Martin Freeman's Pets

Martin Freeman had two rescue Dachshunds in the 2000s named Jodie and Archie. In May 2009, he did an interview discussing his two adopted fur babies (Transcript then magazine scans below)

Boy meets girl…

…and gets dogs and has children. Actors Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington’s family is now complete and their two Dachshunds are very much at the heart of their home

They were mostly acting on their love for dogs, but Martin Freeman and wife Amanda Abbington may have saved one of the first canine victims of the economic downturn, when they adopted their second Miniature Long-haired Dachshund in August 2008.

“Martin had been watching a programme on dogs the night before and I had been looking at rescue dogs online,” says Amanda, recalling the day. she found six-year-old Jodie. “I saw that Jodie’s owners were moving into sheltered accommodation, as they’d just had their home repossessed. They were desperate to find a home for her and they didn’t. want her to be sheltered. She needed rescuing.”

Martin was thinking of their first pet, five-year-old Archie. With both his and Amanda’s acting careers in full flight (his most affectionately known roles include The Office’s Tim Canterbury and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s Arthur Dent, and she’s played popular characters in After You’ve Gone, Man Stroke Woman and The Robinsons), Martin says he wanted Archie to have a companion to keep him company when he and Amanda were away.

“I had seen a documentary on the Kennel Club, and I just found it amazing what lengths people would go to, to make a dog suit their purposes, or suit how they wanted an animal to look,” says Martin. “But the dogs often just want to please us, don’t they? I just felt like doing something. nice for a dog, and I wanted a friend for Archie, too.”

Extended family

Adding another member to their canine family marks a bit of a leap forward for Martin, who says there was a time when he couldn’t imagine what it would be like if it wasn’t just him and Amanda.

“We’ve had Archie since he was three months old,” says Martin. “Amanda went to Battersea, looking for no particular breed of dog, and she found little Archie. His little toy was bigger than him. Amanda had grown up with dogs, so the impetus came with Amanda. I’d never really had a dog, and it was quite a new choice for me, and quite a commitment. in a way it’s a good precursor to children. You literally have to keep this dog healthy, watered… alive.”

I had seen a documentary on the Kennel Club, and I just found it amazing what lengths people would go to, to make a dog suit their purposes, or suit how they wanted an animal to look. But the dogs often just want to please us, don’t they? I just felt like doing something nice for a dog, and I wanted a friend for Archie, too.

Although both she and Martin say that having their two children brought them to a whole new awakening in terms of sharing their love and affection, Amanda says they’re more complete with Jodie and Archie in the mix.

“I feel it’s very important for children to grow up with animals,” reflects Amanda, “so they have that comfort around them. Ever since we had our children, they have felt completely comfortable around animals. They’re not nervous or afraid, and the animals pick up on that, too. They look out for the children, and they know their place in the family.”

Martin adds that the Dachshunds have taught him a lot about how dogs think and feel.

“When we first had a baby, Archie was weird for a few days, but then he knew his new place in the pack,” says Martin.

“It was interesting for me to see that, too. I really had to learn that. I realised that the saying, “My dog thinks he owns the place’ is not just a figure of speech. They really do think that they own the place, and we treated Archie like a baby before our real children came along. But he learned his new place in the family, and now he’s been a guardian to the children.”

And seeing the dogs” contrasting personalities has provided a bit of comic relief in the household as well.

“Jodie is more trained. She was treated more like a dog with her previous owners,” says Amanda. “Jodie stays to heel, for example, whereas Archie… He even sits higher up on the couch than Jodie.”

“Yeah, Archie will go into a room before you and will sort of waltz around,” echoes Martin. “Jodie acts like a dog. Archie acts like a prince.”

When it came to pairing Jodie with Archie, Martin says he relied a bit on Amanda’s expertise, as she had a closer connection to dogs throughout her childhood and adolescence.

“When we were kids my parents had Leo,” says Martin. “He was a Lassie dog, but I would have been too young to really know him or remember how to look after dogs. It was Amanda who introduced me to the idea again.” And it would seem that Amanda should know how to find a perfect companion in a dog, given her track record for putting the whole ‘man’s best friend’ thing to the ultimate test.

Childhood friend

“We had a black Labrador called Ringo when I was growing up.” explains Amanda. “Mum would have called him John, but my dad’s called John, so it had to be Ringo. He lived to be 16, and he was a year old when I was born. I grew up with him. He was a really good friend and was around for a long time… He stayed with me on a long walk I went on, when I was two years old and left the house. He followed me and looked out for me until someone called the police. As soon as the authorities turned up, Ringo went off home.”

“Yeah, Amanda went on a long walk up Finchley highway, wearing nothing but her pants and a pillow,” adds Martin. “Yes, I ended up in a laundrette,” says Amanda.

Jodie and Archie definitely contribute to the razor sharp wit in Martin and Amanda’s home, albeit a bit more inadvertently. Jodie might like to sit on one’s head and have a lick of one’s hair to inspect a guest’s shampoo or hairstyling product of choice, and Archie likes to saunter around the sitting room, sometimes seeming to show off just how great it is to be Archie.

“Jodie and Archie bring warmth, love, loyalty, comedy…” says Martin. “Having children vomiting on your Jumpers keeps you grounded like that, too, mind you… What I like most about them is and I shouldn’t say this to a dog magazine but they’re just idiot savants, aren’t they? They’re just clever morons. I mean, Archie is clearly a bit of a moron.”

“Martin! Don’t say that,” contradicts Amanda. “They’re clever. They’re still our babies.” Martin suggests that Archie

may have developed his “simple genius” from all his time on film sets with Martin, although Martin doesn’t like to bring the dogs to work these days unless it’s for animal charities like Dogs Trust or The Blue Cross. Over the next year, Martin will appear in a new ITV drama called Boy Meets Girl, in Jonathan Lynn’s new hitman feature Wild Target, and in Debbie Isitt’s 2010 comedy Nativity alongside Ugly Betty’s Ashley Jensen. Amanda is currently filming the new ITV comedy Married, Single, Other.

“We try to work around each other’s work schedule,” says Martin. “When it’s not possible, Amanda’s parents live nearby and have been very generous and accommodating. Archie’s been in a couple of films, actually. He kind of grew up a bit on the set of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He was really tiny then. All the crew just loved him, and he was a big hit on set. The only thing is that, having these little, tiny dogs on set can be risky. They’re small and black, and I don’t like to risk them getting stepped on or hurt. Now Jodie and Archie have each other.”

In a 2018 short film titled The Dog with the Woman, Martin Freeman performed the voice of Charlie the dog. Charlie was played by a canine actor named Cracker. Freeman and Cracker are also known for the meme of them pictured here.