Thursday sees the arrival of splendid new sitcom Puppy Love on BBC4. Created by Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine of Getting On pedigree, it’s about a dog-training class on the Wirral called For All Your Dogging Needs. What better excuse to remember and rate TV’s top dogs? Real ones, none of your cartoon canines – sorry, Scoob and Snoop…
Isis (Downton Abbey)
Isis in crisis! The ITV period soap comes to its series climax tonight but many viewers will be more concerned about the fate of the Earl of Grantham’s beloved labrador than the pesky toffs. She’s got cancer but is she being killed off for sharing her name with an Islamic terror group? That shot of her bum on the opening credits has acquired added poignancy.
Lovability rating: 4/5. Mrs Patmore should pat her more.
Eddie (Frasier)
Martin Crane’s jack russell adored his owner and housekeeper Daphne but was less keen on the titular radio psychiatrist, often staring at him unnervingly. He was played by Moose and later his son Enzo. When the actors needed him to lick them, they smeared sardine oil on their face or dabbed liver pâté behind their ears. Eddie even graced the cover of Entertainment Weekly, headlined: “He’s hot, he’s sexy, he’s pure-bred”.
Lovability rating: 3/5. Sit! Com.
Bouncer (Neighbours)
Always credited as “Bouncer, played by himself”, Lucy Robinson’s golden labrador was paid more than the Aussie soap’s human actors. His most memorable moments were saving Madge from a chip-pan fire and the notoriously trippy “Bouncer’s dream” about marrying Rosie the sheepdog from next door.
Lovability rating: 4/5. G’dog.
Wellard (EastEnders)
Robbie Jackson’s Belgian tervuren makes our list ahead of Dirty Den’s poodle Roly and Ethel’s little Willy by virtue of being the cockney soap’s longest-serving pet, putting in a 14-year stint during the 90s and 00s. Waggy Wellard’s highlight was biting Ian Beale on the bum but he was nearly put down for it, until locals launched a campaign called Woof (Walford One Owed Freedom).
Lovability rating: 2/5. Part of the faaaaaaamily.
Shep (Blue Peter)
The children’s institution has had 10 dogs down the decades – including Petra, Goldie, Bonnie and incumbent Iggy – but 70s stalwart John Noakes’s excitable border collie gets the nod for spawning his own catchphrase, “Get down, Shep!” and for the touching moment when Noakes broke down in tears as he revealed that Shep had died. Sob.
Lovability rating: 3/5. Sticky-back fantastic.
Lassie (Lassie)
“What’s that Lassie? You’re a fictional female collie who starred in a dozen feature films and an Emmy-winning CBS series that ran for two decades? And there’s also someone stuck down a well who needs rescuing? You want me to follow you there? OK, Lassie!”
Lovability rating: 5/5. Best in show.
