One man & HIS DOG

DAVID NEILSON on falling in love with his adorable new co-star

- ALISON SLADE

CORONATION STREET

MON, WED & FRI, 8PM, ITV1 SOAP

There can be no denying that we're a nation of dog lovers, with around 13 million pooches kept as pets in the UK. And in the fictional world of Weatherfield, a certain cafe owner is starting to understand that unbreakable bond between man and his four-legged best friend.

Following the death of pal Melvyn earlier in the year, Roy Cropper has acquired a new family member in Freddie, a super-cute Shih Tzu.

To mark International Dog Day this Saturday, TV Times caught up with Coronation Street actor David Neilson, 74, for an exclusive interview to talk about being a doggy daddy on- and off-screen, and what makes our canine companions so special...

How did you feel when you discovered that Roy was to get a dog?

I was expecting a three-legged, one-eyed mangy thing, but they happen to have found the cutest dog on the planet! I thought he should be less cute, but being cute, the nation adores him. People ask me about Freddie if I'm out in public. They're silly about him, like we all are.

He's got a lovely nature and everyone adores him. Me and Maureen Lipman [who plays Evelyn Plummer] compete over him: 'He's my dog,' 'No, he's my dog'-a bit like in the script. When he comes on set, everything stops.

Roy initially planned to take Freddie to a dog's home. Do you think he now can't imagine life without him?

What I do know is that it's like having another character in your life. When Cerberus died [Evelyn's beloved greyhound passed away in March], it got a huge reaction. It was brilliantly played by Maureen, I have to say, but also it was the fact that it was the dog.

So Freddie is a big, big presence, and if anything happened to him, it would be major. I hope he sticks around because I love seeing his name on the call sheet and seeing him come in.