PG Tips elevates our national drink in 'Rock Solid' starring Ashley Walters and his alter ego

PG Tips’ new advert is a welcome, upbeat encapsulation of the power of our national drink.

Tea, a beverage of Ceylonese extraction and Anglophile popularity, has long been at the forefront of British culture, and the co-star of many popular, nation-defining films: Remains of the Day, Lock Stock ‘n Two Smocking Barrels and Mary Poppins – to name a few.

It takes a director of note then to do real justice to a good old cuppa. Enter Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Widows, Small Axe), who directs, and indeed reinvents the iconic Rosy Lee purveyor PG Tips in “Rock Solid”, which stars actor Ashley Walters and is scored by Ezra Collective.

Tea, where it appears in adverts and on film, is often depicted as a prop that encourages a comforting, grounding, homely sort of vibe, facilitating conversation. In this case, however, that conversation is a psychological one between Walters and his motivational alter ego.

The character of tea, in McQueen’s screen adaptation, is personified as an affirmational, emotional support worker, keen to instil a very British stiff upper lip, and ‘best foot forward’ attitude.

These moments of ‘everyday progress’ are depicted as opportunities where we can reconnect and have the best possible conversation with ourselves. As usual, tea is shown as a tool that facilitates self-reflection, but crucially, here: it is also a tool for positive action.