Part confidence trickster, part gigolo, Face was the Teams chief hustler and con-man. He would use his smooth charm, winning smile and clean cut good looks to get the team exactly what they wanted whether it was scuba gear, weapons, vehicles or tickets to the ballet. When not scrounging goods and services Face would be charming his way into ladies panties using his impeccable good looks to ensure he was getting as much female action as possible. More pimp then ex-special forces operative Face gives the impression that he spent his time in Vietnam servicing women rather than serving his country. Face was a fighter as well as a lover, and when push came to shove he was happy to demonstrate his proficient with his fists. Such brawling skills probably came from years spent slapping Saigon hookers when they didn’t pay him his money on time. Who better to reinterpret the A Teams chief pussy hound than every house wife’s favourite Richard Maddeley? He has the looks and the 80’s hairstyle and he has experience acquiring goods through underhand means. Who can forget when he was caught shop lifting wine to feed Judy’s booze habit?

Hannibal was the leader of the A Team, a military man with a cool demeanour and a love for big cigars. Professional soldier, master tactician and king of dodgy disguises Hannibal would crown each victory with the immortal line “I love it when a plan comes together.” BA might have had the muscle, Face may have had the looks and Murdoch the psychiatric disorder but it was Hannibal who embodied the A Teams soulless quest for freedom and justice. That’s why I can think of know one better to don the leather gloves than Jimmy Savile. Like Hannibal Savile loves sucking on a cigar and he has the white crop of hair essential to the role. Both are men of action and Savile’s unique verbal delivery would add a gritty edge to the character. I can see the script now:
"How's about that, then, I love it when a plan comes together!"
"Now then, now then, now then, I have a letter from a young man who wants his farm saved from unscrupulous oil prospectors."
"Guys and gals, guys and gals we appear to have been taken hostage."

Matt Lucas is an easy and obvious choice to play mean-talking, hard-hitting, Sgt. Bosco Albert "B.A." Baracus. After all in Lucas’s hit TV show Little Britain the bald comedian does a wonderful BA impersonation. Yet this is not the reason Lucas is ideal for the role. Back in the 1980’s BA embodied the social underdog in American society. The American army has always embraced young, poorly-educated, black men to fight and die for a nation that regards them as second class citizens. Mr T brought a stark realism to his portrayal of an abandoned young black man who had been rejected not only by the army he loved but American society as a whole. Lucas represents today what Mr T did back in the 1980’s. He is over-weight, homosexual, Jewish Brit, who suffers from alopecia. He is the antithesis of modern, cool, young, sexy, heterosexual USA. He is the new American underdog. Forget the gold chains, Mohawk hair, and bulging biceps the modern BA will be a fat, bald, queer Jew from London.