Political Animals

Radio Times review

The First Dog of the United States is the loveable, if doltish, chocolate labrador Buddy who likes nothing better than to fetch ball for President Bill Clinton. The only fly in the ointment is the seething knot of resentment that is Socks the cat, who's been supplanted by Buddy as the White House pet of choice.

In his deliciously mordant way, Socks bitches about the canine's "dribbling dim-wittedness" and threatens to consume his liver, washed down with a nice chianti. Clearly trying to channel Hannibal Lecter, he sounds more like Katharine Hepburn at her most imperious, which is actually no bad thing. Can Buddy survive as Bill's prized pooch?

This smart two-hander, interspersed with clips of Clinton's "no I didn't, yes I did" farrago over Monica Lewinsky, is a hoot from start to finish.

Chris Gardner, Radio Times, 18th December 2013

Radio Times review

The first series of Tony Bagley's Political Animals (a cleverly apt title) saw life through the eyes of Downing Street's cats. Now we take four dog's-eye views of White House intrigues. Tonight we hear from Bo, President Obama's Portuguese water dog, a breed of whom few previously had heard. (It doesn't shed its coat: important, because Obama's daughter Malia is allergic).

Bo, voiced by Chris Pavlo, surprisingly with a Mexican accent, holds forth on everything from "crossbreed" Obama to his rival Mitt Romney's unwise decision to take a long car journey with his own dog on the roof rack. Bagley's humour is an odd mix of biting satire and crude jokes (America's fourth TV channel is "the channel for foxes") but it hits the mark more often than not.

David McGillivray, Radio Times, 4th December 2013