Dog Joins Musical Theatre

From the collection of

MACE is the strategic lead organisation for screen heritage for the East and West Midlands regions. An independent charity based at University of Lincoln, MACE preserves and makes accessible a collection of more than 100,000 historic moving images representative of the diverse cultures and histories of communities throughout the heart of England from the Lincolnshire coast to the Welsh border.

Dog Joins Musical Theatre (Central News East)

Media Archive for Central England
Tonge
1986-01-15
Sound

Meet Kelly, the talented collie who is treading the boards and loving every moment of it.

For the Heath family from Tonge in Leicestershire, their dog Kelly is a much-loved family pet - a talented and well-trained collie. Seeing him here it's hard to believe that he is in fact deaf. His talents were first introduced to the public in a report on Central News in September 1985, which led to big-time TV, with an appearance on Blue Peter.

Now we learn of Kelly's latest challenge - a role on stage in a production of Annie the Musical. And as you'll find out, Kelly will always steal the show, particularly if his tummy is given a good tickle.

A deaf collie dog named Kelly gets a stage role in an amateur production of Annie.

Pick of the Litter: Fluffy Tales from the Midlands

Some things never change - we were suckers for cute animal stories decades before the internet came along.

In the 1980s, before smart phones made it easy to scroll through video after video of distilled animal cuteness, regional television news was one of the few (and unexpected) sources of fluffy diversion. Their closing stories (also known as 'And finally...' reports) were generally lighthearted tales, designed to leave the viewer with a warm fuzzy feeling, having sat through the doom and gloom that may well have featured earlier in the programme. The quirky animal story was a sub-genre of the 'And finally...' and a precursor to the snappy posts we see on our phone screens today. The films in this collection showcase the unique animals that brightened up the living rooms of the Midlands, just when they needed them most. So put your phone away and settle down for a little while - we have some delightful distractions for you!

10 videos in this collection

Pit Pony Reunion

Tettenhall
1982-09-17

Boots for Horses

Tong
1982-11-25