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 Britain's
Top Dog | Channel 4 - August
The TV version of Liza Tarbuck
is one of the most cheerful, upbeat, fun and entertaining people you
could wish to have on that magic little box in the corner of your living
room. In short, too good to be true. The real life version is doubtless
a sour-faced, monosyllabic misery-guts who hates everyone and everything
and wants to be left alone to read gothic horror novels and listen to
Wagner.
Except it turns out she's not too good to be true. Far from it. When
she's not cheerfully jumping from one anecdote to another she's roaring
with laughter. She is, she explains, just back from acupuncture. Well,
if that's what sticking needles in your body does for someone, I'd like
to come back as a pincushion, please. Liza took time out from being
ebullient just long enough to talk about her new series for Channel 4,
Britain's Top Dog, as well revealing how a trip to Zambia changed
her life, and why proposals by post have failed to bowl her over.
Why did you want to get involved in Britain's Top Dog?
The thing that sold it to me was that nobody's done a dog show other
than Crufts. In retrospect, we now know why, because it's really
difficult to film the dogs in action. But our show's got a bit of a
twist, in that the people are given cameras to take home so that we can
see them doing their homework on video diaries.
So it didn't always run smoothly?
When I initially got involved with it, I thought it was important to do
a pilot, which is quite rare to do these days. In this day and age, you
can put something on for a series that hasn't had a pilot, and it
doesn't always work, and it's not given a second chance. That's why a
pilot's so good - you get a chance to sit down and discuss every single
element of the show. And the best lessons you can ever learn are by
making mistakes. So, in the pilot, we realised we should do several
things in different ways, and several ways of presenting all the
information to give it that lovely momentum so that when you're sitting
down in front of it you feel like you're on a journey.
It's not just about the dogs being shiny-coated pedigrees with
triple-barrelled names, is it?
No, not at all. Of course, joy of joys if there's a couple of beautiful
pure breeds, but the big deal about this show is that all the dogs are
pets. Any dog owner will tell you that some dogs are particularly good
at being trained, and some dogs don't do anything. I wonder just how
much the competitors would have got involved if they'd realised just how
much we were expecting them to do.
How did you judge the dogs? What did you get them to do?
There's three categories. You've got agility, which speaks for itself -
we've all seen the agility courses, getting them to jump and go over
A-frames and through tunnels. Then you've got the scent - sorting out a
particular scented garment or ball or bone and then bringing it back,
which is the biggest deal. They might get it, but will the buggers bring
it back? And then the last one is doggie dancing.
Excuse me?
It's a sport in its own right. That involves a piece of music and the
absolute beautiful synergy of dog and owner coming together in a ballet
- which of course isn't necessarily the truth of it. Getting the dog to
move appropriately to the music - it might work with the lyrics or with
the rhythm. There's a lot of dignity up for shattering on that one,
believe me.
Are you a dog-lover yourself?
I certainly am. Tarbucks have always had dogs, to the point where
nephew's actually named after one of our favourites, Louis the Labrador.
Now I have Welsh Wilf - a rescue dog, from Wales, obviously.
It's all very well having dogs at home, but what about that old
showbiz maxim about not working with children or animals?
They say that the most stressful thing in your life is, for example,
move house or divorce. I think when anybody gives you a maxim, you
should go and have a look at it for yourself. It is exhausting, and the
dogs really do what they want to do come the day. But I couldn't not get
involved, it's right up my alley, this sort of thing. I love being with
people and I love being with dogs, so the two combined was paradise for
me.
You started off wanting to be an artist. Do you still paint?
Yes, I paint and I mosaic. I can do all of the things that I actually
want to by just managing what jobs I say yes and no to. I think the
biggest deal for me is, because dad was famous when I first started, my
biggest thing was not to be in his shadow, but to do the things that
really interested me. And whilst I absolutely adore acting, actors don't
get paid very well unless they're doing big Hollywood films and stuff,
so it was a question of necessity finding other things to do, and then
realising that I don't have to do just one thing.
Is your art a commercial enterprise as well?
One guy did ask me to do a show, but I don't feel like it would be
appropriate. At some point I think I will. But then I still think I'm
21, so that there's plenty of time to do everything. Which is why I
think you have to manage your career very well; why are you doing a
particular job, what are your interests, how can you make time for them
within the framework of your job. I've worked quite hard to make sure
I've got as much time as I need to recover from the job or just potter.
I love being at home.
What about writing?
I don't know that I am a writer. It's like, I'm not very good at having
my photo taken, because I think I'm better animated, and I feel the same
about writing really. I get a bit too earnest. I'm much better
spontaneous, which is why I like working in situations that'll give me
spontaneity.
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