HOUNDTON TABBY

FROM MRS Patmore to Lady Sybil, these barking mad illustrations show the WOOF-er side of some of our most loved Downton characters. The art works entitled 'Houndton Tabby', were designed by illustrator and artist Kim Parkhurst, 39, after she combined her love of drawing and Downton Abbey. 'I've been painting portraits of animals in historical costume for some time,” explains New Yorker Kim. “I've taken some familiar and beloved characters whose demeanour, personality, and appearance seemed to translate to certain breeds of dog or cat. 'I got to thinking about Mr Bates' character and storyline, and Brendan Coyle's facial structure, and how he could look hard but also had the warmest, kindest eyes.

Other great stories
DARK DISNEY

THESE are the Disney Princesses you wouldn't want to run into in a dark alley .

HOP ON! FASHIONABLE FROG TRIES A SNAIL HAT ON FOR SIZE

FLAUNTING its new accessory, a fashionable green dumpy tree frog poses for the camera while wearing a SNAIL as a hat .

FIGHTING BLACKBACK GORILLAS

FISTS fly as two gorillas take each other on in a dramatic battle .

MAN AND NATURE

LEAF-ing much to the imagination, this camera trickery is blooming marvellous .

FROZEN WATERFALLS

COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .

BENGAL TIGER PLANS ATTACK ON UNSUSPECTING DEER

SNEAKING slowly into the water, this Bengal tiger plans a vicious attack on three unsuspecting deer .

CROCODILE CAVE DIVING PENSIONER

THIS DANGER-mad female pensioner could be the oldest Brit to cage dive with CROCODILES .

KUNG-FU FROG IMITATES KARATE KID

Balanced on one leg, a frog assumes the crane kick martial arts stance made famous in the movie The Karate Kid .

A-PAW-ABLE SHELTER DOGS POSE IN THE HOPE OF FINDING FOREVER HOMES

WE’RE all familiar with the heart-wrenching pictures of dogs abandoned in animal shelters, but one photographer has found an innovative way of showcasing the pooch’s personality .

DADDY DAY CARE: CARDINALFISH FATHER CARRIES EGGS IN MOUTH

It’s a role reversal in the Visayan Sea as HUNDREDS of tiny, glistening eggs are carried around inside the mouth of their cardinalfish father .

WOMAN DIES AFTER TAXI STABBING

Court case starts today at Birmingham Crown Court .

£34m TAX FRAUD RACKET JAILED

A man who conned tax officials out of £34 million and funded a lavish lifestyle of luxury hotels and restaurants has been jailed for one of the longest sentences in British criminal fraud history .