One Man and His Dog
Contents |
Host
Phil Drabble (1976-93) with Eric Halsall (1976-90), Ray Ollrenshaw (1991-3)
Robin Page and Gus Dermody (1994-2000)
Clarissa Dickson-Wright (specials 2000-1)
Ben Fogle with Shauna Lowry (specials 2002 to present)
Broadcast
BBC 2, 17 February 1976 to 13 March 1999 (regular series)
Xmas specials, annual: 1999 to present
Synopsis
It's been many hundreds of years since animals have been put up for trial (hello to our readers in Hartlepool). Maybe for crimes they didn't commit. The tradition was brought back crash bang into the Twentieth Century with One Man and His Dog, a television programme about sheepdog trials.
Three shepherds, who each owned a sheepdog attempted to whistle and "come by" their way through the show. Each competitor typically had to get their dog to guide some sheep through a gate, into a ring (where they'd have to separate a certain sheep from the rest) and then into a pen, all the while being given marks by judges. The sheep generally played up quite a bit, but nobody had the clever idea of just shouting "mint sauce!" or somesuch.
The vets at BBC 2 head office finally put the programme to sleep as we approached the new millennium. They didn't quite succeed in killing it off, though, as it still lives on in the form of annual specials. Rumours surface from time to time about a full-scale comeback, but realistically it's not going to happen. And the (at one point seriously mooted) idea of Sky buying it and renaming it Sky One Man and His Dog was just silly, really.
We always wanted to sheep to win, actually.
Trivia
In 1996, special programmes featuring younger contestants were shown. The name? Young Man and His Dog. Awww...
Catchphrases
*whistle* "Come by!"
Theme music
A music clip is available on the TV Cream site.
Merchandise
30 Years of One Man and His Dog R2 DVD
One Man and His Dog book by Phil Drabble
