, regenerated into Colin Baker – something that Doctor Who fans here tell us was not such a satisfactory experience. Among Davison’s other famous roles was as Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great And Small. Whether the Santander 123 ad is evidence of Lidstone’s ability to pull things out of a cow’s arse is for others to decide.
7. Leo Rayman and the Reverend Timothy Farthing
As the well-meaning but slightly ineffectual vicar of Walmington-on-Sea in Dad’s Army, the similarities between the Reverend Farthing and Grey’s head of planning appear confined to the physical. We just hope that Rayman takes this in the spirit and, unlike Farthing, shall not "be very cross".
8. Jean-Paul Edwards and Harry Hill
Manning Gottlieb OMD’s highbrow (and high-browed) futures director spends most of his time poring over predictions and trends in an attempt to decode what the media industry has in store. In contrast, the similarly bald-headed Hill is most famous for spending most of his time poring over the TV schedules distilling the various crap into a popular half-hour show. Fight?!
9. Ben Bilboul and Damian Lewis
As one of the industry’s few prominent gingers to rise to a senior agency position, the low-profile Bilboul bears a striking resemblance to the actor Damian Lewis – an attribute that must come in handy when trying to break the ice at parties. Lewis’ profile has risen exponentially since he won the role of US Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody in Homeland – the TV series of the year for advertising’s chattering classes. Meanwhile, the equally dashing Bilboul also found himself a star on the small screen with a bit part in Iceland: Life In The Freezer Cabinet.
10. James Murphy and Howard Middleton
Once again, favour looks down kindly upon us as another Murphy lookalike emerges from the morass of humanity, allowing him to grace these pages for the seventh consecutive year. This time, it’s the camp baker Howard from The Great British Bake Off. A former graphic designer turned council worker from Sheffield, Howard’s career (sort of) mirrors that of Murphy, who started in the post room before working his way up to become the chief executive of one of the UK’s best ad agencies. However, his skills with a Japanese tea tower, peachy buns and a passion fruit and coconut showstopper remain unproven.