A regional daily spoofed a classic film in a bid to give readers hope after the revelation that coronavirus restrictions are set to be eased.

The Hull Daily Mail parodied time travel movie Back To The Future on its front page to mark Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement of the Government’s “roadmap” to ease the country out of lockdown.

The Mail ran with the headline ‘Look To The Future’, portraying Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty as teenage time traveller Marty McFly and Mr Johnson as eccentric scientist ‘Doc’ Brown.

Editor Jamie Macaskill told HTFP the decision over who to cast in which role had prompted some newsroom debate.

Said Jamie: “We are always looking for ways to engage the readers and the front page sell remains a key conversation every day, even as we continue to work remotely.

“Sticking a big picture of Boris Johnson on the front may be the default on a story like this but our print editor Ian Bond came up with the Back to the Future idea and he has the talent to make it work.

“The main talking point was whether Doc should be Boris or Chris Whitty. The wild hair decided it.

“It’s hard to find anything light about Covid or lockdown but this was finally positive news, offering people some hope in what is still an incredibly challenging time for all our readers.

“The timing seemed right and if Doc Johnson and Professor McFly raised a few smiles and sold a few more papers, it’s worked.”

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