---- ---Animal Hospital: The Big Story. BBC1 . Monday

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Rolf Harris returns to our screens this week with a new series celebrating10 years of Animal Hospital. Here, he tells us the secrets of the show's success

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-ou could say Rolf Harris issomething of a hypocrite. Oneminute he's telling us to tie ourkangaroos down and the nexthe's oohing and aahing over aninjured pooch. But the lovable

Aussie - whose face is just as furry asanything you're likely to see on the show-is adored so much in Britain that we couldforgive him for anything. Last year, hecelebrated his 50th year in showbiz witha sell-out concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Animal Hospitalmay now have finished itsfinal series, but Rolf is back this week witha four-part special taking us on a journeythrough the shows 10 years on Tv.

Before AnimalHospital,which focusedon the sick petsbrought in to theRSPCAHarmsworth

. MemorialAnimal: Hospital in London,

Rolf was licking his: own wounds when ITV: axed his kids' series

Rolf's CartoonClub.But its loss was the BBC'sgain: his venture into veterinary scienceregularly attracted 10 million viewers at itspeak. So what made the show so successful?

'I think it was done with such convictionbv evervoneconcerned:savsRolf,74. '.'eIDadea'strong point at the ~tart that ~ "e

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and that we would use the medical termsnormally used in that environment. Wedelivered it with a straight face andwe weren't trying to be snide or clever.After all, here's the owner, sick with worryabout their lovely little pet - in some casesthat little dog is the only thing betweenthem and utter loneliness:

In this series, Rolf talks intimately abouthis personal highs and lows on the show, andwe hear from RSPCAvets and inspectors aswell as celebrity fans and passionate viewers.

'A massive high point for me was seeingan operation for the first time: enthuses Rolf.'It was a little dog that had an infectedwomb, full of pus. VetDavid Grant called

the shots: "Operatenow, or the dog dies."So 1got my greens onand David said, "Ifyou're going to faint,faint backwards, awayfrom the table. If youfaint forwards, you'llaffect the sterility ofthe equipment. And if

: you're going to be sick, don't ask permission: - just get the hell out of the room." It was: tension extraordinaire! But the good news

was that the dog was fine, and to see a dog.greet its owner a week later and jump up into:their arms is truly wonderful:

But there have been low points. 'For me:sa:'s Rolf,'they were the cases of cruelty. 1

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mean, how can anyone do that to an animal?The cat that sunk its teeth right through myhand - that was a pretty low moment!My father always said, "If you're goingto be bitten, don't fight the bite. Stayabsolutely still and the animal willlet you go - then run like mad!"So that's what 1did:

This week's show looks at theinfluence Animal Hospitalhadwhen it first hit our screens in1994,and revisits the pets thathad a big impact on viewers.Next week's programmelooks at how Rolf took theshow to the US andAustralia. The thirdinstalment remindsus of some of the mostdramatic animal rescues ofthe decade while, in thefourth, Rolf looks at how theseries was received in suchplaces as Chile and Japan.

So has Rolf ever beentempted to adopt any of hisfour-legged friends? 'I neversaw any up for adoption as 1wasalways in the studio. Plus, wealready have five cats [Beetle,Toffee,Lion Cub, Tiger and Rabbit] and twodogs [Summerand Cadge: so1reallycouldn't ta:..em r" :r.ore

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