Hey Duggee - I have questions...

[SinkGirl]

My twins are both in love with Hey Duggee and have been for about two years now. While other children would have moved on to more complex things, my two are autistic and show no signs of moving past Duggee. Which means I have seen each episode 8000 times, and the more I watch, the more questions I have:

1. Why are some animals animals and some animals like people? What dictates which animals can talk and which animals make animal sounds? And is it really appropriate for the Squirrels to be stroking Duggee?

2. Is Squirrel Club a franchise? I suspect not, as when they go for a jamboree, the group is the Hummingbirds. So Duggee wears that uniform through choice. Weird.

3. How much are the parents paying for this? It seems to be Duggees only job, and he’s running a whole clubhouse and paying for an interpreter. Happy travels on the bus to squirrel club, are these sessions funded by social care?

4. Who is deciding what criteria means a badge is awarded? Duggee reckons he’s an expert in every bloody subject because he has a badge, but then the Squirrels get the same badge for doing bugger all, so the badges are meaningless. Bit dangerous giving them a first aid badge after wrapping someone into a bandage ball and applying a plaster - I hope none of the squirrels ever need CPR.

5. Can you imagine how insufferable Duggee would be if you knew him? He thinks he knows more about camouflage than a bloody chameleon, or more about plays than people literally putting on a play. He’s such a dogsplainer. He would be a nightmare at a dinner party.

6. Where are the risk assessments for these outings?

7. Is it really a good idea for an elephant to adopt a crocodile? Sure, fine when he’s a kid, but what about when he reaches adulthood?

I have officially seen too much Duggee. Thank god it’s this and not bloody Night Garden.

I have had the same sleep-deprived thoughts, especially re the risk of an elephant adopting a crocodile. Also, I think Duggee needs to do safeguarding training.

Sorry to jump on yourthread, but can anybody explain the set up with happy's cousin Eric? Is it an open adoption, so he still spends time with his birth family? Or did his elephant aunt/uncle also adopt? Is he actually his cousin or is he sibling/young parent? Happy seems very obsessive about talking about him, so I feel they have some kind of shared troma or backstory.

I do actually have an answer to one of your questions. Duggee not only chooses to wear the uniform, he designed and made it himself, and has made various styles of the uniform over several decades, possibly since before becoming a squirrel leader. (Ref. Fashion badge)

I just think happy is a really content fella and loves his cousin. He says Eric is 8 so being older he prob looks up to him. Who knows about his adoption

Happy is obsessed with water, and I get that, because he's a crocodile. But Betty isn't obsessed with it, and you'd think she would be, as an octopus - in fact, how is she even able to survive on land?!

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

Marmite.... Younger than beavers.

Doesn’t beavers start at 6 though? I can’t see many parents being comfortable leaving younger children 🤷🏻‍♀️

Why is Norrie the mouse bigger than Roly the hippo?

I will not have a word said against Hey Duggee.

I miss it.

Squirrels is a NI thing, like Cubs and Beavers but for younger ones, I think it's 4-5? The scarf is yellow too.

I do wonder if it's coincidence or someone took the idea from that.

Ooh, I see Aroundtheworldin80moves got there first.

I hope if the rest of the UK gets it too then the stupid complicated badges get reworked. They're harder than some of the beaver ones.

I love Hey Duggee. We quote Betty’s, ‘in a minute minute minute’ regularly and ‘hellloooooo’ and a few other words and lines. I think amongst Bing, ITNG and the Twirlywoos, it is an utter tonic.

Squirrel club is clearly a local branch of something bigger, but you can pick your own animal for the name. Hummingbird club is one of the others. Otherwise you’d be insinuating that Duggee makes up the badges himself!!

Duggee must have another job during school hours. I reckon he only runs squirrel club as a volunteer.

And he doesn’t pay the interpreter. The TV crew pay for that as part of the deal to film. I reckon the interpreter is a Louis Theroux type, delving into the real lives of people on the fringes of normal society.

Op your post has made me smile thank you!
My ds has just got into duggee... we dance to the stick song a lot!
Never really thought about what will happen when the crocodile grows but duggee will probably have a badge in it...

In an episode I saw this morning (I think it was the traffic badge?) Duggee (and other large animals) also seemed to be operating as vehicles. Maybe he's a taxi driver in his spare time?

Sticky sticky stick stick.

Am I the only one that finds hey dugee a pile of pretentious piffle?

@Janaih

Am I the only one that finds hey dugee a pile of pretentious piffle?

Yes!

We love Duggee here. It's just genius!

'Free acorns!' 🤣

Awww you have made me smile here , DC have just lost interest in these sort of shows (ds2 has only just and probably would still quite like duggee but it's not his priority as such anymore....that is annoyingly reserved for insane alien thingies on netflix) and I sort of miss duggee purely because I am far enough away from the constant bloody repeats it's a bit like childbirth after a while you have warm and fuzzy memories of torture

I liked the duggee robot ,it was my favourite episode.

I even now have caught some fuzzy feelings towards bing and flop the smug git

I will never , ever have fuzzy feelings towards the creepy babies in in the night garden. Those bloody things gave me nightmares

Hey Duggee gave me the stick song. All is forgiven and needs no explaining.

I saw something on a parent group, possibly mumsnet even, that said "Duggee's got his insufferable know it all badge".

It's still better than Bing, though I want to know why Pando has yellow shorts on at the start of the opening titles and then takes them off when they get to the park. He then spends every episode in his pants.

Stick stick stick stick sticky sticky stick stick!

For you, OP www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8998909/Childrens-TV-Hey-Duggee-award-frazzled-mums-dads-Parenting-2020-badge.html

I cried when I realised that Happy was adopted

Duggee has been our lockdown saviour so I generally won't hear a word said against him.

However in one episode he's out in his kennel desperate for a drink of water. Duggee, you own the place, get inside the house. Give over.

Ive also wondered why some animals are talkers and why others are just animals.

I'd also like to know where in the world Duggee's club is. In show maps suggested Africa.

In a MINUTE MINUTE MINUTE has forever embedded itself in my brain. Personal other highlights are when he transforms into a vehicle to speed round the traffic jam and when Roly places the ladybird into the shape sorter. Train song is a consistent low point for us, always comes on a bad day.

Don't even start with Bing. Horrific on several levels.

If anyone’s bored of the regular stick song, here’s the remix

DS shouts BIRDS! At the top of his voice when we see birds -thanks Roly.... I also caught him the other day telling himself god job squirrel, when he was putting his toys away.

I have wondered many of the same things as you, and was particularly outraged by Duggee's day off when they all turned up anyway.

DS is two next week, but his love for Duggee has been going a while, he doesn't watch much TV and in the grand scheme of things Duggee shows kindness, manners, no aggression/rudeness etc like some children's TV shows and the toothbrushing song and book (featuring Alain L'odeur -all kinds were called Alain for a while) worked wonders when DS went through a phase of being very difficult about brushing his teeth.

I want to know when I'm getting my raising a toddler in a pandemic badge....