What: Martin Clunes: A Man and His Dogs.
When: TV3, 7.30pm last night, and December 30, 7.30pm.
KEY POINTS:
Last time we saw Martin Clunes he played a nightmare, a sarcastic, bad tempered general practitioner with enormous power over the sick, the depressed, and the afflicted.
Having him turn up in last night's Martin Clunes: A Man and his Dogs meant fighting the temptation to beg the dogs to bite him, hard and often. This didn't happen.
Instead we got Clunes as a dog lover, including winning a prize for his dog at a major dog show, and being a big enough name to get a doco-lite on the origins of dogs.
Announcing that all dogs trace back to wolves, with dingos the link between them and domestic pets, he was off to suitably scenic locations to track this.
Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park showed wolves in the wild. Sensibly, Clunes kept well clear of them, lest the pack feasting on a dead deer add "pale Brit" to the menu.
Back in England, we met a man who had convinced a pack of wolves he was one of them. This livened things up, with the wolves' introductory and intimate exploration of Clunes being, for a male reviewer, tension-filled.
Then, it was off to Queensland's Fraser Island for the dingos, the link between the wolf and the domestic dog. Thrown in was a visit to Alice Springs for some dingo legend, although not the biggest moment, the Chamberlain murder trial.
We were reminded that this is about entertainment. Cue the dingo singing along with Clunes, the pianist. I thought it was just a howl, but have to admit not being up to speed on the latest trends in animal/human musical soirees.
To keep things from sinking back to the cuteness of the early scenes we got a rat catcher and his dogs in action.
The rats were in a farm's hay bales. These were tipped over and the rats made a run for it. Viewers are counselled, for wagering purposes, to ignore any good odds offered on the rats. Once in the open they didn't have a chance.
Part two rolls next week. The trailer shows a rescue dog searching for Clunes in the snow. Alas, for those carrying lingering memories of Clunes as the 'Hell Doctor', the dog finds him alive.
David Attenborough this wasn't. While Clunes had his facts and figures the marketing department didn't put up the budget for all that world-wide travel to get an academic exercise. If it paid for Clunes, then Clunes we would have, including his response to everything.
It made for an amiable and undemanding hour, with some nice location footage. Clunes is a cheerful host, although as an interviewer he might be a very good doctor.
For dog lovers the show is "must see". The rest of us can let Part Two fill in a pleasant hour on the couch.
