If you have a television then you must surely be familiar with Columbo, the greatest TV detective to come our way from America, played of course by the totally wonderful Peter Falk.

Even after years of repeats on our TV's Peter Falk's portrayal of the “shabby and ostensibly absent-minded police detective lieutenant” never fails to delight.

For those in the Basset world Columbo holds an added attraction, the occasional glimpse of his Basset Hound, usually sitting in the passenger seat of his old Peugeot. So I was delighted when pointed by club member Elaine Tiffin toward the clip below.

The NBC network decided that Columbo needed a companion. They would have liked the writers to introduce a young detective as a sidekick but they decided on a hound. The first of Columbo’s Basset Hounds was introduced in “Etude in Black” in 1972, episode 1 of season 2.

The filming for this episode of Columbo was I would guess shot in collaboration with a Basset Hound Club in California however it could, but for the guaranteed sunshine, perhaps equally well have been shot at one of our Fun Days.