Oh, to be a British Admiral circa 1840 who can pick up and travel an ocean only to drink beer and party in a place like Nova Scotia. A lovely thought, but for those of us without imaginations, The Partners’ Film Company and ad agency Corporate Communications are providing a glimpse of what it might have been like. Behold, the newest set of spots for Labatt’s Alexander Keith’s beer brand, coming soon to a tv in your living room.

Partners’ director Greg Sheppard and dop James Gardner just wrapped nine commercials for Alexander Keith’s after a hot, 12-day shoot at locations in and around Halifax.

According to Corporate producer Linda Brigley, eight locations were used for the campaign, which Brigley says was shot on a budget comparable to a ‘small-scale movie of the week.’

The actual meat of the spots was spawned from the popular Alexander Keith’s ‘Admiral’ campaign, launched in Nova Scotia in 1993. The spots involved a British admiral (played by Addison Bell) who came to Canada and decided to stay because of his love of the Canadian way of life and, naturally, the beer.

The latest round, from writer and creative director Chester Goluch, pick up with the admiral returning to England with an uniquely Canadian state of mind and, naturally, the beer. This excites his daughter Elizabeth, who sails to Canada to see the sights for herself.

Goluch says filming of the spots has been a long time in coming. He has been working on the campaign for more than 15 months.

The storyline unfolds over the course of the nine spots. ‘Elizabeth has a chaperone, Sir Steven, who is a bit of a stiff but a he’s a dashing, good-looking bloke and is very much in love with her,’ explains Goluch. Elizabeth falls in love with a local folk hero named Roger who is a sort of ‘Robin Hood type character.’ Roger is being sought out by Broderick, the villain, who was once the admiral’s right-hand and now is the military leader in Nova Scotia.

‘So on the one hand,’ says Goluch, ‘you’ve got Broderick after Roger, Roger after Elizabeth, Elizabeth after Roger, Sir Steven trying to get it on with Elizabeth, and at the same time she is doing whatever she can to protect Roger from Broderick.’

Goluch says the campaign relies heavily on the strength of the characters and compares the progression of events to something seen on Coronation Street. Although a story is told over the course of the nine spots, he says it is not a serial.

‘It’s totally episodic and each ad stands as a unit,’ Goluch says. ‘If you only see one of the commercials you will have still enjoyed a terrific little slice of life.’

Despite the overwhelming heat on set (Goluch reports 40-degree weather) shooting was kept more or less on schedule.

‘It’s a wonderful campaign,’ says Goluch. ‘It’s also a wonderful campaign in terms of results. Keith’s is kicking ass out here.’

Michael Scher was the art director and Charlene Sanderson produced for Partners’. The editing was done by Andy Attalai at Chameleon. The spots will begin airing on the East Coast in the fall.