Peter Purves on how he spends his Saturday... looking after his dogs and watching classic movies

7am

We have two wire haired dachshunds Teddy, 12, and Bertie, three, and two Pekinese, Lilly, nine, and Max, 10 months – so they have to be let out. I’m currently supporting the #RescueYourRescue campaign and am also the vice patron of Dogs For Good. Then we have a cup of Yorkshire tea – hot and strong, no sugar.

8am

I have a couple of boiled eggs and some toast.

9am

I’ll spend an hour doing the Telegraph crosswords – the quick one and the cryptic. Kathryn [Peter’s wife] and I sit in the breakfast room, which is also where the dogs live.

11am

I wander around the garden at our home near Framlingham in Suffolk and look at the flowers – the peonies are just about to come out – and the long pond. We’ve had ducks on it this year, though at the moment we’ve only got moorhens.

12am

I know I’ve got a novel in me somewhere, so I keep scribbling bits of it, but I haven’t planned it properly yet.

1pm

Lunch could be garlic bread or some bubble and squeak. Kate does most of the cooking, I tend to make curries. We’ve got friends who have done some food shopping for us, and have a fishmonger, John Cairns, who delivers. Then I get the ride-on mower out and cut the grass – it’s very therapeutic, though the most difficult thing is making sure I don’t drive into the pond.

4pm

Prior to this [lockdown], Kate and I might have gone out to look at the antique centres in Halesworth. Now, Kate takes Teddy for a half-mile walk.

5pm

I spend time relaxing with my Mac. I’ve got a complicated program, Trainz, which allows me to construct the ultimate railway. It’s incredibly addictive and drives my wife mad.

6pm

Kate usually cooks, and we’re thinking of having a virtual dinner party via Zoom, like my son Matthew, who had one with some neighbours in London.

7pm

We found a DVD of Hanky Panky, starring Jean Wilder and Gilda Radner – a very funny and totally nonsensical film – so we watch that and have a very good laugh. We tend to watch a lot of old pictures like Casablanca and The Big Sleep.

10pm

The dogs go out and that’s it for the night. I like reading in bed – my last book was All the Rage by Cara Hunter.

My favourite things

My signature scent is...

Chanel Pour Monsieur. Kate buys it for me and I use it sparingly. I’m always happy to have it.

I can't stop laughing at...

Kate makes me laugh – she has a dry sense of humour. We both like similar comedians, too, like Randy Rainbow, an extremely rude and wonderful satirist.

I couldn't live without...

My Apple computer. My handwriting used to be quite neat as we were taught calligraphy in school. These days it’s a bit of a scrawl, so I prefer typing.

Peter Purves is supporting #RescueYourRescue, a fundraising appeal from Lintbells to help pet-rescue charities affected by Covid-19