BBC Children’s and Education in the U.K.’ can’t get enough of the popular animated series Hey Duggee and has commissioned three more season of the Studio AKA show. The preschool show, which was introduced ten years ago, airs on CBeebies. The second half of season five launched in iPlayer in September.
According to the BBC, the series drew 245 million views on iPlayer over the last year, making it the third most requested show across the entire platform. Since launching in 2015, Hey Duggee has been streamed 1.36 billion times on iPlayer and had over 3 billion lifetime views on its official YouTube channel.
The show, which was created by Grant Orchard, is distributed worldwide by BBC Studios Kids & Family. Featuring charming anthropomorphic animals, Hey Duggee are based on an activity club for children led by Duggee. The children (the club’s Squirrels) take part in a variety of activities, have fun adventures and earn badges for their accomplishments. Comedian Alexander Armstrong narrates the episodes.
Under the deal, BBC Children’s has also extended its rights to existing content, including the spin-off series Squirrel Club, which will launch new episodes in April next year.
Patricia Hidalgo, director of BBC Children’s and Education, said: “Our partnership with Studio AKA celebrates a decade of Hey Duggee and signals a bold, long-term commitment to UK animation, securing the show’s future as a vibrant, homegrown favorite for generations to come. It also reinforces our mission to support parents and families through crucial early years development.”
