Talk:Drop the Dead Donkey

Gus
I moved Gus to the top of the character list, not necessarily because he's the most important character, but because much of the show is based around the friction that arises between him and other characters, as can be evidenced by mention of him in three of the other profiles (and that's just before his position in the old page). sheridan 00:41, 2005 Jun 9 (UTC)

Adjustments
Made a few adjustments, a little bit of rewording, fleshed out some of the character descriptions just a smidgen, and altered 'Royston' to 'Roysten'. - 207.195.254.155 18:53, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

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BetacommandBot (talk) 20:30, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Title
The first series was broadcast after a spate of reports on British TV news about "animal cruelty" overseas. It was obvious *at the time* the title was a dig at the perceived "dumbing-down" of TV news. But it was so obvious at the time, finding cites to back it up might be difficult... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.25.123.126 (talk) 02:43, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

It was obviously based on the "Blackie the Donkey" furore
 * Animal rights campaigner Vicki Moore saved Blackie the donkey from a Spanish village in 1987. The Star was the victor in a vicious tabloid battle to get the scoop on Blackie. The newspaper brought the lucky donkey to Britain, and he lived at the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth, Devon until he died in May 1993.

This would have been a fresh memory when the series was in planning. Drutt (talk) 18:28, 24 March 2009 (UTC)


 * According to the writers, Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, this is a myth and the title is not based on any story. It was meant to sound like some that might be said under pressure in a newsroom. ISD (talk) 18:33, 24 March 2009 (UTC)


 * That sounds suspiciously like the writers distancing themselves from a decision they thought a good idea at the time, but that now embarasses them. Admittedly, proving that would be very difficult, so is - as per tradition - left as an exercise for the reader. :)


 * 86.25.123.196 (talk) 08:13, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

It does seem that way. I wonder why they are reluctant to admit it? Danceswithzerglings (talk) 11:30, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

Detailed account of the affair here ("Pick up the dead donkey"). This story was all over the British newspapers in the spring of 1987. I wonder if it deserves its own Wikipedia article? Danceswithzerglings (talk) 16:42, 25 August 2013 (UTC)