Harry Hill & Snowy and Wilson

Matt Baker's Petcast

Matt Baker visits comedian Harry Hill in a South London horse paddock to meet his two Jackapoos, Snowy and Wilson. The pair reminisce about

Key takeaways

• Harry Hill's dogs Snowy and Wilson are both Jackapoo crosses (Jack Russell and Poodle).
• Harry recalls a childhood goldfish named James that lived in a bowl without a filter.
• The comedian previously worked as a junior doctor, often performing grueling 24-hour shifts.
• Harry's wife, Magda, owned a Fox Terrier named Hattie who struggled with diabetes.
• Harry's signature large collars were originally inspired by vintage finds from charity shops.

Main topics

• Meeting Snowy and Wilson
• Childhood pet memories
• Harry's medical career

Notable quotes

I just found them outside.

Conclusion

The episode offers a nostalgic and humorous look at how pets weave int

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:02) Hiya, Matt Baker here with the Petcast. Now this is a podcast all about pets, so I am toying my caravan as a mobile studio all around the country to meet famous people and not just talk about their pets, but to meet their pets as well. Speaker 2 (0:26) Hiya, Matt Baker here and welcome to the Petcast. Now I have toured the Petcast caravan to a horse paddock in South London. Now it sounds like a comedy sketch in itself but I've toured it here to meet one of my favourite comedians. He's an award winner who has incorporated animals many times in his unique style of comedy and he's Speaker 1 (0:46) here. I'm surprised to say Speaker 2 (0:47) that Harry Hill's dogs have normal sized collars. You Speaker 1 (0:50) thought about that, Joe. I did think about it, yes. Speaker 2 (0:53) Welcome Speaker 1 (0:53) to Speaker 2 (0:53) the Petcast Speaker 1 (0:54) Caravan. Speaker 2 (0:55) Yes. I've got a little mug there with your name on it. Oh, lovely. Yes, thanks. Speaker 1 (0:59) Yeah, a lot of work's gone into that. There you go. Speaker 2 (1:05) So, who do I have on my lap in the pleasure of your company? Who's this? Speaker 1 (1:10) Now you've got me. I just found them outside. Clued up outside. a green grass that's Speaker 2 (1:16) snowy this is snowy right so 14 yes for the benefit of our audio listeners uh snowy is white as the name would suggest yes beautiful little terrier um cross way what what what do you think jack russell poodle very good jackal poo yeah come on yeah yes very good welcome to my world harry Speaker 1 (1:34) it's a good mix i think because you've got the smart uh bit from the poodle yeah and you've got a bit of personality from the terrier yes course very clever dogs would go Speaker 2 (1:44) yeah Speaker 1 (1:45) without too much sort of the willfulness i've had terriers in the past right okay and who came first out of these two then uh she came first yeah she's the oldest you came first did you know we had two fox terriers right they were lovely uh looking dogs but they are very strong-willed you know right okay yes that terrier thing are just like kind of uh chewing things running around just being very naughty yes absolutely but but you know they look great and they're great you know they've got a lot Speaker 2 (2:20) of personality you Speaker 1 (2:21) know um so one of those died so the other Albert was a bit um Speaker 2 (2:29) Yeah, grieving and was a bit fed up. Yeah. Yeah, so Speaker 1 (2:32) we got we got her in his puppy and it did fuck him up You know for the last couple of years of his life. Yeah, it's a good little tip there Yeah, Speaker 2 (2:39) because you think Speaker 1 (2:40) they might think I don't know who's this? But actually it was great. Yeah, and then he died and we got him And that's Wilson then Speaker 2 (2:48) so Wilson Wilson again poodle across Jack Russell, which is yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Speaker 1 (2:54) and that's interesting, isn't it? How they're so different looking? Yeah, but it's very similar temperaments I'd say and and again, I mean for those who were listening to this Speaker 2 (3:02) and not not not watching it Wilson is is black and snowy is white. So a very similar color palette to yourself. Was that part of everything in Speaker 1 (3:10) ivory? Yeah Speaker 2 (3:12) Because, I mean, you're in your summer collection at the moment, Harry, without the jacket on. It's Speaker 1 (3:15) so hot, man. Speaker 2 (3:16) Who on earth has a podcast in a caravan? Well, I'll be honest, right? This is not about the people. It's about the pets. I thought you were going to say Speaker 1 (3:25) it's about Speaker 2 (3:25) the caravan. Speaker 1 (3:27) You're trying to sell it. You Speaker 2 (3:28) know, if you start thinking, I mean, look how Snowy's absolutely in her element here. If we put her in Speaker 1 (3:34) a Speaker 2 (3:34) studio in Speaker 1 (3:34) the middle of London, she'd be a bit more wary. I see, yes. But we can Speaker 2 (3:38) shut the door. This is your zone as much as everybody else's, Snowy. Yes, it is, sweetheart. You are gorgeous, aren't you? What's life like with Dad? Speaker 1 (3:47) I don't like it. But I stay with you, Matt. Speaker 2 (3:50) So, Harry, let me take you back to your sort of journey. with pets in your life right and what's that first memory that you have of a pet or an animal Speaker 1 (4:01) Well, I had a goldfish. What Speaker 2 (4:03) was the goldfish called? Speaker 1 (4:05) James. James? Yeah. James Bond. I was obsessed with James Bond. James Bond. I think maybe it was a goldfinger thing. I don't know. I just wanted to get close to James Bond. So in the 70s, you'd have a fishbowl, and you'd fill it with water and gravel, you know, plastic tree. Of Speaker 2 (4:23) course you would, yeah. Speaker 1 (4:24) You'd put the fish in, then after about a month it would die. Speaker 2 (4:28) Yeah, yeah. Speaker 1 (4:28) Because you wouldn't have the filter. No one had filters, but I mean, unless you were a kind of specialist, you know, and so where did you keep James? In my room. Yes, in your bedroom. In my bedroom. Yeah. And you get, you know, the glass would go green, you know, when you're sort of eight or nine, you don't really want to put your flakes in at the top. Yeah. Cover it with flakes. My kids. Speaker 1 (4:53) One of them had a goldfish. It's a goldfish-related story. They had a goldfish. But, of course, we had the filter in and everything. So they did live for longer. And one day, one of the kids screams down the stairs, Dad, Dad, go out the stairs. And there's the bowl, empty bowl. By the side of the bowl is the dead goldfish. She said, he's jumped out. Speaker 1 (5:17) So I picked it up put it back in and swung it up. Did it? It was alright? I revived it. Yeah. Good work. Fast work. Yes, I had more luck with the goldfish than I did with many of my patients. Shouldn't say that. Shouldn't? Stop it. Speaker 2 (5:31) I mean I always found it fascinating when you come on the one show and you'd be reading your briefs and it would be like Harry's had a medical career and all this. Oh you read those briefs and I wasn't ever sure if you read those. 100 Speaker 1 (5:41) %? Speaker 2 (5:41) What was your profession? in the medical world? You know, it's just like a junior doctor. A junior doctor. The Speaker 1 (5:46) lowest of the low in the hospitals, you know, working like... There used to be a thing called a one-in-two where you'd be working 24 hours on. Speaker 1 (5:56) And then you'd work just the normal day, you know, 10 hours or something. And then you'd do 24 hours on again and then you'd do a normal day. So at weekends, you'd start Friday morning and you'd finish Monday morning. Speaker 2 (6:11) Yeah. Did you have goldfish during that period of your life? Speaker 1 (6:16) So I had goldfish as a kid. We had cats. Oh, did you? Yeah. Who I can't you know, I didn't you know, I mean he's sort of the quite aloof didn't really bond Then we had a dog Who was like crazy used to just like just run around the house behind the sofa, you know, they're kind of crazy, you know and I Don't really like this dog. And then what he would do is he would sleep behind a door see You'd open the door and there we go. Anyway. How Speaker 2 (6:54) old were you at this point? Speaker 1 (6:55) Yeah, maybe about 13, 14, because then we moved. We went abroad. Speaker 1 (7:03) And Hong Kong. Shocking story. Speaker 2 (7:07) The story's dynamite. This should be a book out. Wow. Speaker 1 (7:11) I mean, for a teenager then, Speaker 2 (7:12) that's quite a life change. Speaker 1 (7:13) Well, I'd never been abroad. I grew up in a village in Kent, you know, fields and, you know. And then we got relocated to Hong Kong. It was a clerical era. And when we went abroad, they gave it my parents. I mean, it was their dog, it wasn't mine. They gave it away. Right. Speaker 1 (7:35) They've heard about this caravan. Speaker 2 (7:37) They're coming for you. Who's parking caravans in the middle of South London? Speaker 1 (7:42) You wouldn't get the police out for that. You can't even get the police out if they're stealing lead off your roof. Speaker 1 (7:48) So you Speaker 2 (7:49) gave the dog away when you went to Hong Kong? Was Speaker 1 (7:52) that to your joy if it chased you around the house? Well, you know, I could sort of take it or leave it, this dog. Anyway, it turned out about a year later it died from a brain tumour, so I don't know if that was... Speaker 2 (8:02) Ah, so it had health issues. So, yeah. And that was it then for pets, was it, before you went off to the medical school? And Speaker 1 (8:09) then we got another dog. We got a black Labrador sort of dog. Speaker 1 (8:14) smooth, very kind of obedient, you know. So a very different experience then Speaker 2 (8:18) to what you'd had before. That Speaker 1 (8:20) was it. And then I didn't, you know, I didn't think of myself as a pet sort of person. You know, left home. Not because of the pets. I left home and... To study medicine? Yeah, seek my fortune in London, in Tooting, at St. George's Hospital, which is the one that's on 25 hours in police custody. No, no, 24 hours in... What is it? A &E? A &E, that's right, yeah. And so I didn't have any pets for years until