Production
Series 1 of Hacker Time was filmed in 2010 at BBC Television Centre in studio TC9, which was decommissioned shortly after production finished. Subsequent series were filmed at MediaCityUK.
Hacker Time was originally a weekly show of 13 episodes, but starting with series 2, it consisted of 10 episodes aired over 2 weeks in the summer.
In December 2014 it was announced that there would be a fifth series, consisting of ten episodes. [5] It started on 27 July 2015 at 9:00am.
The final episode aired on 19 August 2016. In 2017, it was confirmed that the show had been cancelled and would not return for a seventh series that year. Reruns stopped airing in 2018 and the show has not been available on BBC iPlayer since then. The final episode to air was "Robbie Savage" on the 31 August 2018.
Segments
Each episode has a distinct format. At the start is a title sequence. From series 3 onward, there is a cold open before this featuring what goes wrong in the studio where the show takes place. Often episodes feature an interview with a celebrity (usually a BBC star). The episodes consist of a fact file, a comedic chat about the star of the show, a fictional commercial break (in some episodes), a song, a specific themed segment (usually in the style of a soap opera), more chatting, a parody of the show the special guest stars in, and another sketch. The show ends with a goodbye song, reminding viewers to tune in to the next edition.
In the last four series, the show's final sequence is a game:
- Series 3 - 'What's In 'Em?': The guests are asked to pick three "storage units". Hacker always picks them in the same order, regardless of what the guest chooses. First is the side cabinet, which often involves guessing what something is, then the wardrobe, in which a man with an accordion (whom Hacker calls 'Accordion George') will play a well known song which the players have to guess (in some episodes there is a person in a black bear costume in the wardrobe instead, who performs a dance for the players to guess). Finally, the hatbox, which involves a series of quick fire questions. At the end of the game, Hacker sends the guests on a holiday, often to somewhere unusual. They are shown at their holiday location during the end credits.
- Series 4 - 'Get Out!': The guests have to answer each question correctly to go up a floor and (hopefully) go home. If they don't get all the questions right, they end up going to another floor in the building.
- Series 5 - ‘Sit on the Lav Lav and Answer Some Questions’: The guests are sat on a toilet, which is disguised as a throne. They're given a series of questions, often including a song from Accordion George. At the end, they're flushed down into a sewer.
- Series 6 - 'Beam My Guest(s)': The guests are stood in a beaming device, and have to answer questions before the time runs out. At the end, the players are sent somewhere unusual (due to Herman pulling the wrong lever)
In all of the episodes there are many segments. In series 1, one of the recurring extras are a spoof of Downton Abbey called Downstairs Abbey starring Hacker T. Dog and Dodge T. Dog as maids and Ed Petrie as their master. [7] It stars two maids (Hacker and Dodge) who are in love with Lord Percy (Petrie) but to their dismay he is in love with another woman Lady Sarah (Isabel Fay). Whenever Lady Sarah comes to the Abbey, Lord Percy tries to do something nice for her involving the maids and it all goes disastrously wrong. Then Lord Percy asks the maids to clear up after him. Some episodes instead feature a sci-fi parody called Dogs In Space, in which Hacker and Dodge are in a spaceship.
There is also the 'Betterer Arena' in which Hacker attempts to perform "betterer" than the celebrity/s at their profession, be it acting or sport and then fails spectacularly. This features Warrick Brownlow-Pike as various different assistants for Hacker.
In Series 2 of Hacker Time, The Adventures of Sherlock Bones (a parody of Sherlock Holmes) replaces Downstairs Abbey, in which Hacker (as Sherlock) goes around the land of Teapot solving mysteries, often making silly conclusions at the end of each episode. Each episode of Sherlock Bones is about 2–4 minutes long.
Also in Series 2, Derek, one of Hacker's assistants, shows a part of the episode called Derek Time in which he shows three clips (sourced from YouTube), and when Hacker says no he threatens to show the viewers at home "the photograph" (which is never revealed). In Series 3, this became an "emergency film" that Derek shows when Hacker and his guest are having a long discussion or something goes wrong. These are presented from his bedroom and end with his mother shouting at him about something.
In Series 3, the first 5 episodes featured the "hard hitting medical docu-drama", "Casually", a spoof of Casualty, in which all the doctors and nurses give the wrong treatment. The last 5 episodes featured "Tales from the Mild West", where Hacker becomes the mayor of an old western town. [8]
Series 3 also introduced the "Quarter Past 4 O'Clock Club", a parody of 4 O'Clock Club , in which Josh (played by Hacker) is taught various ways to behave by Nathan (Ore Oduba).
In Series 4 the first 5 episodes featured "A Knight's Tale". The last 5 episodes contained "Aeroport", a mockumentary set in an airport.
Series 4 also saw "Derek Time" replaced with the "Opinion P@rlour", in which Wilf and Herman ask people's opinions on a particular subject.
In Series 5 episode 1-5, there was "Ms Marbles Mysteries" (a parody of Miss Marple), where Ms Marbles (played by Hacker) finds many mysteries and solves them. In episodes 6-10 there is "The Next Step But One", a parody of The Next Step.
In Series 6, the first 5 episodes featured "The Adventures of Admiral Lawnmower", and the last 5 featured "The Accommodation Place", set in the Best Opulent Tip Top Ostentatious Metropolitan Hotel (or BOTTOM for short).
Also in Series 6, the "Quarter Past 4 O'Clock Club" was replaced by "Lost and Found (And Lost Again)", a parody of The Next Step's spinoff show Lost and Found.
