Hey Duggee
Hey Duggee is a British animated children’s television series aimed at preschool children aged two to five. It was created by Grant Orchard[1] and is produced by Studio AKA in association with BBC Studios. The series is narrated by Alexander Armstrong.
The programme is set around the Squirrel Club, an activity club for children led by Duggee. In each episode, the Squirrels take part in an activity or adventure and earn a badge for what they have achieved. Episodes often involve simple stories about teamwork, problem-solving, and discovery, and sometimes include playful references to popular culture.
Hey Duggee has four series. It first aired in December 2014. A second series followed in 2016,[2] and a third series was commissioned in October 2017,[3] with the first episode due to be broadcast in Autumn 2018, but began in March 2019 and continued until September 2021, including a Christmas episode in 2020. The third series received increased acclaim and popularity amongst children and adults alike during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns.[4] A fourth series was later commissioned.[5]
In the United States, the series began airing on Nick Jr. in July 2016.
Production
The programme is animated using Adobe Flash in a simple, minimalist style with flat shapes and limited use of outlines and effects.[6] Most characters are designed using basic geometric forms, with Duggee being one of the few characters that uses gradients.
The production team includes a small group of in-house animators and a team of scriptwriters.[6]
Characters
Main
- Narrator (voiced by Alexander Armstrong) – the narrator of the show.
- Duggee (voiced by Sander Jones) – a friendly big brown male dog and the leader of the Squirrel Club.
- Betty (voiced by Jasmine Bartholomew (series 1–3), Arabella Duffy (series 3–present)) – a talkative and intelligent purple octopus.
- Norrie (voiced by Poppie Boyes (series 1–2), Bella Green (series 3–present)) – a sweet-natured and curious brown mouse.
- Roly (voiced by Leo Templer (series 1), Dexter Varrall (series 2–present)) – an enthusiastic, loud and hyperactive grey hippo.
- Tag (voiced by Alfie Sanderson (series 1–2), Ollie Chequer (series 3–present)) – a gentle, clumsy blue rhino.
- Happy (voiced by Duke Davis (series 1–3), Forest Davis (series 3–present)) – a tall, easy-going green crocodile, with a love of water and splashing in puddles.
Episodes
Series 1 (2014–2015)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Tinsel Badge" | Grant Orchard | Grant Orchard | 17 December 2014 |
|
It's nearly Christmas time and Duggee is wrapping up all the presents to go underneath the Christmas tree. This episode was premiered in advance on 17 December 2014 as a Christmas special before the series' regular run. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Drawing Badge" | Grant Orchard | Grant Orchard | 12 January 2015 |
| Duggee and the Squirrels stay indoors because it is raining outside, and they decide to do some drawing. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "The Cake Badge" | Grant Orchard | Grant Orchard | 13 January 2015 |
| While playing outside, Happy comes across a cake in a field and eats it. The owners of the cake, who turn out to be rabbits, are not very pleased with that. | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "The Hair Badge" | Grant Orchard | Myles McLeod | 14 January 2015 |
| The Squirrels try to help fix Duggee's hair. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "The Summer Holiday Badge" | Grant Orchard | Myles McLeod | 15 January 2015 |
| The Squirrels pack summer holiday (summer vacation) stuff for a bird named Mawk, who was migrating to "find summer" just with a photo camera around his neck and a toothbrush in a suitcase. | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Rescue Badge" | Grant Orchard | Grant Orchard | 16 January 2015 |
| Duggee and the Squirrels rescue Enid the cat, who was stuck on a tree branch while chasing a mouse. | |||||
| 7 | 7 | "The Super Squirrel Badge" | Grant Orchard | Grant Orchard | 19 January 2015 |
| Duggee and the Squirrels play superheroes, eventually helping a little duck to find its family. | |||||
| 8 | 8 | "The Jam Badge" | Grant Orchard | Grant Orchard | 20 January 2015 |
| The Squirrels are watching Duggee making a jar of jam when a "naughty monkey" steals a barrel of fruit; the gang eventually share jam toasts with the monkey. | |||||
| 9 | 9 | "The Treasure Hunt Badge" | Grant Orchard | Danny Stack | 21 January 2015 |
| The Squirrels, using a treasure map, go on an adventure to find a treasure to bring to Duggee. It turns out that the treasure was located near the Clubhouse. | |||||
| 10 | 10 | "The Scarecrow Badge" | Grant Orchard | Danny Stack | 22 January 2015 |
| To stop some birds from eating Duggee's grain, the Squirrels decide to build a scarecrow. Betty, Happy, Norrie, and Tag help Duggee with the scarecrow, while Roly keeps a close eye on the birds, though it was tiring for him later on. | |||||
| 11 | 11 | "The Funny Face Badge" | Grant Orchard | Grant Orchard | 23 January 2015 |
|
Duggee and the Squirrels decide to try and cheer up their friend Whoooooo the Shamanistic Owl. When thinking for more ideas, Betty makes some funny faces, and the Squirrels decide to cheer up Whoooooo with more funny faces. Note: This episode was pulled off the air by the BBC due to a funny face tower breaking. | |||||
| 12 | 12 | "The Bouncing Badge" | Grant Orchard | Grant Orchard | 26 January 2015 |
| Duggee puts up a bouncy castle for Tag on his birthday. But a thunder cloud was about to rain on the castle, so the Squirrels decide to blow it away. | |||||
| 13 | 13 | "The Leaf Badge" | Grant Orchard | Danny Stack | 27 January 2015 |
| A weird noise is heard while Duggee and the Squirrels go for a walk in the woods while searching for a new leaf for Duggee. | |||||
| 14 | 14 | "The Omelette Badge" | Grant Orchard | Danny Stack | 28 January 2015 |
| Duggee wants to make omelettes, but there are no eggs, so Duggee and the Squirrels need to find the chickens and get them to help. | |||||
| 15 | 15 | "The Food Growing Badge" | Grant Orchard | Sam Morrison | 29 January 2015 |
| The Squirrels want to grow things after they see Duggee doing this as well. However, Happy doesn't think that his strawberry will grow at all. | |||||
| 16 | 16 | "The Paddling Pool Badge" | Grant Orchard | James Henry | 30 January 2015 |
| On a hot day, Duggee gets out his big paddling pool. The Squirrels love paddling pools. | |||||
| 17 | 17 | "The Paper Boat Badge" | Grant Orchard | Sam Morrison | 2 February 2015 |
| The Squirrels learn how to make a paper boat, and help some ants get to a picnic. | |||||
| 18 | 18 | "The Castle Badge" | Grant Orchard | Myles McLeod | 3 February 2015 |
| Duggee and the Squirrels hear a spooky voice coming from a tower in a big castle. | |||||
| 19 | 19 | "The Show & Tell Badge" | Grant Orchard | Grant Orchard | 4 February 2015 |
| The Squirrels watch Duggee 'Show and Tell' something interesting, and then they decide to find their own things for Show and Tell. Norrie found a Ladybird which was exciting. | |||||
| 20 | 20 | "The Rocking Horse Badge" | Grant Orchard | Jo Clegg | 5 February 2015 |
| Duggee and the Squirrels fix Bucky, Duggee's old rocking horse, and then the Squirrels play with him. | |||||
| 21 | 21 | "The Get Well Soon Badge" | Grant Orchard | Sander Jones | 6 February 2015 |
| Duggee and the Squirrels help other animals in trouble while the team heads to Norrie's house to give her a Get Well Soon card. | |||||
| 22 | 22 | "The Hiccup Badge" | Grant Orchard | Grant Orchard | 9 February 2015 |
| The Squirrels' friend, Worm, has the hiccups, so the Squirrels need to cure him, and they turn to Duggee for some help. | |||||
| 23 | 23 | "The Maze Badge" | Grant Orchard | Phillip Warner | 10 February 2015 |
| The Squirrels create a maze from items they find in Duggee's workshop. Their maze works too well when Duggee gets lost in it, so they must find him. | |||||
| 24 | 24 | "The Acorn Badge" | Grant Orchard | Sam Morrison | 12 February 2015 (normal) 11 February 2015 (unknown) |
| Duggee gets the Squirrels to gather acorns and give them to other animals, who are about to hibernate. | |||||
| 25 | 25 | "The Balloon Badge" | Grant Orchard | Danny Stack | 13 February 2015 (normal) 12 February 2015 (unknown) |
| Duggee shows off his balloon blowing skills to the Squirrels. They want the balloons, but Duggee tells them that they are for Tino the Artistic Mouse on his birthday. | |||||
| 26 | 26 | "The Rain Dance Badge" | Grant Orchard | Danny Stack | 11 February 2015 (normal) 13 February 2015 (unknown) |
| The Squirrels are taught a rain dance by Duggee in order to give his flowers water on a hot day. | |||||
References
- ↑ Brand new children's series Hey Duggee launches on ABC Kids Australian Channel (2014)BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ↑ Jamila Atta. Global Children's Hit 'Hey Duggee' to return to CBeebies for a Second Series (16 February 2016)BBC. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ↑ BBC Worldwide. More Duggee Hugs Are Coming! BBC Worldwide and CBeebies commission Series Three of the award-winning pre-school series Hey Duggee (2 October 2017)BBC. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ↑ Tim Jonze. Hey Duggee: how a cult CBeebies show became the surprise TV smash of lockdown. The Guardian (5 August 2020).
- ↑ Squirrels! Isn't it time for… Hey Duggee series 4?.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 INTERVIEW: 'Hey Duggee' Creator Grant Orchard On Creating An Unconventional Preschool Show (28 February 2017)Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ↑ Ladywood School. TVGuide.com.