Why did Joanna Page nearly lose her finger in TV drama David Copperfield?
Joanna Page recalled the time in David Copperfield when a pug almost bit her finger off.
Joanna Page "nearly" got her finger bitten off by a pug whilst on set.
The 48-year-old star made her acting debut in 1999's David Copperfield, where she played Dora Spenlow, the wife of the titular character (Ciaran McMenamin), who also owned the "gorgeous" pooch named Jip.
Joanna carried "sausage meat" in her hand to get the dog to follow her everywhere whilst filming, and during a scene when Dora expressed her love for David, followed by a kiss, Jip aggressively tried to get the food out of Joanna's hand, and bit her in the process.
Appearing on the August 16 episode of the BBC game show Pointless Celebrities, she recalled: "I nearly got my finger bitten off by a pug dog during filming of [David Copperfield] because Dora has got this gorgeous little pug called Jip.
"And to get the dog to go everywhere with me, I had to carry sausage meat in my hand, but the pug would really go for it.
"And there was one time when I was sitting on this sofa with David, and I think I had to go, ‘Oh, I love you, David,’ and we had to kiss.
"And the pug was like desperately trying to get into my hand and then bit my finger, and you know the way they breathe. So we had this romantic kiss with this pug breathing like this and then biting off my finger.
“And as ever the professional, I carried on."
David Copperfield was a two-part Christmas special mini-series for the BBC - which ran from 1999 until 2000 - and was adapted from Charles Dickens' haunting semi-autobiographical tale, The Personal History of David Copperfield.
It follows David from a baby to an adult.
He suffers heartbreak following the death of his mum Clara Copperfield (Emilia Fox), and, after being unhappy working in his stepdad, Edward Murdstone's (Trevor Eve) warehouse, he runs away to his aunt.
Joanna met her husband James Thornton, 49, (Ham Peggotty) in David Copperfield.
And the actress knew she wanted him to be the dad of her future four children - daughters Eva, 12, and Boe, four, and sons Kit, 10, and Noah, nine - after seeing James bond so well with a young Daniel Radcliffe, 36 (young David Copperfield).
Joanna said: "I first started when I was in David Copperfield one Christmas, and I played Dora Spenlow, David’s wife.
"And my husband was actually in it, and he played Ham Peggotty. And I saw him, and Daniel Radcliffe was in it, and he was only dinky.
"And James, my husband, had to pick him up and put him on his shoulders and walk along the seashore with him.
"And I said to my mum, ‘I want that man to be the father of my children.'"
