ANIMAL magic

Meet All Creatures Great And Small’s pampered Pekingese Tricki Woo

All Creatures Great And Small’s biggest scene stealer is its smallest cast member. Derek, the pampered Pekingese who plays Tricki Woo, is a hit with viewers and he’s also fawned over on set, especially by Patricia Hodge (right, with him), who took over from the late Diana Rigg in the role of his owner, Mrs Pumphrey.

‘He’s happy to work with anyone, but Patricia gives him a lot more attention,’ says Derek’s owner Jill Clark of 1st Choice Animals, which supplies Derek and other animals to film and TV sets. ‘He wasn’t in the slightest bit upset about the change from Diana to Patricia.’

When All Creatures’ casting agents called Jill looking for a

Pekingese, she searched rescue centres and acquired four-yearold Derek, whose previous owner had died. Derek now shares Jill’s home with 13 other dogs, plus sheep, ponies, horses, chickens, goats, ducks and cats, all used for filming. Jill trained Derek to bark, lie down and offer a paw on command and instructs the actors to give him a treat when he obeys. When Mrs Pumphrey feeds him cream cakes and trifle, they’re made specially from dogfriendly food. He even gets a turn in the make-up chair. ‘His face is very dark, so they give him some make-up to lighten it up,’ says Jill.

On set, Derek gets star treatment. ‘When I sense he’s getting tired I’ll say that he needs a rest,’ says Jill. ‘Usually, he’ll work for 25 minutes, and then go and rest. If he’s hot from the lights he’ll lie on a cooling bed. If he’s cold, he has a coat.’

Derek will also appear in upcoming movies Starve Acre with Matt Smith and The People We Hate At The Wedding with Kristen Bell, but Jill says he’s only acted the diva once. ‘He decided he wasn’t going to bark in a scene,’ she recalls. ‘I tried everything, but that day he just wouldn’t do it!’

-Vicki Power All Creatures Great And Small, Thursday, 9pm, Channel 5.