THE DOG DAYS AREN’T OVER...
MARION MCMULLEN celebrates Great British TV dogs as we look back at Eastenders pug Willy’s soap exit 30 years ago
THE opening episode of Eastenders in 1985 began in dramatic style with a murder ... and an appearance by a cheeky little pug called Willy. He was part of a BBC starting line-up of iconic characters that included ‘Dirty’ Den Watts, Pauline Fowler and ‘Nasty’ Nick Cotton. The four-legged companion of Gretchen Franklin’s character Ethel Skinner quickly became a familiar figure around Albert Square over the next seven years and caused a fair bit of trouble along the way.
He famously ruined Christmas Day for the Fowlers in 1990 when he happily scoffed their turkey when their backs were turned, and he was always on the look out for any unguarded food left lying around.
Pensioner Ethel named her pet after her late husband, and there was heartbreak 30 years ago when old age meant Willy had to be put down. The furry soap star made his soap exit on May 14, 1992, and sadly the dog who played him passed away two weeks after his on-screen death.
Ethel’s neighbours rallied around and wanted to buy her a new dog, but the heartbroken pet owner declared Willy was “irreplaceable”.
Poodle Roly was also one of the original Eastenders cast and was the beloved pet of the Watts family, which meant he had the run of the Queen Vic pub.
He was nearly killed when Grant Mitchell set fire to the Vic for the insurance money, and eventually died on screen in 1993 when he was run over while chasing a cat.
Eastenders creator Julia Smith became Roly’s real-life owner, and he was even given his own BBC identity card.
Great Dane Schmeichel was one of Coronation Street’s best known dogs after turning up on Tyrone Dobb’s doorstep 18 years ago. He survived being run over by a bus driven by Claire Peacock, and caused devastation when he once climbed into a bath with Les Battersby and Cilla Brown – causing it to crash through the floor.
Generations of viewers have also grown up with the Blue Peter dogs. Petra retired from showbusiness in 1977 after 15 years, 555 television hours and 1,192 appearances on the programme. Presenter Peter Purves cared for the doggy star when he joined the BBC programme in 1968.
Fellow Blue Peter presenter John Noakes also became famous for regularly calling out: “Get, down, Shep,” to Blue Peter’s excitable border collie.
Peter says John was heartbroken when Shep eventually passed away.
“He couldn’t hold it in. It wasn’t pretend – that was absolute deep, soul-searching sadness. He loved that dog and it adored John.”
The Dulux paint dog appeared in his first TV advert in 1961. Old English sheepdog Shepton Daphnis Horsa, better known as Dash, was the original Dulux dog and has been followed by 14 other dogs over the years. They each spent hours being groomed before filming their TV adverts.
Robert, the Spillers food dog, was a bit thrown when he came muzzle to muzzle with Doctor Who’s robot dog K9 in 1977. Robert headed an advertising campaign which helped the company to sell more than half a million packets of dog food a week and he and K9 were brought together to celebrate the firm’s fiftieth anniversary.
Comedy and canines also go hand in hand. Bernie Winters appeared regularly on TV with St Bernard dog Schnorbitz and even took him along to the Conservative Party rally at Wembley during the 1987 election campaign.
Fanny the Wonder Dog was part of funnyman Julian Clary’s comedy act during the early days of his career and he wrote in his autobiography The Lick Of Love: “She had an expressive face, sometimes knowing or aghast or even cynical. I’m very wary of crediting dogs with human emotions and understanding, but Fanny was exceptional.”
Rescue dog Buster also appeared regularly on TV with owner Paul O’grady and was his companion back during his Lily Savage days and later on his Channel 4 chat show.
The shih tzu-bichon frise cross passed away in 2009 at the age of 15 and a bronze statue of him now stands at the entrance of Battersea Dogs Home. Paul said: “Buster Elvis Savage, what a great little dog he was.”
Meanwhile, Sykes stole the heart of viewers when he joined the cast of ITV’S Midsomer Murders in 2010. The terrier was DCI Barnaby’s first dog and Sykes was his real name. The popular canine retired from showbusiness in 2016 and died three years later. Neil Dudgeon, who plays DCI Barnaby once said Sykes was the real star of the show. He said: “One of the most common things shouted at me in the street is ‘Where’s your dog?’
“Ever since I came into the show I’ve always joked that they didn’t replace John Nettles with me, they replaced him with a dog. People love the dog – and the dog has always been the star of the show.”