| Hacker T Dog | |
|---|---|
| CBBC, Scoop & Hacker Time character | |
 | |
| First appearance | Scoop (2009) |
| Created by | Neil Sterenberg |
| Portrayed by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Border Terrier |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Presenter |
| Nationality | British |
| Owner | Digby Digworth (Scoop) |
Hacker The Dog, [1] more commonly known as Hacker T Dog, is a Border Terrier [2] [3] dog puppet who appears on the CBBC television channel in the United Kingdom. [4] He is performed by puppeteer Phil Fletcher.
Hacker was introduced as a character in the CBBC television programme Scoop , performed by Andy Heath. Hacker is the unintelligible non-spoken sidekick of Digby Digworth, as the two attempt to try and find a news scoop but chaos ensues along the way.
After the character became popular, Hacker was added as a weekday presenter at the CBBC office in May 2009, with the puppetry and voice now being performed by Phil Fletcher. Hacker from that point gained a much more noticeable characteristic, having a much more comedic and sarcastic personality and he now spoke in full words. These characteristics were added to the character within the second and third seasons of Scoop as well. In July, he began presenting on weekdays with Scottish comedian Iain Stirling. [5]
In 2010, Hacker's "half-brother" Dodge T Dog joined the presenting team on CBBC, while Hacker went off to film the second series of Scoop.
In 2011, Hacker was given a solo presenting role on a separate chat show titled Hacker Time , where he interviews television personalities and other CBBC stars. The series lasted five seasons from 2011–2016. [6]
In 2013, following Ian Stirling's departure from CBBC, he and Dodge began presenting with Chris Johnson. [7]
The character took a hiatus from CBBC in April 2014. During his absence, numerous guest presenters filled in for him during his usual weekday afternoon slot. Hacker returned temporarily on 24 May 2014, before making a permanent return on 18 June 2014.
A 2016 clip in which Hacker deadpans to host Lauren Layfield "We're just normal men... We're just innocent men", prompting Layfield to break character and laugh while Hacker continues to deadpan, resurfaced in 2022 and went viral. [8] [9] [10] While some assumed the clip had context before the exchange, Fletcher later explained that there was none, and he just ad-libbed the line to make Layfield laugh. [9]
Hacker is very fond of television presenter Sue Barker and mentions her often. [11] [12] In 2009 Hacker was the mascot for the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship. [13] [14] [15] [16]
Hacker is known for saying 'cockers' – a Northern term for 'mate'. [17]
Hacker, Cel Spellman and Amberley Lobo provided CBBC commentary on the Russia v Belgium match at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Hacker appeared on an episode of Celebrity Mastermind in December 2016, his specialist subject being the Pet Shop Boys. He came in second place, losing to television chef Paul Rankin. [18]
The character has appeared in the following roles:
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2009–2011 | Scoop | Main role |
| 2009–present | CBBC HQ | Channel presenter |
| 2011–2016 | Hacker Time | Namesake presenter |
| 2013, 2016 | Sam & Mark's Big Friday Wind-Up | |
| 2014 | Wimbledon 2day | |
| 2015 | Wimbledon | |
| Hacker's Birthday Bash: 30 Years of Children's BBC | Main role | |
| 2015–2017 | The Dog Ate My Homework | 5 appearances |
| All Over the Place | Appears in cutaway segments recorded in the UK | |
| 2016 | Horrible Histories: Gory Games | Contestant |
| Hacker's Olympic Rundown | Main role | |
| Celebrity Mastermind | Contestant; 2nd place | |
| Hacker's Crackers | Main role | |
| Zig and Zag's Zogcasts | Appears in episode 17 | |
| Art Ninja | Appears in 4 episodes from series 2–5 | |
| 2017 | BBC Election Wrap | |
| 2017–2019 | Saturday Mash-Up! | Presenter |
| 2018 | Remotely Funny | Contestant |
| 2020 | Pointless Celebrities | Contestant; children's TV special |
| Andy and the Band: Live at Home! | ||
| 2022 | Andy and the Band | Appears in episode: BBC Shutdown |
| 2024 | Birthday Party in the CBeebies House |
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the third of the four Grand Slam tennis events every year, held after the Australian Open and the French Open and before the US Open. It is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious.
Susan Barker is a British former television presenter and professional tennis player. During her playing career, Barker won 15 WTA Tour singles titles, including a major singles title at the 1976 French Open. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 3.
CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six years and under. Its sister channel, CBBC, is intended for older children aged six to twelve. It broadcasts every day from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm, timesharing with BBC Four.
Carol Kirkwood is a Scottish weather presenter, trained by the Met Office, and employed by the BBC, on BBC Breakfast. In 2015, she participated in the 13th series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing, finishing in 10th place.
Justin Fletcher is an English children's television presenter, actor and comedian, known for mainly appearing on CBeebies. Speaking and performing in various, often self-created, roles, he specialises in slapstick comedy and works with children with special educational needs through his show Something Special.
Edward Oliver James "Ed" Petrie is an English actor, comedian, and television presenter.
Warrick Brownlow-Pike is a British puppeteer. He is best known for performing the character "Gonger" on Sesame Street and its spinoff series The Furchester Hotel and Dodge T Dog on the CBeebies Channel.
Scoop is a children's TV series first broadcast by the BBC on the CBBC channel from 5 January 2009 to 10 August 2011.
Iain Andrew Stirling is a Scottish comedian, writer, television presenter, narrator and Twitch streamer from Edinburgh, Scotland.
Ceallach Spellman is an English actor and presenter best known for playing Matthew Williams in the revival of ITV drama Cold Feet, Harry Fisher in the BBC One school-based drama Waterloo Road from 2010 to 2011 and hosting Friday Download and various other programmes on CBBC. From July 2015 until August 2020, he presented his own show on BBC Radio 1, which aired every Sunday between 16:00 and 19:00 with his co-presenter Katie Thistleton.
Christopher David Johnson is a British television presenter and actor. He began presenting on the CBBC Channel in January 2010, and continued until April 2016. His first television appearance was for BBC Three, introducing Family Guy. Chris also makes content on YouTube under the user name OfficialCDJ.
Andy Heath is a British puppeteer. He is most noted for working as the head puppeteer for the BBC Three situation comedy Mongrels, where he controls the main character, Nelson the metrosexual fox. He also puppeteered Hacker T Dog in CBBC's Scoop, who is currently performed by Phil Fletcher. He has also worked on television show Fur TV and on the film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005).
Hacker Time is a British children's sketch comedy talk show, broadcast by CBBC, starring Hacker T. Dog. In each episode, Hacker interviews a celebrity, and plays games and the show also includes recurring segments, such as sketches. Six series of the show were produced, which were aired from 2011 to 2016.
Ore Oduba is a British television and radio presenter who has also worked as an actor. From 2008 until 2013, he presented the CBBC news programme Newsround. In 2018 he hosted the game show And They're Off! in aid of Sport Relief. In 2019 he began his musical theatre career, starring in the UK tour of Grease. He also appeared alongside Jason Manford in Curtains the Musical. Oduba made his West End debut in January 2020. However, he is best known for winning the fourteenth series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing in 2016.
Katie Lorna Thistleton is an English television and radio presenter, journalist and author, best known for her work across BBC Radio 1 and previously CBBC. She currently co-hosts Radio 1's Going Home with Vick, Katie and Jamie, having previously been host of Life Hacks and The Official Chart: First Look alongside Vick Hope.
Hacker's Olympic Rundown is a British comedy-sports miniseries which aired on CBBC during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Presented by Scoop character, Hacker T. Dog, each episode features a rundown of the previous day's events with a humorous twist on them. Characters from Hacker Time, Wilf Breadbin and Derek McGee appeared as Hacker's 'roving reporter' and studio crew respectively. The series began on 8 August 2016. 11 episodes aired throughout August. All roles were portrayed by Phil Fletcher and were written by Jaime Wilson and Graham Davies.
The Dog Ate My Homework is a British children's panel show hosted by Lauren Layfield. It was first broadcast on 17 January 2014 and was originally hosted by the comedian Iain Stirling. The show is produced by CBBC Productions Scotland for CBBC.
Lauren Layfield is an English television and radio presenter and journalist who has worked for CBBC, Capital FM and Radio 1.
Phil Fletcher is a British puppeteer. He established his puppet manufacturing and performance company, Gluvets, at the age of 11. After briefly working in manufacturing he found summer work performing in holiday camps and became a full-time puppeteer in 2002. In 2009 he was cast by the BBC as the puppeteer for Hacker T Dog for continuity segments on the CBBC Channel. Fletcher gave Hacker a voice for the first time and the character proved popular, receiving his own 63-episode TV series, Hacker Time, which was nominated for eight BAFTAs. From 2017 Fletcher voiced Sweep in Sooty and from 2021 has appeared as Larry the Lizard on Buffering.