OH yes... the country’s most famous nodding dog will take a break from his glittering acting career to turn on a town’s Christmas lights.

Churchill the dog, made famous by the Churchill Insurance TV adverts, will be the guest of honour at the Christmas switch-on in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

The puppet will be spending Christmas in the North-East after he was confirmed on the cast list of Peter Pan at Darlington Civic Theatre.

Churchill, who spent the summer performing in Pontins, will be sporting an eye patch in the pantomime, but will wrap up warm to brave the cold Teesdale air to turn the lights on.

While he is in the area, he may pop in to see his old friend David Bellamy, who appeared on a Churchill advert with the dog and lives in nearby Bedburn.

The lights switch-on has been organised by Barnard Castle Town Council, with help from Radio Teesdale, which is providing technical equipment and a compere for the night in the form of DJ Mike Patterson.

Barnard Castle Mayor Tony Cooke said: “As Churchill is so famous now, and the fact that he’s already helped to switch on Christmas lights before, we thought he would be a dab hand, sorry, I mean paw, at helping Father Christmas switch on Barnard Castle’s tree lights this year.”

Peter Dixon, manager of Radio Teesdale, said: “We do a lot of interviews with celebrities who are appearing at the theatres in the area so have a lot of contacts.

“This year we were able to help the town council out by putting them in touch with the Civic Theatre. I think Churchill will be very popular with the younger people in the town.

“The past few years have always been very good in terms of turnout and we’re sure this year will be just as popular.

“We will be doing bits for the radio but we will have to think carefully about what questions we ask him because he only seems to say ‘oh yes’ or ‘oh no’.”

The Barnard Castle Christmas lights switch-on will take place on Friday, November 26 at 6pm at the bottom of Galgate.

There will be a variety of activities and refreshments in Barnard Castle Methodist Church Hall.

Churchill’s manager Marty Hoffman said: “Churchill is thrilled to be switching on the Christmas lights at Barnard Castle this year and can’t wait to meet some of his fans.

“He’s also looking forward to returning to Darlington to perform in Peter Pan at the Civic Theatre.”