The Underdog Show was a six week television series presented by Julian Clary

Julian Clary

Julian Peter McDonald Clary is an English comedian and novelist, known for his deliberately stereotypical camp style, with a heavy reliance on innuendo and double entendre.-Early life and education:...

 and his dog, Valerie. The series was produced by the independent production company Splash Media.http://www.splashmediatv.co.uk

Format

The show on BBC2 featured celebrities Julia Sawalha

Julia Sawalha

Julia Sawalha is an English actress well known for her roles as Saffron Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous, Lynda Day, editor of The Junior Gazette in Press Gang and Lydia Bennet in the 1995 television miniseries of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She also played Dorcas Lane in the BBC's costume...

, Anton du Beke

Anton du Beke

Anton du Beke is a British ballroom dancer and television presenter. His professional dance partner since 1997 has been Erin Boag. With Boag, he won the IDTA Classic in England in November 2003.-Family and early life:...

, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson is a British former barrister, best known for being a comedy writer as well as a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom...

, Huey Morgan, Mishal Husain

Mishal Husain

Mishal Husain is a television news presenter for the BBC's international news channel, BBC World News, presenting Impact between 1400 and 1600 GMT every Monday to Thursday as well as presenting the Sunday evening editions of the BBC Weekend News on BBC One...

, Selina Scott

Selina Scott

Selina Scott is a British newsreader, journalist, television producer and presenter.- Background and early life :Scott was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire in 1951, the eldest of five children...

, Kirsty Gallacher

Kirsty Gallacher

Kirsty Jane Gallacher , is a Scottish television presenter.-Biography:The daughter of the former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, Gallacher was born in Edinburgh. When her father got the job of professional at Wentworth Golf Club, they moved south when she was 18 months old...

 and Theo Paphitis

Theo Paphitis

Theodorus "Theo" Paphitis is a retail magnate and British entrepreneur of Greek Cypriot origin. He made the majority of his fortune in the retail sector, and is best known to the general public for his appearances on the BBC business programme Dragons' Den and as former chairman of Millwall...

 pairing up with untrained rescue dogs for a Crufts

Crufts

Crufts is an annual international Championship conformation show for dogs organised and hosted by the Kennel Club, currently held every March at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England. It is the largest annual dog show in the world, as declared by Guinness World Records, and lasts...

-style competition. Every week, one duo was eliminated by a panel of three professional judges Kay Lawrence, Annie Clayton and Peter Purves

Peter Purves

Peter Purves is an English television presenter and actor.Purves was born in New Longton, near Preston, Lancashire, and was educated at the independent Arnold School in Blackpool, he had originally planned to go into teaching, training at Alsager College of Education, but began to act with the...

 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

CBBC

CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...

 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 Theo Paphitis Theodorus "Theo" Paphitis is a retail magnate and British entrepreneur of Greek Cypriot origin. He made the majority of his fortune in the retail sector, and is best known to the general public for his appearances on the BBC business programme Dragons' Den and as former chairman of Millwall...	Claudia	Eliminated (8th)
Kirsty Gallacher Kirsty Gallacher Kirsty Jane Gallacher , is a Scottish television presenter.-Biography:The daughter of the former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, Gallacher was born in Edinburgh. When her father got the job of professional at Wentworth Golf Club, they moved south when she was 18 months old...	Bruno	Eliminated (7th)
Anton du Beke Anton du Beke Anton du Beke is a British ballroom dancer and television presenter. His professional dance partner since 1997 has been Erin Boag. With Boag, he won the IDTA Classic in England in November 2003.-Family and early life:...	Ginger	Eliminated (6th)
Clive Anderson Clive Anderson Clive Anderson is a British former barrister, best known for being a comedy writer as well as a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom...	Albert	Eliminated (5th)
Mishal Husain Mishal Husain Mishal Husain is a television news presenter for the BBC's international news channel, BBC World News, presenting Impact between 1400 and 1600 GMT every Monday to Thursday as well as presenting the Sunday evening editions of the BBC Weekend News on BBC One...	Robson	Eliminated (4th)
Julia Sawalha Julia Sawalha Julia Sawalha is an English actress well known for her roles as Saffron Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous, Lynda Day, editor of The Junior Gazette in Press Gang and Lydia Bennet in the 1995 television miniseries of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She also played Dorcas Lane in the BBC's costume...	Cookie	Eliminated (3rd)
Huey Morgan	Casper	Runner Up
Selina Scott Selina Scott Selina Scott is a British newsreader, journalist, television producer and presenter.- Background and early life :Scott was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire in 1951, the eldest of five children...	Chump	Winner

• PLEASE NOTE: The numbers in brackets eg. (8th) denote the final position the celebrity finished in, not the order they were eliminated.

Series 2

A second series aired on LivingTV

LIVINGtv

Sky Living is a UK television channel owned by British Sky Broadcasting, who purchased the Living TV Group group in 2010. Originally launched as UK Living in 1993, the channel changed its name to Living TV in 1997 and then to Living in 2007. On 1 February 2011 Living changed its name to Sky Living...

 instead of BBC Two

BBC Two

BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

. It was hosted by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson also known as T P-T, is an English socialite, "it girl", television presenter, columnist and model...

 and Mark Durden-Smith

Mark Durden-Smith

Mark Durden-Smith is a British television presenter. He began his presenting career as host of Sky Sports live rugby union coverage, which included weekly English Premiership fixtures, domestic and European cup competitions and Internationals Tests, including the English home Six Nations matches...

.

Raef, Jason, Brian and Kevin all adopted the dogs that they were paired with.

Celebrity	Dog's Name	Status/(End Result)
Javine Hylton Javine Hylton Javine Dionne Hylton , often known simply as Javine, is an English singer. She is most notable for representing the UK at Eurovision Song Contest 2005; beating competition favourite, model Katie Price, for the ticket to Kiev...	Bouncer	Eliminated (10th)
MC Harvey	Gambler	Eliminated (9th)
Ninia Benjamin Ninia Benjamin Ninia Benjamin is a British comedian who makes frequent appearances at the Edinburgh Festival. Benjamin has also appeared on the TV shows 3 Non-Blondes and Twisted Tales....	Sushi	Eliminated (8th)
Lesley Joseph Lesley Joseph Lesley D Joseph is an English actress and broadcaster.-Life and career:Joseph was born in Northampton. She is best known for starring in the BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather from 1989–1998, in which she played Dorien Green, the Jewish next-door neighbour of the main characters Sharon and Tracy...	Louise	Eliminated (7th)
Raef Bjayou Raef Bjayou Raphael "Raef" Bjayou is a British entrepreneur and television presenter who was a contestant on series four of The Apprentice .-Education:...	Suz	Eliminated (6th)
Elize du Toit Elize Du Toit Elize du Toit is a South African born actress best known for playing the role of Izzy Davies in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2000 to 2004, with a brief return in 2007.-Biography:...	Gloria	Eliminated (5th)
Jason Wood Jason Wood (comedian) Jason Robert Wood was a British comedian. He was a regular performer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he was best known for his comic musical impersonations of performers including Cher and Morrissey...	Jim	Eliminated (4th)
Camilla Dallerup Camilla Dallerup Camilla Dallerup is a British-based Danish ballroom dancer, dance teacher and model.-Dance career:Dallerup started dancing at the age of two and a half when her mother took her to her first class in Aalborg. She won the Danish Junior Championships at the age of 12...	Chico	Eliminated (3rd)
Brian Blessed Brian Blessed Brian Blessed is an English actor, known for his sonorous voice and "hearty, king-sized portrayals".-Early life:The son of William Blessed, a socialist miner, and Hilda Wall, Blessed was born in the town of Goldthorpe, West Riding of Yorkshire, England...	Dougal	Runner Up
Kevin Sacre Kevin Sacre Kevin Sacre is a British actor. He is most famous for his performance as Jake Dean in the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, a role he played from 2002 to 2010.-Early life:...	Sven	Winner

• PLEASE NOTE: The numbers in brackets eg. (10th) denote the final position the celebrity finished in, not the order they were eliminated.

External links

• http://livingtv.co.uk/shows/underdog