David Baddiel has a mission “to fulfil a lifelong dream of spending as much time as possible with cats”. He wants to put felines in the spotlight and challenge common misconceptions about them being “sneaky, evil and lazy”. Baddiel gets stuck in. He meets famous cat influencers such as Atticus – a stunning ragdoll with 96,700 Instagram followers, who was asked by Paramount to perform a promotional motorbike stunt for the latest Mission: Impossible film. He does kitten yoga, hand-feeds two chatty cheetahs and even bathes with lions. It’s every cat person’s dream!
The show’s premise is that cats are popular on social media. The hashtag #catsofinstagram currently has more than 212m posts on Instagram’s mobile app, and #cat ranked among the top 100 trending hashtags. Yet hardly any TV shows are made about cats and their owners. Instead, cat owners, like myself and Baddiel, are often subjected to cruel stereotyping. A few years ago, cat ownership was even mocked by the current US vice-president, JD Vance, who dismissed his rivals in the Democratic party as “childless cat ladies”. Not any more. Enter David Baddiel: Cat Man.
From the start of the show, it’s clear that Baddiel really, really loves cats. His face lights up every time he meets one. He even sprays himself with catnip to get the attention of the celebrity influencer cat King Louis – a big, caviar-scoffing British shorthair who has 139,000 Instagram followers. King Louis bites Baddiel for playing the “bongos” on him. The “bongos” are a gentle rhythmic pat on either side of the rump. As a passionate cat person and member of the WhatsApp group Apocalypse Meow, I know a true cat person when I see one. David Baddiel is one of us.
Unlike many celebrity-led documentaries, Cat Man is by no means trivial. Baddiel has cats himself: Tiger, Zelda and Ron. They all feature in the show, through home videos and a brief appearance on set. Tiger goes upstairs, and Ron hides behind a wall. However, during the filming of episode one, Baddiel’s 15-year-old cat Pip becomes unwell. Despite his daughter Dolly’s best efforts, Pip dies. Have a hanky on standby – I was a quivering wreck. Because there is nothing trivial about Baddiel’s very real tears on camera. Those tears represent the many people like me who have struggled with the loss of a pet. As David says: “55% said they hid their grief for fear of being ridiculed.”
Cat Man does everything to sway the haters, too. We meet Holly and Colin, who run Holly’s Merry Moggies rescue centre, which cares for disabled cats. People reject some felines because they don’t “look good” on social media. How could you resist Bertie the tabby, who was born with no eyes? Or Dr Susan, a very chatty cat show exhibitor who knows everything about the animals. She is the proud owner of Lucy, an 11-year-old neutered bengal stunner with more than 40 rosettes. Lucy has twice won the Supreme, which is the cat version of Crufts, run by the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (essentially the Kennel Club for cats, but with a much better name). Baddiel attends the Supreme with Dr Susan, who is hoping for a third win, but is sceptical, given Lucy’s age. Lucy does win, and you would have to be dead inside not to have wanted it for them both.
Better yet, Cat Man has several celebrity cat enthusiasts: Ricky Gervais, Jonathan Ross and Lou Sanders among them. Each has the same level of affection as Baddiel. “Dogs are PAYE. Cats are freelance,” jokes the comedian Josh Widdicombe, before casually confessing to sharing a glass of water with his. If he isn’t ashamed of that relationship, neither should any cat person be. However, I wouldn’t drink that water.
All good documentaries must have a balance. Enter the comedy legend and cat hater Frank Skinner, who describes the creatures as “sinister”. He says he prefers dogs: “Dogs are slapstick. Cats are satire.” However, when Baddiel mentions the cat they (sort of) shared more than 20 years ago, Chairman Miaow, I spotted a soft smile and a twinkle in Skinner’s eyes.
David Baddiel: Cat Man is the ultimate comfort viewing. If seeing David Baddiel hand-feeding and cuddling Larry, the No 10 feline, doesn’t brighten your dreary January, perhaps even make you love cats, nothing will. I came away feeling proud to be a passionate cat person and, like Baddiel, I don’t care who knows it.
• David Baddiel: Cat Man’s final episode airs on 30 January. All episodes are available to stream now on Channel 4.
