Hey Duggee gets second series on CBeebies

BBC Worldwide has commissioned a second series of the popular children’s animation Hey Duggee from Studio AKA. The order which has been made for CBeebies international channels, as well as potential clients, will see Duggee and The Squirrel Club return for 52 new episodes to entertain children across the globe. In the UK, Controller of CBeebies, Kay Benbow has also ordered the second series of Hey Duggee for the channel.

Devised by the OSCAR nominated and BAFTA award winning Studio AKA, the first series of Hey Duggee has proved a hit with audiences on CBeebies channels as well as selling to over 80 territories worldwide including, France Television, ABC Australia, SVT Sweden, and most recently to Nickelodeon in the US.

Hey Duggee is based around ‘The Squirrel Club’ run by a big friendly dog called Duggee. It’s a place where kids take part in all kinds of activities and adventures, earning activity badges along the way. Duggee teaches the kids vital life skills about being responsible, working as a team, taking acceptable risks, and most importantly…having fun!

Boasting an array of talent on and off screen Hey Duggee was created and written by Grant Orchard, Senior Director of Studio AKA. The series features the voice talent of the critically acclaimed comedian Alexander Armstrong whose warmth and humour have charmed audiences young and old.

BBC CBeebies Controller Kay Benbow said: “Hey Duggee has fast become a firm favourite on the CBeebies channel, so we are currently earning our ‘Excited Badge’ as we anticipate wonderful new adventures with Duggee and The Squirrels. As Duggee would say ‘A-Woof!’”

Sue Goffe Managing Director of Studio aka and Executive Producer of Hey Duggee says “We are hugely excited to be working on Series two and over the moon by the response we’ve had to Hey Duggee so far. We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved for Series one; it’s been a journey but really fun along the way. Getting recommissioned by CBeebies and BBC Worldwide, having the exposure in so many other territories and to add Nickelodeon USA to the list now is testament to the hard work everyone involved has put in. There are some exciting episodes in the making so watch this space!”

An instant hit, Hey Duggee has been viewed over 22m times on BBC iPlayer. The brand has signed multiple license partnerships already with master toy partner Golden Bear; Penguin publishers under the Ladybird brand and in 2015 BBC Worldwide and mobile games developer Scary Beasties launched the first Hey Duggee pre-school app which rocketed to number one in the kids app chart. The official game Hey Duggee: The Big Badge and Hey Duggee: The Tinsel Badge have been downloaded over 150,000 times and a new app is in production for an Easter 2016 release.