Some of our favourite characters on Corrie, EastEnders, Neighbours and Emmerdale have had feathers or four-legs. We take a look at a few of the most iconic pets from the world of soap…
Willy the pug
Willy appeared in the very first episode of EastEnders, way back in February 1985. And for the next seven years, the pooch was rarely seen out of his devoted owner Ethel Skinner’s arms.
Named after her late husband William, the pup’s name was used for comic relief, with Ethel often exclaiming ‘Where’s my Willy?’ or ‘Has anyone seen my Willy?’
During his stint on the show, Willy caused his fair share of mischief. In one 1990 Christmas episode he snuck into the Fowlers’ home and tucked into their turkey!
Willy certainly wasn’t universally adored on the square. Dot Cotton couldn’t stand the pug and two different men proposed to Ethel on the condition she got rid of her Willy. Naturally, she turned them both down!
In early 1992, Willy fell ill in the show and Ethel had no choice but to say goodbye. Her friends offered to buy her a new dog, but she told them Willy was ‘irreplaceable’.
Just 16 days after his last episode aired, the pooch who played Willy died in real life.
But he’s certainly left his mark. Nearly three decades on, Willy is still a much-loved part of EastEnders history.
Casserole the sheep
Neighbours’ Billy Kennedy was out on his paper round when he stumbled across a lost lamb.
As the Kennedy family had just moved to Erinsborough, and had no working lawnmower, they decided to keep Casserole, or Cassie for short, in their back garden to trim the grass.
Over the next 11 years, Cassie acted as a thera-pet to the three Kennedy children, Mal, Libby and Billy, all of whom often confided in the woolly wonder – mainly about their turbulent love lives.
In 2006 Cassie passed away from old age, and many of the Ramsay Street residents came to pay their respects as she was buried in the Kennedy’s back garden.
Cassie wasn’t the animal-loving family’s only unusual pet. When Brett Stark left the famous Australian street in 1996 to sail around the world, he gave Libby Kennedy his treasured galah (rose-breasted cockatoo) Dahl to care for. And the happy flapper was a firm fixture in the Kennedy household until he took his final chirp in 2013.
Schmeichel the Great Dane
The huge hound first appeared on the famous cobbled Corrie streets in 2004 as a puppy, when Maya Sharma left him on Tyrone Dobbs’ doorstep, in an attempt to make amends for abducting his greyhound, Monica.
Tyrone named the pup after the renowned Manchester United footballer, Peter Schmeichel. Only, when he was reunited with his greyhound, he struggled to look after two pooches. So, when little Chesney Brown took a shine to the Great Dane, Tyrone gave Schmeichel to him.
Over the next seven years, the pair got up to all sorts. Chesney even took Schmeichel with him when he ran away from home in 2007.
But Schmeichel will perhaps be best remembered for the time he jumped into Les Battersby and Cilla Brown’s bath, causing the tub – with the three of them inside - to plummet through to the floor below.
During his time on the show, Schmeichel was played by four different dogs, all owned by the same person.
He made his final screen appearance in 2011 after being diagnosed with liver cancer on the soap.
Chesney was cradling the magnificent mutt as he took his final breath.
Dolly Parton the racing pigeon
If he wasn’t with Vera, gambling, or hanging out at the Rover’s Return, you can guarantee Corrie’s Jack Duckworth was with his treasured racing pigeons. Jack kept viewers laughing with the humorous names he gave his flock. One was named Fergie, after Sarah Ferguson, while another ‘big-chested’ flyer was given the moniker Dolly Parton. Although Jack got a lot of comfort from caring for and talking to his birds, his wife Vera was far from enamoured with them. In one episode she even tricked Jack into believing she’d baked him a pigeon pie! In 2009, a year after Vera passed away, Jack’s birds even helped him find a new female friend in the form of fellow pigeon-enthusiast Connie Rathbone.
Wellard the Belgian shepherd
Arguably the most famous pet in soap land, Wellard hit our screens in 1994 and stayed on them for the next 14 years, making him EastEnders’ longest-serving pet.
Despite being male, Wellard was played by three female dogs, Zenna, her daughter Chancer, then her daughter Kyte.
Over the years, Wellard was looked after by a number of characters, but his most memorable pairing was with hapless Robbie Jackson. Robbie cherished his pooch, so much so that he ended a relationship with a woman because she was allergic to dogs!
Unsurprisingly, Wellard’s years in the soap didn’t pass without drama. One storyline saw him being threatened with euthanasia after biting Ian Beale on the bottom.
Sadly, in 2008, his time in Albert Square was up after Bianca Jackson fed him some chocolate and he suffered theobromine poisoning and had to be put down.
He was a fan favourite until the end though, as the following year he won a poll to find out the UK’s favourite soap opera pet.
Alfie the lurcher crossbreed
For nine years Emmerdale viewers were kept entertained by the antics of the Dingle’s dog, Alfie. And the plucky pooch sure got into some scrapes.
His most eventful year was probably 2010 when he was not only poisoned by chemicals that had seeped into farmland, but he also dug up Mark Wylde’s body.
Then, in 2017, he was run over by Zac Dingle who was fleeing from angry vegans in his food van after selling them meat. Yes, really!
Although Alfie survived the incident, later that year he collapsed and was rushed to the vets where he was diagnosed with liver cancer. The Dingles made the tough decision to put him down.
The reason behind his departure from the soap was so that the pooch who had played Alfie for almost a decade – also called Alfie – could enjoy his offscreen retirement.
But though Alfie’s left the show, you can still see him in every episode as he’s the only character to feature in Emmerdale’s current opening titles.
