Although now 86, Daphne is still signing copies of her illustrated children’s book ‘Bee a Particular Otter’.
You can find large hardback first edition copies online here or asked for a personally dedicated and signed copy of the paperback by contacting us via the Comments section below. The paperbacks cost £7.99 + p&p.
Filed under Animals, Cotswolds, Otters, Uncategorized
Daphne Neville took Rudi the Otter to meet children at the Melplash Show near Bridport in Dorset, An Animal Sanctuary in Devon and at the Frampton on Severn Country Fair when she was interviewed by Miles Warde on ‘Open Country’
One supporter wrote to say, “This morning I was listening to the farming programme on BBC Radio 4 and when they announced that it was on the Frampton Fair, I wondered…. and there she was, I just knew she would be… the fabulous Daphne. I was so thrilled to hear her sounding as passionate as ever about life and the otters… In this mad world, Daphne is still a beacon of hope and caring. “
If you can’t get to the west of England, you can watch Rudi and Belinda the Otter on the movie Scottish Mussell staring Martin Compston, Joe Riley, Harry Enfield and Talulah Riley is currently on BBC iPlayer. You can watch the trailer here
Filed under Animals, Otters, Uncategorized
Daphne tells of her years of working with tame otters in the May/June 2020 issue of the US magazine ‘All Creatures – The Animals who share our lives.’
To read about Daphne appearing on ‘Come Dine With Me’ please click here
Daphne Neville at Bakers Mill near Cirencester in the Cotswolds with Rudi, her tame Asian short-clawed otter
~ Country Life magazine, 11th September 2019 ~
Picture: Daily Mail – COPYRIGHT John Lawrence 07850 429934
Picture: COPYRIGHT John Lawrence 07850 429934
Nature in Art is 2 miles north of Gloucester on A38 SatNav Postcode: GL2 9PG
To see what else is on a Nature in Art, please click here
Filed under Animals, Cotswolds, Otters, Uncategorized
Daphne Neville and Rudi the Otter appeared in five episodes of ‘Come Dine With Me’, first broadcast at on Chanel 4 in 2018 and repeated forever more.
By the end of the first episode #comedinewithme was trending on Twitter:
‘#comedinewithme Daphne is what is great about Britain..cute polite nice classy positive welcoming….’
‘Daphne is lovely ‘#comedinewithme’
The only reason I tuned into watch #comedinewithme this week was to watch the delightful and lovable Daphne Neville she is the perfect dinner guest, she’s welcome round mine anytime otter too lol aww she’s just lovely.
‘I’m watching #ComeDineWithMe how cute is that old lady Daphne!! Ahhh’
‘Yes and we love Daphne too!! #comedinewithme
‘#comedinewithme I could not love Daphne anymore than if she was my own Nan!’
‘Aww I do love Daphne!! #comedinewithme’
‘We are only tuning in to watch daphne #ComeDineWithMe
‘Aww isn’t Daphne just the best!! #comedinewithme
‘I love Daphne on #comedinewithme
‘Daphne the perfect dinner guest #comedinewithme
#comedinewithme I totally want to adopt Daphne!!
Oh I LOVE Daphne, I’d score her night a 10 even if the food was crap! #comedinewithme #cdwm
Daphne opened Episode 5, being ‘first off’, with a can of tomatoes.
Daphne was interviewed in her kitchen and we met the guests as they came downstairs.
Every detail had been carefully planned. The wine was chilled, the table looked lovely and there was almost constant laughter. Viewers seemed to be engaged: ‘Go daphne!! #comedinewithme
Daphne prepared tomato and mushroom soup for her four guests, followed by wild salmon, only to find out that two of the guests disliked fish, which was a bit of a pity.
Viewers on Twitter were appalled: ‘So James wouldn’t eat Daphne’s main cause he doesn’t like fish but his starter is lobster? #comedinewithme
One of the guests, who was a stickler for good manners, became irritated by another member of the party and walked out before pudding, which was quite dramatic.
She rather blew her own words out of the water although Daphne said Anne later wrote to apologise.
There was a roar from viewers on Twitter:
#comedinewithme ‘OMG how rude is Anne?! Lecturing the others on manners and then walking out on Daphne?! Bitch!’
Suddenly there was one less. Daphne’s fans on Twitter were in uproar:
#comedinewithme Poor Daphne, completely bemused!!
Daphne kept going and the evening became increasingly enjoyable, especially when Rudi the Otter was brought down to meet everyone.
In the end, Daphne was awarded 28 points by her four dinner guests
The Twitter-atary added their opinion:
‘Everyone needs to protect and look after Daphne, that woman is a legend!! #comedinewithme
‘If Daphne doesn’t win I’m going to kill someone #comedinewithme
‘Anyone see the water sossig on #comedinewithme ? (accompnaied with GIF of an ottter)
‘Daphne is our winner #comedinewithme
#comedinewithme Can we have Daphne on every week please!
You can watch this week’s episode on Channel 4 catch-up here
‘Absolutely love #Daphne on #comedinewithme . . . What a legend! I want to meet her and her otter 
You can! Daphne and Rudi the Otter will be appearing at the Frampton Country Fair in South Gloucestershire on Saturday 8th September 2019. All welcome! You can read about the antics of Daphne and her tame otters in ‘Funnily Enough’ by Sophie Neville available online or to order at your local library.
Daphne Neville appearing on come Dine With Me
Filed under Animals, Cotswolds, Film and TV, Otters, Television, Uncategorized
Daphne has been busy filming with her tame otter Rudi starred in the BBC TV Natural World series ‘Suppercharged Otters’ with Charlie Hamilton James, who he is investigating in Mark Wheeler’s photograph above. To read more about this, please click here or go to the Otters page on this website.
Rudi also appeared in the second series of ‘The Durrells’ as both the male otter Gerald Durrell captured on Corfu, and his mate. To read more about this, please click here.
Filed under Animals, Film and TV, Otters, Television, Uncategorized
Daphne has had another busy year, giving talks on otter conservation and appearing in a number of feature films including ‘Ab Fab’ the movie, and the new ‘Bridget Jones’ as well as ‘The Crown’ for Netflix. She is currently presenting ‘The Pensioners Guide to the UK’ produced by Rumpus Media for Channel 4.
Next week Daphne is off to BBC Manchester to appear in a new quiz programme, before flying off to film in Amsterdam.
Romsey Agricultural and Horse Show. Pic: Daphne Neville with Rudi the Otter
Filed under Acting, Animals, British Film, Movie, Otters, Uncategorized
An Otter Garden Party was held at Baker’s Mill, Frampton Mansell in Gloucestershire on Sunday 30th March from 4.00-6.00pm in aid of the IOSF ~ ‘International Otter Survival Fund’.
We are raising money to release into the wild two orphaned British otters rescued from the recent floods near Newbury and invited people to bring their friends to meet our tame otters Belinda and Rudi. Dogs on leads were very welcome, tea and cakes were served and a raffle with fabulous prizes was held by the Oak and Furrows Rescue Centre. The weather was warm and everyone enjoyed walking around the gardens by the historic lake. The River Frome, which flows down the Golden Valley from Baker’s Mill, was in full spate and many people walked home along the Thames and Severn Canal.
Sophie Neville was signing copies of her book Funnily Enough, which describes life with the tame otters at Baker’s Mill.
Thanks to everyone’s support about 150 people came along and we raised nearly £500, which was wonderful. Most people arrived on foot, which was impressive since Baker’s Mill is really in the middle of nowhere.
For information on the next Otter Open Day please email: Daffyneville@yahoo.com
If you missed the event but would like to make a donation please click here for the IOSF site.
Filed under Animals, Otters, Uncategorized
Martin and Daphne Neville profiled in the Sunday Telegraph 21st July 2013
Please click on the cutting to see some of the original photographs
Buy on Amazon UK
Daphne Neville with her otters in 1990
Daphne Neville 