Top dog! He's starred with Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron - no wonder Sykes the terrier steals the show from Neil Dudgeon on Midsomer Murders
Neil Dudgeon was under no illusions when he landed the coveted job as leading man on the detective drama Midsomer Murders.
The 52-year-old – at the centre of the action as DCI John Barnaby – predicted he’d play second fiddle to the crime-solver’s canine companion, Sykes.
‘He’s the star of the show,’ laughed Neil at the time. ‘He’s the one really replacing John Nettles. I’m just dragging him in and out of shot.’
Star of the show: Neil Dudgeon admits that Sykes the terrier is the real star of Midsomer Murders
Neil might have been exaggerating for comic effect, but he wasn’t wrong about his four-legged friend’s popularity. Viewers can’t get enough of Sykes, the nine-year-old who shot to stardom in the Every Home Needs A Harvey ad promoting TV advertising two years ago.
Yes, he was the multi-talented terrier in the dog pound with his little case packed. His turn as right-hand hound to the nation’s favourite DCI has only added to his fame.
Sykes has worked alongside A-list actors including Charlize Theron, Jude Law and Johnny Depp in Hollywood movies such as Snow White And The Huntsman, The Other Boleyn Girl and Pirates Of The Caribbean, while his TV appearances include Casualty, Doc Martin and Cranford (he was the mutt who peed in church!).
There’s no questioning his scene-stealing star quality. ‘Sykes is tremendously popular,’ beams Neil as we chat in his trailer in a cold and wet car park in Beaconsfield, Bucks. ‘He’s charming, affectionate and unflappable. He’s never stand-offish, afraid or aggressive. And he’s definitely not a diva. Everybody who meets him says, “Isn’t he lovely?”’
A cheeky scamp with an air of the Artful Dodger about him, Sykes has a face that could get away with murder. Cute without being cutesy, he has, at times, almost human expressions.
When poring (or should that be pawing?) over the day’s script with Neil, his eyebrow quirks like he’s pondering stage directions. When he cheekily slurps Neil’s tea, it’s all the more endearing. They’re quite the double act.
Popular: Sykes even has his own Facebook account
In Death And The Divas – the first episode in a new series which stars Harriet Walter and Sinéad Cusack as actress sisters – locals die in the manner of old horror film slayings. Sykes, who works two days per episode, provides light relief from the blood-letting.
Today’s scene sees him watching a horror film with his master and, scared by unfolding events, comically shoving his head under a cushion.
‘The writers make something of Sykes, rather than having him lying in the corner,’ says his owner, Gill Raddings, who specialises in providing stunt dogs for TV and film. ‘We use his tricks. That’s why he’s become so big. Unless you flesh out a dog’s character, people don’t care about them. They do with Sykes.’
That’s an understatement. Sykes is mobbed at Crufts and makes personal appearances at everything from fan conventions to new bank openings. He has 21,500 friends on Facebook.
‘He’s even had marriage proposals – it’s ridiculous!’ says Gill, rolling her eyes. ‘You get people saying, “My dog stares at the TV when Sykes comes on. She wants to marry Sykes...”’
No wonder he has his own blinged-up trailer. ‘Well, it’s my van,’ says Gill, who has 14 dogs. ‘It cost £22,000. It has his snuggle bed, heat pads, water bowl, coat, the stag antler he likes chewing and a lorry heater that cost the best part of £2,000. When I’m on night shoots in winter, I can put that on and the dogs are warm.’
There’s no high-falutin’ talk of ‘the method’ for dog actors but, like all thespians, Sykes needs his motivation. ‘He’s here for the sausage rather than the drama,’ laughs Neil, who invariably has a pocketful of them to pay Sykes. ‘In a Stanislavskian sense, his “super-objective” in every scene is, “Get the sausage off that actor.”’
‘He is a gut bucket,’ agrees Gill, who stands off-camera with a bait stick – a telescopic metal pole like a radio aerial with a sausage on the end – to draw her charge’s eye-line. ‘I get most of my dogs from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and, if they haven’t got a food drive, I won’t have the dog because if you’ve got nothing they want, you haven’t got the hold over them.’ He may be a Hollywood star, but Sykes has simple tastes.
‘They’re the cheapest frankfurters you can get,’ admits Gill, rifling in her bag to reveal her stash. ‘Tesco does them for £1 a pack. I chop them into bits.’
Jack the lad: 'He's a real Jack-the-lad. You can see it in the way he struts around. He likes working and he's one of my best dogs' says Gill
Sykes doesn’t just act, he competes in agility shows at championship level, although in Peter Kay’s dog show advert for John Smith’s beer Sykes had to ignore the course and rush off to collect the paper for his owner. ‘Peter was very good with Sykes; he wasn’t one of these prima donnas.’
Neither was Johnny Depp when the duo worked on Sweeney Todd and Pirates Of The Caribbean together. ‘I can’t tell you how gorgeous Johnny was,’ swoons Gill. ‘I never went anywhere without an animal attached to my side just in case Johnny was around. He’d come over, make a fuss of them and talk to me.’
Man's best friend: Neil might have been exaggerating for comic effect, but he wasn't wrong about his four-legged friend's popularity
Sykes’s casting in the Harvey ads is especially poignant. He too was a stray who latched onto friends of Gill when they were walking their dogs in a country park.
Gill had been looking to add a terrier to her roster and, when nobody claimed the collarless pup who was around seven months old at the time, she gave him a home.
His acting promise was evident early. ‘He’s got that spark,’ says Gill. ‘He’s a real Jack-the-lad. You can see it in the way he struts around. He likes working and he’s one of my best dogs.
'The only thing he’s not good with is little furry critters like hamsters or cats. And he’s fond of the sound of his own voice. If you start him barking, you sometimes have a job to shut him up.’
Sykes doesn’t live with Gill. Since she has so many animals on her books, a number are fostered by friends and neighbours.
They get a free and trained dog, but Gill remains the owner and pays for everything the animal will need for the rest of its life.
‘Sykes adores his foster home,’ says Gill. ‘He lives with other dogs, does his agility shows and has two walks a day. I’m very passionate about that. A dog needs to be a dog. He’s very happy.’
Every dog has its day, as they say, and Sykes’s day is most definitely now. He’s a true star. ‘If I could clone him,’ grins Gill, ‘I would.’
Midsomer Murders, Wednesday, 8pm, ITV1.
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