How do you create interesting drama themed around a dog park? If you’ve been to one before, it doesn’t exactly scream “riveting”. I approached the ABC’s new six-part series wondering: will random people from the dog park meet and bonk? Will various disputes erupt, perhaps over where the off-leash area begins and ends? Will class wars break out between the bourgeoisie (chihuahuas), the working class (German shepherds) and the unemployed aristocracy (greyhounds)?
Having gobbled down all six leisurely paced, very enjoyable episodes, Dog Park actually feels like a bit of a bait-and-switch: entice viewers with the promise of pooches, then serve ‘em emotionally nuanced characters and scenarios. The show, co-created by Amanda Higgs and Leon Ford, has been marketed as a comedy but it’s more a light-touch drama. Location-wise, it’s based in Melbourne and, emotions-wise, in a relationship interregnum, during which it’s unclear whether a marriage will survive.
