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33-476: In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, Brian Plummer worked as a somewhat reluctant teacher of several schools throughout southern Yorkshire and the Midlands. He was already well known in his local neighborhood for going around with a pack of terriers to catch rats, when he decided to create his own terrier breed in the 1970s. Well-versed in breeding, he strove to produce a unique strain of terrier by mixing

66-407: A French quiz show format, Des chiffres et des lettres . Whiteley was chosen as host and continued with the show when Jeremy Isaacs brought it to Channel 4 as the first programme broadcast by the new station. Its first broadcast received over 3.5 million viewers, but the programme lost 3 million viewers for its second show. However, it gradually rebuilt its audience over the following weeks. It

99-591: A breed standard in 2000. Generally a game working dog, the Plummer Terrier is not a Kennel Club breed, and most owners today who work their dogs would prefer that this dog was not part of the Kennel Club yet for a myriad of reasons. While the Plummer Terrier generally breeds true in appearance, the standard is a working terrier standard. Brian Plummer Brian Plummer , also known as David Brian Plummer (11 September 1936 – 12 September 2003),

132-638: A certain extent contributed to fixing type, like that seen in Pagan, a black and tan terrier, acknowledged as one of the early pillars of the breed. Further additions included a Jack Russell terrier known as Errol Forsyth's Pip, Alan Thomas's Hamish, and Laddie from the Chiddingfold and Leconfield foxhound kennels. Performance as an earth dog was and is an essential prerequisite of most, if not all terrier breeds and Plummers are no exception to this rule. These three dogs were known to be full-on earth workers. In

165-546: A couple of abortive spells of self-sufficiency, a period of travel abroad as a gamekeeper in Germany and Eastern Europe, some time as a professional boxer in America, and various periods of deep depression. The UK television documentary maker Barry Cockcroft made several documentaries about Plummer, including A Way Out of Walsall (1985), which is about Plummer's training pupils of the local Forest Comprehensive School for

198-456: A durable programme for Channel 4, at its peak enjoying a sizeable afternoon audience of almost five million. At the time of Whiteley's death, it still regularly attracted over a million viewers. Whiteley had a cameo appearance role as himself, presenting Countdown , in the film About a Boy . From series 54, broadcast in 2005-06, the series champion has received the "Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy" in his honour. Following his death, Whiteley

231-501: A photograph taken". In 2007, Channel 4 announced its creation of the Richard Whiteley Memorial Bursary, a nine-month work experience placement at Yorkshire Television, working with True North Productions . Three pairs of Whiteley's spectacles were donated by Kathryn Apanowicz , his longtime partner, to optical charity Vision Aid Overseas (VAO). Sent with a team of optical professionals to Ethiopia ,

264-434: A reputation for wearing garish suits and ties, and it was common for Carol Vorderman to comment on this. Whiteley also told many anecdotes and puns, which were often met by groans from other presenters and audience members. He was granted the honorary title of " Mayor of Wetwang " in 1998 and was known for his amusement at the village's name. Countdown was not intended to be a long-lasting format. Still, it quickly became

297-512: Is often repeated on programmes showing television outtakes and Whiteley once joked that when he died, the headlines would read, "Ferret man dies" . He said, "It's made a lot of people laugh and it's been shown all over the world. It's 30-odd years since it happened and I think I've been a great PR man for the ferret industry. Ferrets have a lot to be grateful for; to me, you see, they've become acceptable because one of them bit me." In 1982, Yorkshire Television began to produce Countdown , copying

330-662: The Jack Russell Terrier with the Beagle , Fell Terrier , and Bull Terrier . These terriers were worked hard and as the breed developed, so too did Plummer's reputation as a breeder of hardy terriers that bred true to type. Initially known as the Huddlesford Rat Pack, the breed is now named after him. The Beagle introduced to Plummer's lines in the 1960s was out of Catherine Sutton's Rossut show-bred strain that originated from U.S. imports, brought to

363-399: The U.K. to tidy up British exhibits. It was owned by Philip Ainsley, a fellow teacher friend of Plummer's. Further outcrosses were introduced along the way. The addition of Fell Terrier blood, Jaeger from Nigel Hinchcliffe's lines and Flint from Brian Nuttall's lines, both noted working lines and most likely descending from Cyril Breay and Frank Buck's stock, infused refinement of shape and to

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396-470: The VAO team found three Ethiopians whose eyes fitted Whiteley's prescription. The BBC followed this story on their Inside Out programme which was broadcast on 19 September 2007. In 2008, three years after Whiteley's death, Giggleswick School announced its plans to raise £1.3m to build a theatre in his honour. The 288-seat theatre has been built at the school where Whiteley was a pupil and governor and provided

429-587: The Yorkshire magazine programme Calendar and various other television projects, at the time of his death Whiteley was believed to have clocked more hours on British television screens—and more than 10,000 appearances—than anyone else alive, apart from Carole Hersee , the young girl who appeared on the BBC's Test Card F . John Richard Whiteley was born on 28 December 1943 in Bradford , West Riding of Yorkshire ,

462-533: The austere years around World War II , Plummer based some of his biographical stories in and around the valley in which he grew up. Some of the stories involve friends, members of the village community, and bizarre members of his own family. After a stint of National Service , Plummer trained to be a teacher and worked in various areas of the United Kingdom, including Rotherham and Walsall . In his books he hints at various 'episodes' in his life including

495-604: The breed needed a wider gene pool in order to reach its maximum potential. Bull Terrier blood of known ancestry was sought and outcrossed into the breed. Plummer had cancer and died in September 2002. His work was carried on by others and the breed standard remains intact. As a working terrier, the Plummer is a versatile dog, which has many uses. They are keen retrievers, most generally take to water freely; quite intelligent, have excellent noses, are biddable and have many uses in

528-407: The documentary, Tomlinson claimed to be in possession of confidential documents proving that it had been funded and written by British intelligence services and that Whiteley had been employed by MI5 at the time of broadcast. Whiteley was bitten by a ferret on an edition of Calendar in 1977. The animal bit his finger for half a minute before its owner, Brian Plummer , prised it free. The clip

561-520: The early 1980s, during one of the many TV documentaries ( Rat hunting man and Lone furrow ) about Plummer and his terriers, he said that one day he would like his terriers to be known as Plummer Terriers and recognised by the Kennel Club. In 1985, he suffered a near-fatal heart attack which resulted in the dispersal of his substantial pack of terriers to friends. He eventually moved to a remote croft in Caithness, Scotland, and began to write full-time. By

594-408: The early 1990s most of the pack's important gene pool was found and regrouped, albeit on a smaller scale. Work continued and other lines were sought; widening the gene pool enough to be able to limit inbreeding. At this point, two distinct types began to develop, the smaller, more snipe-nosed type and the more bully, stronger-headed type. Plummer opted for the latter, and by the late 1990s decided that

627-560: The fast-disappearing countryside around Birmingham . The Plummer Terrier, a breed of dog that he developed, is named after him. After suffering a heart attack in 1985, Plummer moved to Caithness with a plan to breed German shepherd dogs, then finally settled in Abington , in Lanarkshire . He died on 12 September 2003. Richard Whiteley John Richard Whiteley OBE DL (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005)

660-425: The field. They are often found ferreting; some are found in the beating line on local shoots; occasionally they are used to ground but undoubtedly they are most commonly used in a pack hunting rats. The Plummer Terrier has a fiery red coat with two distinct patterns collared (a white band around the neck) and caped (only showing white on the throat). They should be heavily coloured and preferably be no more than 14” at

693-533: The first child of Thomas (1912–1992) and Margaret (née Bentley) Whiteley (1918–2001); he had a younger sister, Helen, who died in March 1998 aged 49 of cancer. Whiteley spent his childhood in Baildon : his family owned a long-established textile mill, Thomas Whiteley and Co of Eccleshill , which went out of business in the 1960s. At 13, he won a scholarship to Giggleswick School , Yorkshire , where his English teacher

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726-489: The illness, but doctors discovered problems with his heart and carried out an emergency operation for endocarditis on 24 June. This operation was not successful and, two days later on 26 June, Whiteley died at Leeds General Infirmary aged 61. He was buried at St John the Evangelist Church at East Witton . He had suffered from asthma since he was very young and had diabetes . The edition of Countdown that

759-409: The shoulder. Terriers that do not possess collared or caped markings are labelled shattered, they are perfectly fine as workers, companions but are not classed as good examples of the breed. The same can be said for tricolours, dogs which carry black in their colouring. The ears fold over like most terriers, and the nose and eye are typically black, and the jaw has a good scissors bite. Plummer defined

792-642: The trial of the Shrewsbury Two ( Des Warren and Ricky Tomlinson ) which was broadcast on the day that the trial jury retired to consider their verdict. The programme, which was heavily critical of the trade union movement, is now considered to have swayed jurors into returning a guilty verdict and was later cited by the Criminal Cases Review Commission as evidence that the verdicts were unsound. Warren and Tomlinson's convictions were overturned in 2021. Speaking in 2017 about

825-490: The world of professional boxing, and Lone Furrow (1987), which looks at the preoccupation of Plummer with his dogs, which have been rat-catchers , and his current wish to cross the Highlands pulled by a pack of German shepherd dogs. Another producer, Michael Croucher , made a 1981 documentary entitled Hunting Man about Plummer, formerly a full-time hunter and later a teacher and writer, who at that time still hunted in

858-567: Was Russell Harty . He later became a governor of the school. From 1962, he read English at Christ's College, Cambridge . On leaving Cambridge in July 1965, Whiteley served three years as a trainee at ITN but left to join the newly created Yorkshire Television in July 1968. In 1973, Whiteley and Woodrow Wyatt presented the Anglia Television documentary The Red Under the Bed , about

891-471: Was a British writer, teacher and dog breeder . In 1977, Plummer appeared on Richard Whiteley 's Calendar regional news programme, during which a ferret became 'latched' onto Whiteley's fingers. A blasé Plummer showed little concern for the pain Whiteley was in, instead telling him that if the ferret had been serious the bite would have been "through to the bone. He's playing with you." Growing up in

924-580: Was an English presenter and journalist, best known for his twenty-three years as host of the game show Countdown . Countdown was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel (not counting a programme montage). Whiteley enjoyed projecting the image of an absent-minded eccentric. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner, his fondness for puns , and his bold, sometimes garish wardrobe. Thanks to over twenty years' worth of daily instalments of Countdown as well as his work on

957-499: Was as the host of Countdown that Whiteley became known to a wider audience in the United Kingdom outside the Yorkshire region. He was nicknamed "Twice Nightly Whiteley", in reference to the time when he would present the Calendar news programme and Countdown in the same evening, from 1982 to 1995. (In a self-deprecating joke, he often countered this with "Once Yearly, Nearly".) As the presenter of Countdown , Whiteley developed

990-400: Was due to be broadcast on 27 June was postponed as a mark of respect. Carol Vorderman gave an emotional tribute to him on 28 June when Countdown returned, stating that "The clock stopped too soon". Several shows had already been recorded before he went into hospital. His final show was broadcast on 1 July 2005, which was the grand final of the 53rd series. Whiteley was an organ donor, and it

1023-416: Was replaced by Des Lynam . Whiteley also had his own chatshow, Richard Whiteley Unbriefed , on the BBC. His guests were unknown to him beforehand, so before he could interview them, he had to guess who they were. Whiteley was one of the first people to report on the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing , as he was staying in the hotel at the time. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in March 1997 when he

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1056-426: Was reported his corneas were donated to help two people. On 10 November 2005, five months after his death, thousands of friends and admirers gathered at York Minster for a memorial service to celebrate Whiteley's life. Guests included his co-presenter Carol Vorderman, who paid tribute to him, saying, "If he were here, he would have welcomed you one-by-one, greeting every one of you by the hand and would have wanted

1089-554: Was surprised by Michael Aspel on the set of the ITV soap opera, Emmerdale . In 2001, Whiteley stood as rector for University of Dundee . On 15 June 2003, Whiteley appeared on the BBC show, Top Gear and set the slowest time in the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment with a time of 2:06. In May 2005, Whiteley was taken into hospital with pneumonia . He made a slow recovery from

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