WHO LET THE DOGS IN?
A new property show offers a dog’s-eye view of CELEBRITY HOMES
NEW REALITY Celebrity Snoop Dogs Friday, C4 HD, 8.30pm
WHAT WOULD TV’S Through the Keyhole be like if it was filmed by dogs? There’s a chance to find out in C4’s barking-mad new property show, Celebrity Snoop Dogs.
In the four-part series, filmed during lockdown, eight pooches show us round their celebrity owners’ pads, while viewers must figure out which famous faces are the owners of the dogs and houses.
EXPLORATION
‘It’s a sneaky peek around the homes of some of the UK’S best-loved celebrities from the perspective of the most important member of the household – the dog,’ explains director Jamie Wightman. ‘To film the series, we have a camera mounted behind the dog’s head, and we send him or her into three or four rooms that help define the owner, so viewers can see clues about who lives there.’
The pooches featured in the show come in a variety of shapes and sizes. ‘They include a Lhasa apso, a Labrador cross and a pug – so there’s a selection of large and small dogs,’ reveals Wightman, adding the animals varied considerably in terms of how well they behaved.
‘In some homes, the dog was well-trained and would come into and leave a room as instructed by the owner. On other occasions, the dog ignored what they were told, often to the surprise of the owner. They’d say, “My dog’s never normally like this!”’
Working with these fourlegged and unpredictable camera operators, Wightman admits he learnt to expect the unexpected from the resulting footage that they gathered during their snooping.
‘We saw all sorts – bowls disappearing off breakfast tables, shopping bags being tipped over and their contents strewn across the floor, and the insides of wardrobes being turned upside down,’ he laughs. ‘Also, some of the dogs just walked into a room, lay down and went to sleep – and that was all the footage we were going to get.’