''Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs'' is a multi-award winning British reality documentary television series set at

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (now known as Battersea) is an animal rescue centre for dogs and cats. Battersea rescues dogs and cats until an owner or a new one can be found. It is one of the UK's oldest and best known animal rescue centres. It w ...

and presented by

Paul O'Grady Paul James O'Grady Order of the British Empire, MBE Deputy Lieutenant, DL (born 14 June 1955) is an English comedian, broadcaster, actor, writer and former drag queen. He achieved notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s with his d ...

. It has won numerous awards throughout its time on air. The show is made by MultiStory Media and premiered on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on 3 September 2012.

Format

Throughout the series, Paul meets members of the Battersea staff to talk about the dogs in their care, including head vet Shaun Opperman and head of canine welfare training Ali Taylor. In each episode, Paul meets a few of the dogs who come to Battersea as strays or because their owners can't look after them anymore, and follows each dog's progress through the home. O'Grady commented that he had wanted to do such a show for years and that he took to it with an "enthusiasm that surprised everyone except me". Although scheduled to initially film at the

Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (now known as Battersea) is an animal rescue centre for dogs and cats. Battersea rescues dogs and cats until an owner or a new one can be found. It is one of the UK's oldest and best known animal rescue centres. It w ...

for six days, he stayed as a volunteer for six months. At the end of the first series, O'Grady was invited to become an ambassador for

Transmissions

Episodes

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Series 4

Series 5

Series 6

Series 7

Series 8

Series 9

Specials

Awards

''Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs'' has won a number of awards. The show has won two consecutive

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted ...

for 'Most Popular Factual Entertainment Programme' in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. It won again in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

after beating

Gogglebox ''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for thei ...

for the first time in five years. On 14 October 2014, it was revealed that ''For the Love of Dogs'' had been nominated for a third

National Television Award The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV (TV network), ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the ...

, this time under the category 'Most Popular Factual Programme'. But it lost out to ''

''. The show was also nominated for a BAFTA for 'Best Features Programme' in 2013.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:For the Love of Dogs 2012 British television series debuts 2010s British documentary television series 2020s British documentary television series English-language television shows ITV (TV network) original programming Television series by ITV Studios Television shows about dogs Television shows set in London Paul O'Grady