Trending

The trampolining Boxer dog from the beloved John Lewis Christmas advert has died

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 23rd November 2022

The bouncing Boxer dog from one of John Lewis’ best-loved Christmas adverts has sadly passed away, his owners have revealed.

The four-legged star of the department store’s 2016 Christmas advert titled ‘Buster the Boxer’ – who’s real name was Biff – has sadly passed away at the age of 12, with his owner Jen Patten taking to social media this week to share the sad news.

The heartbroken owner explained that Biff had experienced seizures in the early hours of Monday morning, and they sadly “couldn’t bring him back”.

“Fly high our beautiful, special boy – we shall miss you forever,” Ms Patten wrote.

Biff took on the role of the title character Buster in the popular advert – which many will remember followed the story of a young girl who’s father builds a her a trampoline in the garden on Christmas Eve, only for two foxes, a badger, some squirrels, and a hedgehog to start jumping on it, with Buster watching on longingly through the window from the living room.

ADVERTISEMENT

Then on Christmas Day morning, the girl runs down the stairs and into the garden to find the trampoline, but Buster hijacks the surprise and leaps onto the trampoline to have some fun and do a bit of jumping himself.

The camera then pans onto the family watch in shock as Buster has the absolute time of his life bouncing up and down.

ADVERTISEMENT
The bouncing Boxer dog from one of John Lewis’ best-loved Christmas adverts has sadly passed away / Credit: John Lewis

Speaking to the Daily Mail about the death of beloved pup, Ms Patten said: “Biff was a very much loved family member, and everyone that met him loved him too.

“We had a really special bond, and no matter what I asked of him, whether it would be new tricks, displays, meet and greets, or photos with children, adults, and animals, he would happily oblige, with the patience of a saint.

“At home, he was pure joy, making us smile every day… [and] we shall miss him so much.”

ADVERTISEMENT

As well as John Lewis’ charitable efforts from the advert at the time, with a portion of the soft toy animals sales earnings being donated to The Wildlife Trusts across the UK, Biff’s newfound fame also helped him lend a hand too.

Read more:

“His fame gave us the opportunity to raise funds for animal charities,” Ms Patten concluded.

Featured Image – John Lewis

Trending

Paddy McGuinness teases potential return of Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere

Danny Jones Danny Jones Max and Paddy return

Right, we don’t mean to alarm you all, but Max and Paddy might finally be coming back after nearly 20 years. In other entirely unrelated news, there is a god.

We only ever got one solitary season of Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere, but it only took six episodes for it to leave us with lasting memories of rolling on the floor laughing and quoting lines all these years later.

The Phoenix Nights spin-off went on to be not just a cult favourite but an iconic British sitcom that rivalled the show that spawned it, cementing both Peter Kay and Paddy McGuinness as even greater household names than they already were.

Cut to nearly two nearly full decades later and Paddy himself has teased that the hit Northern comedy might not be done after all. Battle stations, people — we’re on the campaign trail now.

Speaking to Capital Breakfast this week, McGuinness came on to the subject of Max and Paddy return, saying that “the interesting thing about Max and Paddy, and Phoenix Nights is now, we are kind of all of an age of the people we played back then.”

He admitted that while they “do talk about it and what have you” and would love to see the full cast return someday, he just “can’t see it at the minute”.

However, he did go on to insist “never say never” and, more promisingly, that the comedy duo’s comeback, specifically, could very well be on the cards.

“Like Max and Paddy, for instance, we wrote a couple of Christmas specials, and we’ve still got them”, says McGuinness. “We never got around to doing one for whatever reason back in the day. But we’ve actually got them.”

Read more:

The 49-year-old went on to clarify that more than one script has already been written for some time, but they’ve just been kept on the backburner given that he is admittedly “inherently lazy” and likes “doing as little as possible”, it just never came to fruition.

“If you’re doing a scripted comedy show, it does take a long time. So to do something like [this], you have literally got to blank out 12 months of your life.

“He [Kay] is on tour. I’ve got all kinds of stuff going on, and it’s just sort of going ‘right, let’s get together. Let’s get our diaries together. And let’s blank out for that time'”. We don’t know a single person that wouldn’t want to see a Max and Paddy return in some form.

While hosts Roman Kemp and Siân Welby urged people to get flooding them with texts and posting all over social media, the former Take Me Out presenter joked it “won’t make a blind bit of difference.” Come on, Paddy, don’t let us down now.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — Channel 4

Trending

Lidl’s iconic trainers have been spotted back in Manchester stores

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Lidl’s sell-out trainers are once again back in its Manchester stores – and streetwear enthusiasts are already filing in in their droves to stock up.

The shoes, which usually sell out within days of going live, have hit shelves once again – and are already re-selling for hundreds online.

The iconic £14.99 trainers, which come in the budget supermarket chain’s signature red, blue and yellow colourway, have previously been amongst the Lidl’ clothing range’s most popular items.

When they first launched in 2021, the trainers were priced at just £12.99 but ended up selling online for upwards of £1,000 as sneakerheads outbid each other on Ebay and Depop for the last few pairs.

Now they’re back in a new look – and it’s fair to say that lidl shoppers are just as excited the second time around.

Image: The Manc Group

Donning the retailer’s logo on the tongue and heel, the new-look trainer design focuses on a white shoe with brightly-colored insets and seaming.

Read more: You can now get a full English in a loaf of bread at Ancoats General Store

Items from the range are already on eBay for £150 – so you’ll need to be quick if you want to cop anything for yourself.

Previously released as a one-off, the trainers are being sold in both women’s and men’s sizes, with women’s ranging from sizes 4 to 7, and in men’s sizes 7 to 11 and a half.

Read more: Amsterdam urges young British men to ‘stay away’ in new tourism campaign

As well as the trainers, Lidl’s in-demand clothing line has previously featured sports socks (from 99p), men’s swimming shorts and a foldable shopping bag.

Featured image – The Manc Group

More Trending

Travel & Tourism

Amsterdam urges young British men to ‘stay away’ in new tourism campaign

Art & Culture

Eurovision 2023 grand final to be screened live in cinemas across the UK

Trending

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home pays emotional tribute to ‘devoted’ ambassador Paul O’Grady

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches