Hacker The Dog[1] (born 27 October[2][3]), more commonly known as Hacker T Dog, is a Border Terrier[4][5] dog puppet who appears on the CBBC television channel in the United Kingdom.[6] He is performed by puppeteer Phil Fletcher.
| 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 |
| Birth date | 27 October |
| Owner | Digby Digworth (Scoop) |
Development and History
editHacker 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.[7]
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.[8]
In 2013, following Ian Stirling's departure from CBBC, he and Dodge began presenting with Chris Johnson.[9]
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.[10][11][12] 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.[11]
Hacker is very fond of television presenter Sue Barker and mentions her often.[13][14] In 2009 Hacker was the mascot for the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship.[15][16][17][18]
Hacker is known for saying 'cockers' – a Northern term for 'mate'.[19]
In other media
editHacker, Barry Davies 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.[20]
Television
editThe 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 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Dog, Hacker The [@HackerTDog] (4 January 2017). "The 'T' in my middle name stands for 'The' #NationalTriviaDay" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 March 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Dog, Hacker The [@HackerTDog] (27 October 2016). "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY COCKERS! RETWEET IF YOU WISH ME A HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIKE IF YOU THINK I'M HANDSOME! #ThursdayThoughts" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 March 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Dog, Hacker The (9 October 2020). "GET TO KNOW ME TAG | HACKER T DOG". Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ "The Children's Media Conference". Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Radio Times". Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Awards Database – The BAFTA site". Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- ^ "CBBC – CBBC Stars". BBC. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
- ^ "CBBC – Hacker Time". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ^ "Website". Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Lauren Layfield: 'Normal men, innocent men' and me – The Big Issue". 27 June 2022. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ a b "I Interviewed the 'We're Just Normal Men' Puppet on Zoom". www.vice.com. 17 June 2022. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "A CBBC dog saying 'normal men, innocent men' has become the internet's favourite meme". indy100. 26 April 2022. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "BBC Sport – Hacker's The Dog's Wimbledon quest". London: BBC. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ "BBC SPORT | Tennis | On the hunt for Sue Barker". BBC News. London: BBC. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ "Wimbledon japes from CBBC's Hacker the dog – Liverpool Daily Post". 2012. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ "BBC Sport – Tennis – Hacker & Dodge come to Wimbledon". London: BBC. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ "BBC Sport – Tennis – Wimbledon day 11 as it happened". BBC News. London: BBC. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ "Today at Wimbledon – Dave Cheeseman | Cameraman & Picture Editor". davecheeseman.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ https://www.wigantoday.net/news/hacker-t-dog-invites-stars-wigan-719276 Archived 17 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine Wigan Today. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ https://metro.co.uk/2016/12/19/hacker-t-dog-almost-won-mastermind-and-everyones-fallen-in-love-with-him-6333612/ Archived 19 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine Metro. Retrieved 17 October 2020.