Fox's Confectionery is resurrecting its Fox and Peppy characters for its Glacier brand after a 20-year absence from its ad campaigns.

The £2m six-month campaign begins airing today and will top and tail ad breaks on UKTV Gold around comedy shows such as Blackadder and Fawlty Towers. The ads feature actors Simon Callow and Paul Reynolds as the voices of the characters, who have been given a modern-day facelift, carrying items such as mobile phones to reconnect with the target market of 35 to 44-year-olds.

Brand manager Tracey Mattock said Fox's had outperformed the sugar confectionery category in the past year through improved range development and distribution, with growth of 13.7% and 21.1% for its mints and fruits SKUs respectively, compared with 0.2% growth in the overall market.

"Now we've got the product and route to market exactly right, we need to work on reawakening consumer interest," she added.