Favourite soap pets and families revealed
There’s never been a soap dog called Bingo that we can think of. But not to worry let’s take a look at the UK’s favourite soap pets and their career defining storylines.
Schmeichel of Coronation Street.
“We are huge fans of Corrie, so we are thrilled that Schmiechel has been named the UK’s favourite soap pet – he truly is an iconic dog! Also it’s great to see that having laughed and cried with them over the decades, legendary characters like the Duckworths are still loved by the nation.” – Karina Adrian, Head of Brand Marketing at GalaBingo.com
Schmeichel, Bouncer and Wellard are the nation’s best loved soap animals will decades between them on-screen in some of our favourite sagas. Let’s reflect upon some of their most memorable and indeed iconic storylines.
While the Duckworth clan is voted the UK’s favourite soap family fellow Coronation Street star Schmeichel the Great Dane has been voted the UK’s favourite soap pet, according to research from GalaBingo.com. The research was recently conducted to celebrate National Pet Month which was marked last month in the UK.
Following Schmeichel, who received 11% of over 2,000 votes, was Bouncer the Labrador from Neighbours (9%) and Wellard from EastEnders (8%).
Emmerdale’s Tootsie.
1 Schmeichel the Great Dane
First discovered on Tyrone Dobbs’s doorstep in April 2004, Tyrone and Jack Duckworth took in the Great Dane and named him Schmeichel. However, Tyrone soon found it difficult to cope with looking after two dogs and ending up offloading him to Chesney Brown, and the pair soon become great friends.
Schmeichel, who was played by four dogs during his soap career, sadly passed away in November after being diagnosed with liver cancer.
Best storyline – Schmeichel once climbed into Les Battersby and Cilla Brown’s bath, causing it to plunge through the floor and into the room below.
2 Bouncer the Labrador
Bouncer, a Labrador Retriever from Neighbours, first made an appearance in February 1987 and exited the series in February 1993. Played by one dog throughout his stint on the show, Bouncer was rumoured to be paid more than the human actors.
Best storyline: Bouncer’s quick thinking once heroically saved his owner Madge from a chip pan fire when he called the emergency services!
3 Wellard the Belgian Tervuren
Wellard first appeared in EastEnders in October 1994, after being taken in by Robbie Jackson, played by Dean Gaffney. He became the show’s longest-serving pet, before he left the show, passing away in August 2008. His name is a portmanteau of “well hard”, meaning “very tough”.
Best storyline: Wellard was reported to the police after biting soap stalwart Ian Beale on the buttocks. He was taken away under threat of euthanaisia but a campaign was launched to save the Belgian Tervuren.
Wellard as in ‘well hard’ aka ‘he’s tough’ of EastEnders.
Top Ten Soap Pets
Schmeichel (Chesney’s dog – Coronation Street)
Bouncer (Madge’s dog – Neighbours)
Wellard (Robbie’s dog – Eastenders)
Lady Di (The Carter’s dog – Eastenders)
Monica (Tyrone’s dog – Coronation Street)
Dave (Dot’s cat – Eastenders)
Barney (David’s rabbit – Coronation Street)
Cleo (Vera’s cat – Coronation Street)
Fergie (Jack’s pigeon – Coronation Street)
Tootsie (Edna’s dog – Emmerdale)
The Duckworth’s of Coronation Street.
The soap watchers were also asked for their favourite soap family, with Corrie’s the Duckworths crowned winners, chosen by almost one in 10 (9%), followed by the Platts and Emmerdale’s the Dingles with 5%.
The UK’s top five soap families
The Duckworths (Coronation Street)
The Platts (Coronation Street)
The Dingles (Emmerdale)
The Slaters (Eastenders)
The Barlows (Coronation Street)
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