In Channel 4’s new series canine cinematographers show us round the homes of their famous owners. We sniff out a surefire lockdown hitModern Toss on Celebrity Snoop Dogs ...When Channel 4 revealed its first slate of Covid-era commissions at the end of April, one new format sounded like a particular treat. Celebrity Snoop Dogs would invite viewers to guess the identity of a mystery celebrity by strapping a GoPro camera on their pet dog to sniff out clues in the family home. On paper, it seemed purpose-built to dethrone Alan Partridge’s Monkey
Tennis as the pre-eminent TV pitch so absurd it might actually be genius.
Exploiting shut-in celebs and outsourcing camera duties are certainly creative solutions to the knotty problem of programme-making during a pandemic. But there is a world of difference between coming up with a good title in a Zoom meeting and actually executing the idea. Someone has to try and make fetch happen. So it fell to Jamie Wightman – a veteran series producer and director of factual TV who has worked on everything from Don’t Tell the Bride to Shed of the Year – to deliver on the promise of that glorious premise in a rapid six-week timeframe.