They were comfortable, relaxed, and not afraid to have a bit of fun with it – welcome David Campbell and Sonia Kruger to Channel 9’s new morning program, Mornings.

Both seasoned performers, Kruger and Campbell come with significant experience in hosting The Morning Show intermittently (and now a direct competitor) and Dancing With The Stars respectively. They settled in easily together and delivered a solid show with crosses to overseas correspondents, local experts and celebrity interviews including Magda Szubanski. As it turns out Szubanski set Campbell up with his wife so while it was a soft opening for the team they acquitted themselves well (pash and all).

A new look set with purple and red overtones offered a relaxed but sharp atmosphere, and Lucy Chesterton, Kelly Landry and Angela Mollard among others formed a solid list of what will become regulars for the show. It took nearly an hour to get the staple of the format – the advertorial – to screen and all that’s changed there was the set (even the scripts were identical). A chatty cross with Wendy Kingston for news headlines helped frame points through of the show, and a diamond necklace giveaway will likely draw in great demographic detail – though Sonia’s voice over mentioned the comp ended on “Friday the tenth of January” when the graphic clearly showed the closing date as 10/02/2012. Oops.

Fashion, trends, the Royals, entertainment, cooking, advertorials – it’s not going to change the world, but it’s sure going to give The Morning Show and The Circle a run for its money. It suits the demographic and with this strong team leading the show the only way is up for Mornings.