91Èȱ¬

Dogs – and their owners – travelled from far and wide to take part in the auditions for the much sought-after role of Toto this week, to air in the Over The Rainbow Sunday results show, 11 April, 8.15pm, 91Èȱ¬ One.

The specialist panel of dog experts – resident This Morning animal expert Sarah Fisher and Gerry Cott – led by previous winner of I'd Do Anything, host Jodie Prenger, auditioned each dog who attended, and then whittled the hundreds down to just ten.

These 10 finalists, will then be invited to appear in front of Andrew Lloyd Webber, who will select five dogs to continue into the competition. Viewers will then see the dogs in a series of tasks over the course of the next few weeks, and Andrew and the Toto panel will decide on the dog who will win the coveted place to appear on stage, in a one-off gala performance of The Wizard Of Oz in the West End next year. The winning Toto will be announced in the final Over The Rainbow show.

Dogs came in all shapes and sizes, and from far-flung areas of the country – from Edinburgh and Devon to Neath in Wales. One owner from London, took her pampered pooch on the 200 mile round-trip to the auditions in Warwickshire by taxi, insisting on a "wait and return" so that she could guarantee her pet a comfortable journey! Another travelled by the more eco-friendly route of bicycle, carrying her dog in a basket at the front... possibly a good indication of how well her dog can sit in a basket!

Follow the progress of the dogs each week on Over The Rainbow.

Notes to Editors

Viewers will not be able to vote for a Toto. Andrew Lloyd Webber will work with a panel of experts – including Jodie Prenger – who will together decide on the winning Toto, based on the dogs' performance throughout the series. The winning dog will be announced in the final show.

T&Cs available at bbc.co.uk/Dorothy.

Ten dogs will be selected from the two open audition days, and the dog panel will select five dogs to continue into the competition.

Panel Biographies:

Married to actor Anthony Head, Sarah Fisher trained with Linda Tellington Jones and her sister Robyn Hood in the US and is the UK's highest qualified Equine and Companion Animal Instructor.

Sarah runs the UK office for TTEAM & TTouch International from her farm near Bath, she is the leading practitioner in the Tellington TTouch. Sarah has written four books: Know Your Horse Inside Out, Unlock Your Dog's Potential, 100 Ways To Train The Perfect Dog and 100 Ways To Solve Your Dog's Problems, the latter two being co-written.

She has made several television appearances including This Morning (ITV1) where she is a regular animal expert, Blue Peter (91Èȱ¬ One), The One Show (91Èȱ¬ One), Animal Rescue Live (91Èȱ¬), Only Fools On Horses (91Èȱ¬ One), Celebrity Dog School (91Èȱ¬) and Talking To Animals (ITV1 and National Geographic).

Gerry Cott, Dog Training Expert to the Film & Television Industries, virtuoso guitarist and co-founder of The Boomtown Rats has been involved with animals all his life.

He was born into an Irish family with farming roots going back over 200 years and was given his first dog at four years of age! Gerry gave up the life of a pop star and started a highly successful career as an animal behaviourist and animal-filming consultant to the Film, Television and Advertising Industries.

Since 1983 Gerry Cott has professionally trained thousands of dogs in the UK and across Europe to become TV and movie stars. Gerry's Clients include, Disney, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Paramount, 91Èȱ¬, ITV and Channel 4.

CS