No Hollywood studio was complete without its kennel of canine actors. And these days an evening's television viewing is likely to include dogs unravelling toilet rolls, cadging pints or painting the living room. From the days of Lassie (50 years old and still going strong) and Rin Tin Tin, dogs have been used as stars in their own right, as a visual shorthand for a whole range of emotions or as a marketing tool. And pooch power has led politicians as politically distant as Richard Nixon and Michael Foot to recognise that the dog is a public-relations star.
Tonight's film in this new series exploring man's relationship with dogs shows that people will go to any lengths to care for them, and will buy any message sold to them with canine help. Director Andrew Jackson
Series producer Michael Waldman
A Union Pictures production for BBCtv
What makes a celebrity canine?
SEE FEATURE page 45