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Man vs Baby: Dog was 'scene-stealer' says Atkinson

Louise Parryand
Danny Fullbrook,Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire
News imageNetflix Rowan Atkinson stands inside a very posh house with marble walls and hotel style lamps. He holds the dog under one arm and is talking on a mobile phone, with an irritated expression on his face. He wears a Fairisle style knitted jumper. Artie has a collar on and his tongue is partly hanging out.Netflix
Artie the terrier features alongside Rowan Atkinson, who plays blundering dad Trevor

Actor Rowan Atkinson said a "cheeky terrier" who appears alongside him in the Netflix comedy Man vs Baby was a "scene-stealer".

Artie, a five-year-old Border Terrier from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, features in episodes three and four of the mini-series about a hapless dad minding a lost baby.

Dog trainer Lara Maskell worked with Artie on set and said: "Artie and Rowan got on really well - Artie absolutely adores him."

"You can't train that in, it's just a natural rapport between them both," she added.

News imageNetflix A close up of the baby and Artie sitting together on a traditional rug on a marble floor. The baby wears a pale blue sleepsuit and has blonde hair, and is looking up at someone taller. Artie sits on his hind legs with his two front legs out straight, lifting himself up a little and looking alert in the same direction as the baby. Artie's fur is a mix of black and reddish-brown.Netflix
Man vs Baby is a sequel to the 2022 slapstick comedy Man vs Bee - this time a baby and a dog bring the chaos

Ms Maskell shared a video on social media about preparing Artie for his role, which involved him learning several tricks.

"He plays a very cheeky terrier that's obsessed with Trevor's shoe," she said.

"He comes to set, we have a little play together and do rehearsals, then a few takes.

"And he really enjoys it because it's his favourite thing to tug a shoe and to play and basically get up to mischief."

News imageNetflix Atkinson sits on a blue wooden park bench in winter clothing. His right leg sticks out and Artie is biting his shoe, tugging on it. There are trees in the background and a building that looks like a school behind that.Netflix
Rowan Atkinson said he enjoys working with dogs on set - although his character may not agree

Atkinson admitted that the twins who played the baby were "great looking" and stole the show.

"When you're trying to use babies in film, you go for twins, and our twins were great," he said.

"We also had another scene-stealer with the dog, Artie.

"We had a dog in Man vs Bee, and we do like dogs. We like them as animals, and we like to have them in shows."

Artie's owner, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he had appeared in other TV productions, but Man vs Baby "was by far the most complex and challenging".

He had to learn tricks and sequences, such as crawling under a table with something in his mouth and pretending to swallow a fob.

News imageNetflix Artie is crouched under a table with a large wrapped sausage under his paws and chin, with the label partly torn. An out-of-focus hand dangles a red shoe in the foreground. Netflix
Artie had to practice a number of tricks for the TV shoot, some of which was filmed in Hertfordshire

"It didn't take him long to learn these - He was 100% enthusiastic every time," his owner said.

"It was like Christmas to him, every day being a play day. He happily works with the actors and loves all the belly rubs. He thrives on all the attention, becoming quite a diva on this production."

She added: "I had to pinch myself that my little dog had been picked for such a star role."

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