That’s fake!
45 years on, Esther reveals tale of Yorkshire terrier that could say ‘sausages’ was a bit of a porkie
FOR people of a certain age it was a TV moment they will never forget – the ‘talking dog’ who asked for sausages on That’s Life!
Yorkshire terrier Prince became a national hit when he barked his dietary requirement on a 1979 episode of the consumer affairs show – with ‘shoshigish’ instantly becoming a catchphrase in workplaces and school playgrounds across the country.
Today 45 years after the mutt took Britain by storm, That’s Life! host Dame Esther Rantzen and copresenter Paul
Heiney reveal the truth about his famous trick. Heiney, now 74, who interviewed the dog and his owner Paul Allen, said: ‘I’ll tell you the truth... The dog did say sausages – not that the dog knew what sausages meant.
‘He [the owner] used to cradle the dog in his arms with his hand underneath the dog’s throat and the dog started to growl because the dog didn’t like this.
‘By interrupting the growl, by gently squeezing the dog’s throat the growl was interrupted so you got “sausages”.’ The phenomenon of Prince in recalled today’s edition of BBC Radio 4’s The Reunion programme, which reunites leading figures from the That’s Life!.
Following the revelation, Kirsty Wark, the presenter of The Reunion jokes that the report was ‘fake news.’
Dame Esther, who was clearly in on the secret at the time, reveals that Heiney and the director of the item were worried that the stunt was cruel.
She recalled receiving a telephone call from the director while the pair were filming the report at Mr Allen’s home in Leeds. She said: ‘I said to him with my zoological knowledge coming to the fore, “What is his tail doing?”
‘He said, “Hang on Esther’’ and I heard a distant “sausages” and then he came back to the phone and he said it’s wagging.’
Sir Peter Bazalgette, the TV executive behind Big Brother who was a researcher on That’s Life! at the time, reveals that even some members of the team had no idea how the dog appeared to talk.
During the item the dog also appeared to say ‘jam’, ‘Anthony’ – the name of Mr Allen’s brother – and ‘George’, the name of the neighbour who fed him the sausages. Within 24 hours of the show being broadcast the dog was a national obsession.
In today’s edition of The Reunion it is also revealed that the then unknown Jeremy Paxman and Robert Harris, the future bestselling novelist, both auditioned to be presenters on the show.
• The Reunion is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 10am today and is also available on BBC Sounds.