Churchill (also nicknamed 'Churchie') is the mascot of the British insurance firm of the same name.
Churchill has had multiple appearances over the years. However, he is consistently depicted as a bulldog, which are often commonly associated with former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who the company is named after.
In 1994 he was portrayed by a live-action bulldog with an unknown name. Only one ad exists with this design and not much is known about what the dog's name was or how many ads it starred in.
From 1996 until 2004 he was portrayed by an animatronic designed to resemble a bobblehead in the shape of a bulldog. This design would serve as the basis for the succeeding two iterations.
Churchill was voiced by Bob Mortimer from 1996 to 2011, and Stephen Alan Yorke from 2011 to 2019.
In 2004 the animatronic Churchill was replaced with a 3D-animated version. The CGI Churchill has notably darker spots, looking more brown than the original orange, and a more expressive face. The face was later redesigned in 2010 with less refined facial features. He also gained size, going from being a tiny bobblehead to an actual dog.
In 2010 Churchill returned to being an animatronic, though this one is noticeably less expressive than the predecessors and based on the 2010 CGI Churchill.
In 2019, Churchill became a photorealistic CGI character, designed to look closer to an actual bulldog instead of his traditional bobblehead design.
Churchill is most known for his TV spots from 1996 onwards. The first batch consisted of an announcer (played by Vic Reeves) asking Churchill questions. Churchill typically responds with 'Oh yes.' which would eventually become his catchphrase, often subverted with 'Oh no.' for comedic effect.
Churchill would then take up a role as part of the fictional gameshow 'Challenge Churchill' where he is questioned regarding his company's various services. Then came the 'Count on Churchill' campaign which takes the form of a Family Guy-like cutaway gag, featuring celebrities like Eddie the Eagle, Melanie Sykes and Ricky Hatton. The 'Chat to Churchill' campaign followed, seeing Churchill starring alongside Martin Clunes and later Dawn French.
Churchill went solo for his final commercials as a puppet, interacting with sentient furniture, cars and houses, also coinciding with a new slogan, 'Depend on the Dog'
Photo-realistic Churchill made his debut riding on a skateboard (to mimic the viral video) and would later be seen taking people to a strange pink alternate dimension to make them feel calmer, along with a new logo, emphasising the 'chill' part of the brand's name.
