Hacker T Dog Explained

Hacker T Dog
Series:CBBC, Scoop & Hacker Time
First:Scoop (2009)
Creator:Neil Sterenberg
Species:Border Terrier
Occupation:Presenter
Gender:Male
Nationality:British
Lbl21:Birth date
Data21:27 October
Lbl22:Owner
Data22:Digby Digworth (Scoop)

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.

Development and History

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.[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

Hacker, 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

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 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

See also

Notes and References

  1. 816619966589964289 . HackerTDog . Dog . Hacker The . The 'T' in my middle name stands for 'The' #NationalTriviaDay . 2023-03-06 . en.
  2. 791524640669696000 . HackerTDog . Dog . Hacker The . IT'S MY BIRTHDAY COCKERS! RETWEET IF YOU WISH ME A HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIKE IF YOU THINK I'M HANDSOME! #ThursdayThoughts . 2023-03-06 . en.
  3. Web site: Dog . Hacker The . GET TO KNOW ME TAG | HACKER T DOG . 2020-10-09 . 2023-03-06 . . 27 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221127235459/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKvW9fj20qo&gl=US&hl=en . live .
  4. Web site: The Children's Media Conference. 8 November 2017.
  5. Web site: Radio Times. 8 November 2017. 8 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171108210215/http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-06-26/andy-murray-interviewed-by-hacker-the-dog-at-wimbledon/. live.
  6. Web site: Awards Database – The BAFTA site . 27 January 2012.
  7. Web site: CBBC – CBBC Stars . BBC . 2012-03-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120301110038/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/cbbcstars/ . 2012-03-01 . dead .
  8. Web site: CBBC – Hacker Time . BBC . 14 February 2012 . 14 February 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120214180424/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/shows/hacker-time . live .
  9. Web site: Website. 2018-02-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20141228095910/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/stars/hacker. 2014-12-28. dead.
  10. Web site: Lauren Layfield: 'Normal men, innocent men' and me – The Big Issue. 27 June 2022. 7 December 2022. 7 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221207212913/https://www.bigissue.com/culture/tv/normal-men-innocent-men-and-me/. live.
  11. Web site: I Interviewed the 'We're Just Normal Men' Puppet on Zoom. www.vice.com. 7 December 2022. 7 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221207212910/https://www.vice.com/en/article/88q9gx/just-normal-men-puppet-interview. live.
  12. Web site: A CBBC dog saying 'normal men, innocent men' has become the internet's favourite meme. 26 April 2022. indy100. 7 December 2022. 7 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221207212910/https://www.indy100.com/viral/normal-men-innocent-cbbc-meme-2657214139. live.
  13. News: BBC Sport – Hacker's The Dog's Wimbledon quest . . . 28 January 2012.
  14. News: BBC SPORT | Tennis | On the hunt for Sue Barker . . . . 28 January 2012 . 18 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210618202014/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8131158.stm . live .
  15. Web site: Wimbledon japes from CBBC's Hacker the dog – Liverpool Daily Post. 2012. 28 January 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131112201353/http://www.comedyblog.merseyblogs.co.uk/2009/07/post-3.html. 12 November 2013.
  16. News: BBC Sport – Tennis – Hacker & Dodge come to Wimbledon . . . 28 January 2012.
  17. News: BBC Sport – Tennis – Wimbledon day 11 as it happened . . . . 28 January 2012.
  18. Web site: Today at Wimbledon – Dave Cheeseman | Cameraman & Picture Editor . davecheeseman.com . 2012 . 28 January 2012 . 8 March 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130308112624/http://davecheeseman.com/today-at-wimbledon . live .
  19. https://www.wigantoday.net/news/hacker-t-dog-invites-stars-wigan-719276 Wigan Today. Retrieved 17th October 2020.
  20. https://metro.co.uk/2016/12/19/hacker-t-dog-almost-won-mastermind-and-everyones-fallen-in-love-with-him-6333612/ Metro. Retrieved 17th October 2020.