Soapy Dogs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wellard

Wellard's name comes from the slang term 'well hard', generally used to refer to a tough or thuggish man. Wellard the dog was however a much loved member of the 'EastEnders' cast, whose storylines included fathering still-born puppies with Frieda the greyhound, saving his owner from a minibus crash, and biting Ian Beale on the bottom. Wellard was primarily played by three generations of female Belgian Tervurens (a type of Belgian Shepherd).

Wellard was killed off in 2008 after suffering theobromine poisoning when Robbie Jackson's sister Bianca fed him chocolate. His death did at least provide an opportunity to educate the millions of 'EastEnders' viewers on how dangerous chocolate can be for dogs.

'Starkers' is a slang term for naked, 'grunt' can be used as an informal term for engine power and 'buster' can be an informal term for an impressive person. Buster was also the name of a dog which starred on the British TV programme, 'The Paul O'Grady Show'.

Answer: Peter Schmeichel

Schmeichel the dog arrived in 'Coronation Street' as a puppy in 2004. He was soon handed over to schoolboy Chesney Brown and remained Chesney's beloved pet for seven years despite separations when Schmeichel was run over by a bus and after Chesney was placed in care. Schmeichel was put to sleep in 2011 after being diagnosed with liver cancer - a disease that is more prevalent in large dogs, including Great Danes.

Schmeichel was named after the Danish footballer Peter Schmeichel, who spent most of the 1990s as a goalkeeper at Manchester United. Outside of football, Schmeichel once made a cameo appearance in 'Coronation Street' (which is set in Manchester) and also finished seventh in the 2006 series of 'Strictly Come Dancing'.

Thomas Bjørn was the first Danish golfer to qualify for a place on Europe's Ryder Cup team. Mikkel Kessler was a Danish WBA and WBC super middleweight boxing champion. Tom Kristensen (unsurprisingly, yet another Dane) broke the record for the driver with the most wins at the 24 hours of Le Mans motor race when he took his seventh victory in 2005.

Answer: Standard Poodle

Although the writers of 'EastEnders' had originally planned to cast a German Shepherd in the role of the Watts' family dog, the part actually went to a Standard Poodle named Roly. (Quite why Roly's name was given to the character is unclear - although it could have been due to the short amount of time available to train the young dog for its TV debut.)

Roly remained an 'EastEnders' cast member for eight years. He played pivotal roles in several major storylines including the unmasking of the father of Michelle Fowler's baby (who turned out to be Den Watts), the murder of the new Queen Vic landlord Eddie Royle, and the Den and Angie Watts divorce saga. After several narrow escapes from death, Roly finally succumbed to being run over by a lorry in 1993.

Answer: Her son-in-law, Ken Barlow

Eccles was played by a Border Terrier called Tess. She was originally named Lady Freckles, but this was shortened to Eccles when Blanche's young great-granddaughter, Amy Barlow, proved unable to pronounce the longer version. Blanche lived with her daughter, Deirdre, and son-in-law, Ken, at No.1 Coronation Street for about ten years before her death. As a result Eccles was passed on to Ken who spent quite a lot of time walking the dog (and using it as a cover story for an affair).

The character of Blanche Hunt was portrayed (on and off) by the actress Maggie Jones, who was a regular cast member from 1974 to 1976 and again from 1998 until her death in 2009. She also had a number of small roles in other TV series such as 'The Barchester Chronicles', 'In Sickness and In Health' and 'Heartbeat'.

Answer: Smokey

The 'Emmerdale' plane crash storyline was devised as the final part of the transition of the programme from cosy daytime drama 'Emmerdale Farm' to fully fledged soap opera. The dramatic plane crash episode attracted more than 18 million viewers. 'Emmerdale Farm' was first broadcast in 1972 and continued under that name until 1989, when it was renamed 'Emmerdale' to reflect its change of focus away from farming.

The character of Seth Armstrong first appeared in the soap in 1978. He lived with his wife, Meg, until her death in 1993; was a serial poacher (who oddly enough later became the local gamekeeper); and spent a lot of time propping up the bar in the local pub, The Woolpack. He was played by the actor Stan Richards, who remained a stalwart of the 'Emmerdale' cast until 2003, just a couple of years before his death in 2005.

Answer: Rita Sullivan

Poor old Mr Woo was another soap victim of theobromine poisoning, which is often fatal to dogs and caused by feeding them chocolate. Norris's desperate hunt for the lookalike Mr Woo Two turned out to be a waste of time and money when Rita decided she didn't want to keep the dog anyway and sold Mr Woo Two to a breeder (for less money than Norris paid for it). She probably did the right thing though - can you imagine having to shout "Mr Woo" while out chasing after a shih tzu or cooing "Mr Woo Two" to your beloved pet?

Emily Bishop, Norris's landlady, was actually looking after Mr Woo when it met its chocolaty fate and was party to the plan to replace it. The characters of Ena Sharples and Mavis Wilton left 'Coronation Street' in 1980 and 1997 respectively.

Answer: Pug

Willy the dog was originally supposed to have been a Yorkshire Terrier, but the production team had difficulty in finding a suitable dog to play the role and the part eventually went to a pug instead. Willy was named after Ethel Skinner's late husband, William, who had died prior to the start of the show.

Willy was the focus of several major storylines involving Ethel, most notably in 1986 when he was kidnapped and eventually located at the house of someone who had bought him from a pet shop and renamed him Rasputin! He remained in the soap until 1992 when he was put to sleep. The dog that played Willy was also named Willy and died just a few weeks after his exit from the soap.

Answer: Emmerdale

Batley's victory in the Best Exit category at the 2002 British Soap Awards was the only win for 'Emmerdale' that year, as 'EastEnders' dominated by taking home 10 of the 16 available awards. Bracken, the female Yorkshire Terrier who played Batley, appeared on stage at the ceremony; Shirley Stelfox, who played Edna Birch, accepted the award on her behalf. Stelfox is also known for playing Hyacinth Bucket's sister, Rose, in the first series of the sitcom 'Keeping Up Appearances'.

'Emmerdale' also won the inaugural British Soap Award for Best Exit in 1999, for the storyline which saw the character Kim Tate dramatically leave the soap in a helicopter, while on the run from police and having just admitted to murdering her first husband.

Answer: She was a stray found by Tyrone Dobbs

Monica the greyhound was a stray found by Tyrone Dobbs, whom he took home to live with him and Jack and Vera Duckworth. Tyrone named her after the character Monica Geller from the US sitcom 'Friends'.

Tyrone and Monica quickly became inseparable, which was unfortunate when Tyrone and Jack discovered that she was micro-chipped and felt compelled to return her to her real owner. However, honesty paid off in this instance as the real owner had recently walked out on his wife and she handed ownership of Monica over to Tyrone.

Poor Monica wasn't treated to a grand send off from the show, but simply quietly disappeared from the street in 2008.

Answer: Bouncer

'Neighbours' might be an Australian soap but it has been almost constantly shown on British TV since the first episode was broadcast on 27 October 1986. During the late 1980s and early 1990s the soap was at its most popular - with over 20 million viewers watching the wedding of Scott Robinson and Charlene Mitchell (played by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue).

Bouncer the dog was a much loved 'Neighbours' character who was owned by a succession of characters including Lucy Robinson, Mike Young, Mrs Mangel, and Mrs Mangel's grandson Toby. He left Ramsay Street to live in the countryside with Toby and his father Joe, although he did make a brief reappearance after running away to return to his beloved Ramsay Street.

Basil and Bossy are both 'Neighbours' dogs - Basil (a terrier) was Bouncer's direct predecessor and Bossy (an Australian Kelpie) first appeared in 2012. Buck was a Briard who appeared in the US sitcom 'Married...with Children' from 1987 to 1995.