The Underdog Show
| The Underdog Show Series 1 | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Fenia Vardanis |
| Starring | Host: Julian Clary |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Running time |
Main show: 1 hour Results show :30 minutes CBBC show 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Two |
| Original release | 20 March – 1 May 2007 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Underdog Show was a six-week television series presented by Julian Clary and his dog, Valerie. The series was produced by the independent production company Splash Media.
Format
The show on BBC2 featured celebrities Julia Sawalha, Anton du Beke, Clive Anderson, Huey Morgan, Mishal Husain, Selina Scott, Kirsty Gallacher and Theo Paphitis pairing up with untrained rescue dogs for a Crufts-style competition. Every week, one duo was eliminated by a panel of three professional judges Kay Lawrence, Annie Clayton and Peter Purves and the viewers via telephone voting. The outgoing dog being put up for adoption to find a new home with a viewer, although Theo, Kirsty and Clive adopted the rescue dogs they were paired with.
Steve Mann of Alpha Dog training School was the successful trainer of eventual winners, Selina and Chump. Steve Mann, a full-time professional Dog Trainer is considered one of the best dog trainers in the UK.
A spin off show on CBBC replaced the celebrities with eight children paired up with eight rescue dogs and eight professional dog trainers.
| Celebrity | Dog's name | Status/(end result) |
|---|---|---|
| Theo Paphitis | Claudia | Eliminated (8th) |
| Kirsty Gallacher | Bruno | Eliminated (7th) |
| Anton du Beke | Ginger | Eliminated (6th) |
| Clive Anderson | Albert | Eliminated (5th) |
| Mishal Husain | Robson | Eliminated (4th) |
| Julia Sawalha | Cookie | Third |
| Huey Morgan | Casper | Runner Up |
| Selina Scott | Chump | Winner |
The numbers in brackets e.g. (8th) denote the final position the celebrity finished in, not the order they were eliminated.
Series 2
| The Underdog Show Series 2 | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Fenia Vardanis |
| Starring | Hosts: Mark Durden-Smith and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Living |
| Original release | 21 September – 4 December 2008 |
A second series aired on Living instead of BBC Two. It was hosted by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Mark Durden-Smith.
Raef, Jason, Brian and Kevin all adopted the dogs that they were paired with.
| Celebrity | Dog's Name | Status/(End Result) |
|---|---|---|
| Javine Hylton | Bouncer | Eliminated (10th) |
| MC Harvey | Gambler | Eliminated (9th) |
| Ninia Benjamin | Sushi | Eliminated (8th) |
| Lesley Joseph | Louise | Eliminated (7th) |
| Raef Bjayou | Suz | Eliminated (6th) |
| Elize du Toit | Gloria | Eliminated (5th) |
| Jason Wood | Jim | Eliminated (4th) |
| Camilla Dallerup | Chico | Third |
| Brian Blessed | Dougal | Runner Up |
| Kevin Sacre | Sven | Winner |
The numbers in brackets e.g. (10th) denote the final position the celebrity finished in, not the order they were eliminated.