Canine Crime Fighters

If there is one thing I love more than detectives, its dogs.

Watching an episode of The District on Saturday, I saw Jack Mannion’s dog for the first time. It wasn’t on screen long enough for me to work out what breed it was but it was an adorable bundle of fluff. And it got me thinking about dogs in detective shows.

The Red Hand Gang had a dog, Boomer and Columbo sometimes hooks up with a Basset Hound in some episodes, but I’ve also been noticing a few other canines recently.

In an episode of Law & Order Special Victims Unit we watched recently, a woman is murdered in Central Park while walking her dog. Munch picks up the dog and takes it back to the station until they can identify the woman. I was rather disappointed when the dog was returned to its master quickly as I had hoped for a whole episode of Munch carrying a dog about – two of my absolute favourite things together!

Then in Homicide Life on the Street (we are working our way through Season 3) there was an episode featuring an illegal immigrant family who had eight children and four dogs and were all leaving in one motel room. Then last night, I was watched the episode Justice Pt 1 and again the murder victim was accompanied by his dog. I feel asleep before the second part, so I don’t know what happened yet but I’m convinced the dog knew something...

But the undisputed king of the dog detectives has to be Freeway from Hart to Hart, an unclipped Lowchen. For all Jonathan Hart might be a self-made millionaire and part-time sleuth, Freeway is probably brighter and cuter too. On Sunday, I watched an episode on the Screen Gems on demand channel where Freeway took centre stage – ‘Which Way, Freeway?’. In this episode, Freeway pairs up with Susie (possibly a Setter), solves a murder and foils a diamond heist. Not bad going for a small fluffy thing.

Where it all began: The Red Hand Gang

The Red Hand Gang was my favourite programme as a child.

If you weren't a child in the late seventies/early eighties (lucky you!), then you probably won't have heard of the Red Hand Gang as it doesn't seem to have left a legacy like other kids programmes of that era.

Basically, it involved five children and a dog solving crimes that they happened to witness or get caught up in. The seminal episode was the one where one of the gang witness a boy being kidnapped.

I loved this programme. While I played on my swing in a garden with a locked gate and high fences, they were out roaming the streets solving mysteries with no adult supervision. I was insanely jealous of Joanne, the only girl in the gang and had one of my first crushes on J. R., the most streetwise of the gang! (Another early crush was Jason in Battle of the Planets - he was the surly one - my taste in men hasn't evolved much at all).

My friend Sophie and I even wrote to Jim'll Fix It to ask if we could meet them. We received no reply.

I've not seen it repeated recently - its probably for the best as it might not live up to my fond memories of it.