Memo to Adrian Chiles: look like you're enjoying it

Fingers are crossed at ITV that the station has spent its £10m wisely on poaching Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley from the BBC to host its new breakfast television show Daybreak, which starts tomorrow.
 
Will Chiles and Bleakley be able to recreate at 7 am the special chemistry they shared on the BBC's sofa at The One Show at 7 in the evening? And is Chiles's rather glum persona, on which he has built his reputation, going to give viewers that 'glad to be alive' feeling that breakfast television is meant to engender?
 
A 'rule book' sent out to Daybreak's staff suggests this is the big issue. "We need to give viewers what they need in the morning, but also deliver a lot more," it says rather obviously, before adding: "We want to get them talking and get them smiling."
 
And to make that happen, ITV doesn't want its presenters to look "serious and glum for two and a half hours... They share a joke, have some banter, look like they're enjoying themselves."
 
One man who has already warned that there's no guarantee the show will succeed is Richard Madeley, the former This Morning presenter. He said Chiles and Bleakley will need to support each other when executives inevitably become manipulative and divisive as the months go by.
 
"They need to regard each other as their best friends and staunchest allies, "said Madeley, "and remember that the most important person in that studio is the one sitting next to them on that sofa."
 
And, whatever else, keep smiling. ·