'It'll take more than Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley to revive This Morning'

There was a bold start to Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley’s reign at This Morning.

During the shouty news review bit at the start of the show, there was a heated debate about people who earn hundreds of thousands of pounds for doing seemingly pointless jobs with puffed-up titles. Unfortunately, neither Gyles Brandreth nor Ashley James was feeling mischievous enough to point out that the same thing could be said about a job title like “Presenter, This Morning”.

Perhaps they were just being kind and didn’t want to spoil Ben and Cat’s vibe on their first day. However, if the new hosts were in any doubt about what they would have to do to earn their six figure salaries, realisation surely dawned at 10.34am, 10.57am, 11.36am and 11.51am.

That’s when one of them was contractually obliged to utter the four most important words in any ITV daytime autocue reader’s script: “Right, it’s competition time.” As one ITV insider once told me, “It’s not rocket science — all ITV daytime needs is someone who can fill the gaps between the money-spinning Andi Peters competitions.”

To be fair, Cat and Ben delivered their big line with gusto each time. And to be even fairer, they anchored the entire two and a half hour show at a canter.

That wasn’t exactly a surprise. If ITV’s executives were looking for some safe hands to steer This Morning out of its recent treacherous waters they could hardly have made a better choice.

Which is why I was a little surprised at the low key approach to Ben and Cat’s arrival.

There was no fanfare to speak of. Lorraine Kelly gave them a little plug in her show and Ant & Dec sent a recorded good luck message which looked like it had been bashed out while they were waiting for a cup of tea on Saturday Night Takeaway. And that was about it.

Somewhat bizarrely, Ben and Cat didn’t even have their names emblazoned across the show’s opening titles like Those Whose Names Shall Not Be Mentioned used to back in the glory days.

I would fully understand if that was an intentional move by the producers to send out a message that the show is the important thing, not the presenters.

However, you can’t blame people for instead suspecting that ITV simply didn’t want to spend the budget putting Cat and Ben’s name above the door in case it doesn’t work out.

The only clue to be found in the opening titles about the grand new era was a superimposed note which read “Welcome Ben & Cat!”

I’m not saying it looked a little half-assed, but I did get the feeling it may have been knocked up by a production office intern who, like many amateur photoshoppers, does occasionally experiment with editing.

Anyway, speaking of our old friends Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, it was nice to see a nod in their direction: a certain yellow fruit appeared to have been officially retired from the coffee table’s fruit bowl — presumably as a mark of respect for all Holly’s great work with the psychic banana.

Okay, so I’m probably reading a bit too much into things.

Holly and Pip were there in spirit though. In that it was very much the kind of everyday edition of This Morning they would have hosted — including a cosmetic surgery scare story, a Gino D’Acampo cooking bit, and some performative news review arguments for those ITV viewers who are still missing their Jeremy Kyle fix.

That’s why I suspect the arrival of Ben and Cat might struggle to dramatically change the fortunes of the show overnight. The biggest challenge facing them and their new family is not burying the scandalous ghosts of mornings past.

It's tackling the very real and present danger posed to it by BBC One’s Morning Live, which has been a massive ratings success since it extended its runtime and parked its tanks squarely on This Morning’s lawn.

I fear it's going to take more than a couple of new big name presenters for This Morning to overcome the Beeb’s formidable ad-free and phone competition-free obstacle. I would argue that a new set and a complete format rethink is required.

If the show’s executives are planning to do that ahead of a full relaunch with Cat and Ben in September then all well and good.

If not, then you’d have to wonder why they didn’t just stick with a couple of the temporary presenters who stepped up when it all went belly up.

PS: Reassuring note to Ben and Cat. When the dating expert Mel Schilling said “You look like you’ve been doing it for a hundred years” I’m fairly sure it was meant as a compliment.

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Watch: Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard make their This Morning debut