| Buster Dies |
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| Written by Mike Watkins |
| Friday, 20 November 2009 01:57 |
 Buster, four-legged star of Channel 4's The Paul O'Grady Show has died. The shih tzu and bichon frise cross was a stray which comedian Paul O'Grady 'adopted' nearly fifteen years ago. In the 1990s O'Grady appeared as drag act Lily Savage and Buster made an appearance on a couple of 'her' shows, including An Audience With Lily Savage for ITV and The Big Breakfast on Channel 4.It wasn't until 2004 however that Buster became "as famous" as O'Grady himself on the teatime chat show, The Paul O'Grady Show - first airing on ITV, before switching to Channel 4. However the dog's rise to fame was quite by accident. The original episodes of the programme featured only Paul, but after a 'guest appearance' by Buster the dog became a regular - and at one time - a daily feature. Such was Busters popularity with the audience a mini nodding version of the pooch was created as a prize given away to viewers during the show. However in recent times ill-heath forced Buster to appear less; with O'Grady's other dogs Olga and, recent addition, Bullseye rotating slots on the show.  Buster, who was almost fifteen, had been suffering from cancer and arthritis and it was decided it would be best for the popular four-legged telly star to be put to sleep. He was last seen on the Channel 4 show earlier this month, but Paul announced to viewers last week that Buster was retiring from show business.
The Paul O'Grady Show, currently airing on Channel 4 weeknights at 5pm, will end for the final time in December and O'Grady returns to ITV to front new prime-time programming in the new year.
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