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TEN’s go-to Doctor

Dr. Chris Brown is as busy as ever, filming two shows for TEN on top of his own veterinarian practice.

2013-02-26_2334Dr. Chris Brown has quickly become Channel TEN’s go-to weekend guy.

Currently appearing on The Living Room on Friday nights and Bondi Vet on Saturdays, he is juggling filming commitments as well as his Bondi veterinarian clinic. Yes he really is a Bondi Vet.

Both shows are produced by WTFN which must surely be their most successful personality by now?

“I don’t know, I haven’t done the sums!” he laughs.

“I tend to do one show for a week then straight onto another one so the same people organise the schedule and make sure that I’m able to do both shows and still get to the vet clinic.”

Bondi Vet is now in its 5th season and this year has expanded to 30 x 1 hour episodes. That’s necessitated far more shooting than ever.

“The advantage of being on for that length of time is we get a lot of requests for help and probably this year more than any other we’ve been out and about helping people who have requested it,” he said.

“So we’re all around the country almost in every state this year, and also internationally.

“Thailand was part of that and you’ll see we’ll be in the States, Fiji and all over the place.

“I was working at a wildlife centre in Thailand. In Australia that usually means koalas and possums but over there it means elephants, tigers, bears and massive pythons. So it was a pretty big challenge.

“You get taught about them but you don’t exactly get the chance to do elephant anatomy too often.”

One of his highlights for this season was an emergency call in Thailand.

“I got a call to a school where there was a bully hassling kids for their lunches but the problem was the bully was a 1 metre tall monkey,” he recalls.

“I had to subdue the monkey before it hurt someone or before someone hurt it.

“So when you’re running through a primary school and a Buddhist temple chasing after a monkey you realise that you’re not in Bondi anymore.”

Another involved an unusual dog in the US, a case that he had been assisting with for several years.

“There’s a dog that lives only on two legs, only born with back legs, who lives in Minneapolis,” he says.

“He walks and lives his life like a person on two legs.

“So there’s more diversity in the animals we’re treating and it’s probably the most challenging series in terms of animals and what we’re trying to fix. But the core value of the show is people loving their pets and we try to help them out.”

Meanwhile he has also completed a trip to Tasmania for The Living Room, travelling with co-presenter Miguel Maestre.

“We tried to show that it’s not just the sleepy little island that people consider it to be. We were jumping off 150 metre high dam walls, doing aerobatics in jet fighters and showing people the incredible wildlife they have there,” he says.

“But I’ve never seen so much roadkill. It’s almost as if there’s a kangaroo or some sort of animal every 150 metres. Animals seem to be drawn to the roadside there which is bad for them. The upside, if there is one, is that we have a few unpredictable and unplanned animal encounters. So that makes for good TV with Tassie Devils, kangaroos and echidnas and all sorts of things.”

Now in its second season, The Living Room has generated good word of mouth with its mix of studio presenting and file stories.

“I get a lot of people coming up and saying ‘It’s a great show, we really love it.’ It seems to be people’s secret pleasure on the weekend. We always wanted to make a lifestyle show but hopefully not one that had been done before,” Brown explains.

“Having the live studio appeal with stories where we do cooking but it’s not quite cooking, or travel where there’s a bit of madness involved ….we try and make it unpredictable. It’s a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously.”

But TEN recently moved the show from 7:30pm to 9:30pm to make way for American Idol. Brown is diplomatic when asked about the move.

“In a way it kind of feels right because it has that Tonight show vibe to it. Even if you’re not interested in the lifestyle we have studio guests or some of the stories we have will hook you in. So it’s quite nice for a Friday night.”

This year readers voted The Living Room as Most Popular Lifestyle in the TV Tonight Awards, finally toppling perennial winner Better Homes and Gardens.

With a long year ahead, Brown is encouraged by the vote of confidence.

“It looks like we’re here all year. They (TEN)  realise that lifestyle is a habit thing and Better Homes & Gardens has been doing it well and been popular for quite a while. It will take a while to win people over but hopefully if the result of your survey is anything to go by then we’re finally getting there.”

The Living Room airs 9:30pm Fridays on TEN
Bondi Vet airs 7:30pm Saturdays on TEN

19 Responses

  1. Stop stuffing around with American Idol’s Timeslot or give it back to Foxtel Now Remember there are people watching this program I believe that there are more people watching Idol than this out of date Ratings System suggests

  2. Lol Dr chris isnt being over saturated! I mean yes he has his own show but he isnt in every segment for either bondi vet or the living room. Bondi vet we also have lisa and the guy from the reptile park so chris is only in like half the show and even with the livingroom where he sits there its still not over exposed.

  3. Original “Dr Chris could be rammed down the throats of the few remaining Ten viewers” I’m not entirely sure you read it correctly as you replied with “TVisnowURL: Dr Chris Brown rammed down the throats of execs? Seriously…”

  4. David, no my post was meant to reflect that Dr Chris rins the risk of becoming over saturated and therefore having otherwise good talent lose their shine. If TEN is already considered a one trick pony and relying on MChef, wouldn’t they risk doing to Dr Chris? Seriously weak……. just add Dr Chris to a half baked idea and you’ve got a show right? No

  5. The Living Room change to 9.30PM…was not good for it numbers…too late for most…family type show…..TEN will not be forgiven so easily if they ruin this one …I think.
    @ Pertinax…B&HG is getting out rated by the ABC…Dr Blake Mysteries….

  6. Absolutely love Bondi Vet and The Living Room, but I hope The Living Room gets moved to an earlier time soon because 9:30pm is a bit late, but I really don’t mind when it’s on as long as it is on.

  7. Jason: Funny. The order of the carousel features is what it is…. I took out the Oscars: Guide because the show is over so the preceding yarn of Warburton returned.

    TVisnowURL: Dr Chris Brown rammed down the throats of execs? Seriously…

  8. On the rotating box on the Home Page
    TEN Sacks James Warburton
    is immediately followed by TEN’s Go-To Doctor.
    For one moment by warped brain thought Dr. Chris was TEN’s new CEO. Hey, he couldn’t to any worse.

  9. There is such thing as too much of a good thing I’d say. Ch 9 and their summer sport affiliates (vodafone and kfc) oversaturated Joel Madden to the degree of making good talent annoying. Dr Chris could be rammed down the throats of the few remaining Ten viewers so much so that he becomes an even bigger joke

  10. I agree TLR at 7.30 as it was. They seem to be deliberately trying to destoy it and while I wouldn’t watch it Neighbours should be on 10. It’s not like they have anything else and it puts Australian stories out there.

  11. I can’t explain my disgust enough at Channel Ten for the way they are programming this show. What are you thinking Beverley??

    The 9:30pm timeslot is a terrible one. Stick it on 7:30pm straight after The Project. While it would initially get smashed by BH&G, over time numbers would increase if kept in a familiar timeslot.

    Move it back to 7:30pm and have it there all year!! Scrap the unnecessary Friday Biggest Loser and Masterchef: Masterclass episodes and move American Idol to 8:30pm and problem solved.

    What’s more the promotion of the show is terrible. All the ads for last week’s ep just showed Chris and Miguel cooking in the kitchen. Why didn’t they mention they had special guest Josh Thomas live in the studio?

    And also Beverley please scrap The Simpson from Ten ASAP. This is not 2005. National news with Natarsha Belling from 5pm, Local News from 6pm.

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