Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy

Mist: A Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
Release date(s)	25 December 2006 (2006-12-25)
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy is a British family television film following the life of a border collie puppy as she grows up to become a working Herding dog. Part fiction, part documentary, it was filmed by real-life shepherd David Kennard on his farm in Devon. It features his seven working dogs - the puppy Mist, her gentle mother Gail, grandfather 'Sir' Gregory, eccentric, bubbly, hyper uncle Jake, sour and negative auntie Fern, cousin Ernie and wise auntie Swift.

The dogs are voiced by artists including Mel Giedroyc, Brian Blessed, Una Stubbs and Sandra Dickinson, and the film is narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi. It was first broadcast by Five in the United Kingdom (UK) on Christmas Day 2006. It has spawned a spin-off television series called Mist: Sheepdog Tales, which charts the sheepdog adventures of the adult Mist.

Plot

One foggy night in Devon, Gail, a working border collie Herding dog, gives birth to a litter of three puppies, cozy in a barn on Borough Farm. As she lies quietly with her newborn litter, her father, Sir Gregory, walks inside, not realizing she had her puppies until he spots them curled up next to her. He warmly greets his daughter and grandpups, happily asking if she had named them yet. Gail touches a large black puppy with a white blaze, who she named Storm. Sir Gregory warmly replies that it's a good, strong sheepdog name. one of the puppies Drift, but is letting the name of the third puppy be decided by her father. Sir 's a Gregory thinks for a moment, and, looking out of the barn window at the foggy night, decides the name of the third puppy should be Mist. Sir Gregory, likes this very much, and Gail contentedly falls asleep.

The new additions to Borough Farm are soon welcomed by the other working sheepdogs who live there; wise, orange faced Auntie Swift who played a game and the rules were simple ;the first one to blink loses and Mist wins rest of the dogs are Swift's broad headed son Ernie; Mist's miserable pointy eared Auntie Fern; and the large eccentric Uncle Jake and Sir Gregory who gives a rousing speech about how privileged the new litter are to be sheepdogs, before revealing that the Boss, who takes care of all the dogs and the fields of Borough Farm, is going to keep one of the puppies to train them as a sheepdog, much to Fern's chagrin.

Over the next few days, Gail stays with the puppies and keeps them warm and feeds them. One day, the puppies discover they can finally see the world, and excitedly look around the barn. Mist looks out of a nearby window and sees a flock of sheep pass the window, but doesn't know what they are. She points them out to Storm and Drift, but by the time they come to the window, the sheep are gone. They think Mist is making it up, and playfully wrestle each other around the barn. This soon tires them out, and they slowly fall asleep side by side.

The other Borough Farm dogs soon take it in turn to dogsit the puppies in the barn; Jake excitedly plays with them; Mist has a staring competition with Swift and Ernie; and Auntie Fern scares the puppies by telling them that sheep are fire breathing animals that they shouldn't go near. She also spitefully says Mist will never be able to be a good sheepdog because of her "parrot face" and her "narrow eyes".

The puppies soon begin to grow up and venture outdoors with Gail, who teaches them to walk, run, and not to eat the prickly gorse. Mist soon sees a large flock of sheep and is amazed, and realises Fern has lied to them about sheep being dangerous. The puppies watch Uncle Jake herd a large flock of sheep and are mesmerized as he does so. Mist excitedly goes to help him, relishing the chance to be a sheepdog. However, her brother and sister, Storm and Drift, decide they would rather play with sticks in the bushes than herd sheep. They try to persuade Mist to come and play but Mist decides that she is destined to be a sheepdog.

Later that day, Sir Gregory talks with Gail about how well Mist is doing compared to Storm and Drift. Gail realises it's finally time to choose which of the puppies will stay on Borough Farm to be trained as a sheepdog, and which have to leave. She asks if Sir Gregory is sure about Mist being the best to which he replies "Yes, I'm sure she's the one.". It begins to rain.

Two cars soon arrive at Borough Farm and Storm and Drift learn they are to live their lives away from Borough Farm with other families. They say bye to Mist who is to stay on the farm before being driven away, with Gail watching sadly from nearby.

Winter arrives at Borough Farm, but Fern has still not warmed to Mist. She tricks Mist into going into the woods, a dark place where Mist soon gets lost and has to be rescued by the Boss and Sir Gregory. This shakes Mist's confidence a lot, but not so much as to stop her from being taught how to be a sheepdog by Sir Gregory. Mist learns the golden rules of being a sheepdog; stay away from the cliffs, stay away from rams and never go head to head with a sheep until Sir Gregory says she is ready. Mist gets frustrated with how long it takes to learn to be a sheepdog, and when it comes to her first test with the boss, she gets overexcited and doesn't listen to the Boss' commands. It is a complete failure and Mist leaves dejected. For now, Auntie Fern seems to be right about Mist not being a good sheepdog.

Mist decides she needs more practice and rounds up some ducks from a nearby pond and pretends they are sheep. With their help, she slowly manages to control them and learns what it takes to be a good sheepdog. Sir Gregory sees this and is encouraged, but Fern decides to send Mist off track again by telling her she should go and try rounding up some rams to impress everyone. This breaks one of the golden rules, but Mist, determined, heads off to a nearby rams field. She finds the rams very soon but they are incredibly stubborn and don't like sheepdogs, so decide to charge at Mist. Mist has to run for her life across the field before the rams catch her, and just about escapes.

Gail is furious at Mist, who tells her that she's let everyone down by doing what she did in the rams field. She sends Mist to her Kennel, before her final test with the boss the following day. That night, Mist wonders if she'll ever make a good sheepdog, and nervously waits for the following day to arrive.

The next day, the Boss sets Mist her final task; to round up a flock of ewes and drive them into Borough Farm woods. Taking her time and not losing her cool, Mist successfully does this whilst being watched by the other farm dogs, including Sir Gregory who said "watching you is enough to tire anyone out, you were marvelous. That evening, Mist sleeps soundly in the barn where she was born, pleased with her work earlier in the day. Across the yard, Sir Gregory wanders back to his kennel and thinks about how far she has come since the night she was born. He thinks about how proud he is of her, and says he "must remember to tell her that in the morning". However, as he lays down happily with this thought in his mind, Sir Gregory closes his eyes for the last time, peacefully passing away. The next morning, the Borough Farm dogs sit sadly on the steps as it rains, lamenting the loss of their wise leader.

In the days after Sir Gregory's death, the other dogs get on with their lives as sheepdogs. Mist and Fern still don't like each other, but one day when the Boss takes Mist and Fern for his morning round when they arrive at the cliffs they discover that a grumpy ram, Macphereson, is stuck on a cliff lege in the fog. The Boss sends Mist and Fern to Macphereson to attempt a rescue. When they get there, Mist discovers Fern is afraid of the cliffs and can't rescue the ram. Mist bravely navigates her way down the cliffs, and, with Fern's help from above, stands off with the ram down below. But Macphereson turns around,Fern thinks it's best to get Swift up at the cliffs to do it but she remembers what Sir Gregory said to her "With teamwork and Bravery there's nothing we can't achieve" so Mist refused to come back up and she and Macphereson battle, Mist falls and the Boss and Fern think she is dead but Mist comes back up and remembers even more what Sir Gregory said to her and finally moves Macphereson off the Cliffs and Macphereson told Macvicor to run for his life.

Back on the farm, Fern says she is extremely proud of Mist and concedes that she is a good sheepdog, burying their rivally finally. As the film ends, we see Mist happily working the cliffs with the other Borough Farm sheepdogs, having now claimed her place as one of the pack.

Characters

Borough Farm Sheepdogs

• Sir Gregory is the oldest and wisest dog on the farm, and is Mist's grandfather. He teaches her how to be a sheepdog, and is voiced by Brian Blessed.
• Fern is Mist's auntie and does not get on with the new arrival to Borough Farm. She likes to give Mist a hard time as she grows up, has very pointy ears, and is voiced by Una Stubbs.
• Gail is Mist's mum and looks after her as she grows up. She is very close to her father, Sir Gregory, and guides Mist well as she learns to become a sheepdog. She is voiced by Sandra Dickinson.