Channel 4 has commissioned a Through the Keyhole-style show with a twist: viewers are taken round the homes of the rich and famous by dogs wearing Go-Pro cameras.
As in Through the Keyhole, the identity of the homeowner will be kept under wraps until the end of each episode, giving viewers 30 minutes to guess who the home – and dog – belongs to.
Snoop Dogs is the first Channel 4 commission for Northern Ireland’s Stellify Media and will be produced in Belfast with funding from Northern Ireland Screen.
“I didn’t want lockdown to stifle creative conversations and Snoop Dogs is a perfect example of a reactive and outside of the box commission,” said Sean Doyle, deputy head of features and formats at Channel 4.
“We’ve come up a wonderfully ridiculous spin on filming in lockdown that only Channel 4 could get away with. We hope families enjoy playing along whilst getting a healthy dose of doggy mischief and celebrities’ lush properties and home interiors.”
The show was part of a slate of new content announced by Director of Programmes Ian Katz at a controller session organised by the Edinburgh TV Festival
Other shows include Ramadan in Lockdown, which will look at how British Muslims are observing Ramadan in lockdown; Coronavirus Heroes: Keeping Britain Going, which will celebrate the people working to help others; comedian Tom Allen taking a look at the best adverts of the past 65 years in Tom Allen: Ad Man; and Anna Richardson lifting the lid on lockdown sex and relationships in Sex Tips in Isolation.
All five programmes are expected to air next month. Katz said the new commissions would be produced while adhering to the government’s social distancing guidelines.
The broadcaster is also looking to expand its brand-funded programming output and “make TV on lower tariffs than ever before,” because of the financial constraints caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Katz added that Channel 4’s viewing figures had soared over recent weeks, with 20 shows securing more than four million viewers since the pandemic struck, versus “about five or six shows this time last year”. Bake Off and Gogglebox were among key series, he added, offering “familiar and comforting” viewing.
