Family Guy Brian's Fate Revealed

Family Guy, you may wish to avoid reading it.

The fate of Family Guy's faithful pet dog Brian has been revealed in an episode of the animated sitcom broadcast in the US last night.

The urbane hound, who was killed off in a shock episode some weeks ago, was resurrected in a festive themed "Christmas Guy" episode, when evil genius baby Stewie used a time machine to go back and change the time-line which saw Brian run over and killed.

His exploits had the effect of not only preventing the accident, but stopping the Griffin family getting replacement dog Vinny.

There had been a backlash among fans when the news originally broke, with thousands signing an online petition to bring him back.

However it now appears the show's creators had always intended to keep him in the show.

Show boss Seth McFarlane - who also voices Brian - wrote on Twitter: "And thus endeth our warm, fuzzy holiday lesson: Never take those you love for granted, for they can be gone in a flash.

"I mean, you didn't really think we'd kill off Brian, did you? Jesus, we'd have to be f***ing high.

"Oh and hey... thanks for caring so much about the canine Griffin. He is overcome with gratitude."

And thus endeth our warm, fuzzy holiday lesson: Never take those you love for granted, for they can be gone in a flash.

— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) December 16, 2013