SEASON 2
Join the fun for the award winning Season 2! Episode recap for 1 - 26 below
EP1 THE MAKING MUSIC BADGE
Season 2 starts with Happy beatboxing - what more could you ask for! Today it's all about the music. Duggee's dressed as a Jazz hepcat, showing his hidden side as saxophonist. He encourages the Squirrels to make music. But they just don't sound very good. That is until Duggee steps in! With a bit of Duggee magic, they pull off a lovely bit of swing that has everyone grooving along. Nice!
EP2 THE WHISTLING BADGE
Our eldest still can't whistle, mind you she still hasn't learnt to wink either. But she can finger click with both hands like a demon. Weird.
Anyway... The chatty chick from The Egg Badge is back and disrupts everything again. Duggee halts him with a whistle before it gets too much. The Squirrels are in awe and try to copy Duggee. One by one, they all manage it and stick that really catchy song in my head.
EP3Â THE SHAPE BADGE
Shape sorters are tricky things. Trying to explain to a 1 year old a square peg doesn't go into a round hole is hard. They get quite pissed off. Roly's struggling too. The rest of the Squirrels get it, put the animals in shelters that match their shapes before it rains. Roly finally manages to choose the right shape for the ladybird before the heavens open. Nice nod to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ("You chose wisely").
EP4Â THE JUICE BADGE
Duggee gets a juicer and sends the Squirrels on a mission to find fruit. Little Buggee is a bit miffed that Roly takes her blueberry, and years of resentment comes pouring out. Poor thing! Anyway, she joins the Squirrels for a drink when the juicer breaks! A tiny screw drops inside the juicer, and this is Buggee's time to shine! On a mission impossible she crawls inside the juicer to save the day. Do it Buggee!
EP5 THE FOOTPRINT BADGE
The Squirrels are playing hide and seek again... They can't find Happy, so they ask Duggee. He tracks the footprints. They come across an unusual pair of feet, which belongs to a Katerina the flamingo who's missing a flipper. They find it, and she takes part in a synchronised swimming show. This is another beautiful display of symmetry on the show. Wasted on kids! Another showing too for Morgana Robinson, who was the voice of Buggee in Ep 4.
EP6 THE FOSSIL BADGE
Duggee gets educational on your ass! This is where the show comes into its own, as we get schooled on the theory of evolution that kids will understand. We learn about fossils, the stone age, and of course, dinosaurs. The eldest loves this 'stealth learning'. We get another great pop culture reference that your kids will miss - recognise Duggee's caveman clothing? Belonged to a resident of Bedrock...
EP7 THE TREEHOUSE BADGE
Wait - Norrie has siblings?! The Squirrels play in the treehouse. They're a bit cramped so Duggee makes it bigger. He then adds things to it for the other animals - bars for Monkey, see saw for the sheep, a ball pool for Ethel. I'm impressed with his mad DIY skills. I like to do DIY but never have time to finish anything properly, so it all ends up a bit half arsed, a bit like this website :-/
EP8Â THE KITE BADGE
It's a lovely windy day, so the Squirrels make some kites to fly outside. As you would expect, their kites are representative of them. They bump into Hennie, and she gets freaked out by the kites - she starts freaking out in a surreal sequence like she's on a bad trip. They try to make her feel better by making her a kite so she can join in the fun. A great episode with great design motifs.
EP9 THE TADPOLE BADGE
If only growing up was this simple. This is also the first time we've seen Frog's legs! The Squirrels find some tadpoles and watch them grow through to maturity, in a lovely parenting manner. I love how the tadpoles refuse to think they'll sound or look like their frog parents but unfortunately you can't escape nature. Again, more 'stealth learning'. Curse you Studio AKA, how dare you make learning fun...
EP10Â THE HONEY BADGE
In this episode, we take on Dambusters, Top Gun & Star Wars ("Stay on target..."). Duggee has made pancakes for the Squirrels but has no honey! A squadron of Bees are trying to return to the hive, but the runway is blocked. The Squirrels clear a path and guide them to a safe landing, so everyone can have a spot of honey! Nice shout out to key pilots of the 20th Century - Chuck Yeager, Amelia Earhart, The Red Baron and of course Maverick...
EP 11 THE POTTERY BADGE
Hey Duggee messes with our heads again. Mixing animation with reality -  what do you expect? Duggee's tea cup breaks, so the Squirrels make new ones. They get help from Hatsu, the pottery poodle. She talks in riddles, but helps the Squirrels with the clay. The mugs created are great. I hope these mugs are in the Studio AKA kitchen being used on the tea run. it gets a bit saucy at the end when Hatsu wants Duggee reveal himself - ooh err...
EP12 THE TEAMWORK BADGE
"There's no I in team. But there is a Me if you look hard enough... "
(David Brent)
Duggee gets a massive parcel delivered by the annoying chipmunk and tries to put it together with the aid of the Squirrels. They just talk over each other and generally get in the way. Hey, just like your kids!! They finally get it together and work as a great team to make a Helter Skelter. Good work team!
EP13 THE DANCING BUG BADGE
The Squirrels find a dancing bug in the garden. Billy the Hillbilly bug is there to play the Big Bug Ball with his band (say that fast 3 times). But they forgot everything! What are they going to do? Fortunately they're in the company of the Squirrels who basically do it all for them. An infestation of bugs turn up and the party kicks off! And is it me, or is Tag dressed like Boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazzard?
EP14 THE TRAIN BADGE
Duggee has a miniature train set and The Squirrels try to get their mitts on it. Who'd have thought kids would want to play with toys!! I found a few of my old toys in the garage (few Star Wars bits). NO WAY are the girls getting their hands on them. The Squirrels are sad as they can't play with Duggee's train set (too right!), but it turns out Hennie is a massive train fan too, and her toy set fits the Squirrels perfectly. Clickety clack!
EP15 THE PIZZA BADGE
I'm seriously impressed with Sander Jones - he can woof in an Italian accent. Today the Squirrels make pizza for themselves, and everyone else.
The orders are in, and the Squirrels have to match the order to the customers.
This is another episode that shows off some of the beautifully simple graphics and soothing symmetry. The pizzas get matched up, and everyone tucks in. Buon appetito!
EP16 THE MEDICINE BADGE
Duggee's lost his voice! The Squirrels try to help him find it. Poor frog has the right idea but the kids don't pick up on it. Happy keeps him company and chats his ears off whilst the Squirrels try to get advice from others. Shouting, a bath of porridge, artistic expression, blowing his nose - he tries them all but none of them are helping... Finally amongst all his rambling Happy realises Duggee needs some water. But why didn't Duggee just write down what he needed?!
EP17 THE CAMPING BADGE
I have not camped for a long time (but I don't really call passing out at festivals camping) but the eldest is keen on it. Today it's the Squirrels turn! It's not as simple as you would expect. They struggle to get a spot . Finally it's bed time, and if you thought putting one child to bed was bad, try five!! they want cuddlys, drinks, torches... all delay tactics. They hear noise which scares them all, but it's just Enid. And the twist? They were camping indoors... hardly The 6th Sense but still, good one.
EP18 THE MAKING FRIENDS BADGE
In this little world of symmetry, wouldn't it be interesting if the Squirrels found their counterparts... well wonder no more! The Squirrels go on a Jamboree and meet the Hummingbirds. It's like they've entered a parallel universe... Duggee struggles to bond with Peggee. There's 2 know it alls. Tag and Chad are a bit clumsy with each other. And it's all a bit awkward until Happy and Merry start splashing and they all realise that they have loads in common. Top Jamboree!
EP19 THE RIVER BADGE
Any children's show that can reference both John Huston and Francis Ford Coppola in 7 minutes is amazing...
Duggee has a package to take up river, so he dresses a la Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen and takes the Squirrels with him. After a brief game of River Frogger (or someone has suggested Spy Hunter) things get a little odd... Psychedelic Frogs start appearing, they meet a strung out rabbit (a-la Dennis Hopper) and with a bit of Doors-esque music it looks like they're on a journey to meet Colonel Kurtz himself - or rather Chew Chew. The delivery is made - "Oh, The biscuits, the biscuits..." Absolutely wonderful television.
EP20 THE YOGA BADGE
Cool man!!! The Squirrels are a bit full on today and just won't calm the F down. So Duggee tries to teach them some Yoga. The inspiration comes from nature, so they start to copy the animals and positions they see around them (The balancing bird, the floppy fox). A few of the Hippy Rabbits turn up and it all becomes a bit of a stoner yoga session. The Squirrels are on another level - cosmic...
EP21 THE COLLECTING BADGE
We all have collections. I used to collect comics, GI Joe & Star Wars toys... Now it's just Adidas trainers. And grey hairs. Duggee tries to encourage the Squirrels to start collecting. They all do - shells, leaves, rocks... the beauty of this episode is the things that they all collect are in the colours and shapes of each of the other characters. Very subtle, but they don't collect something in their own character colour.
EP22 THE SHADOW BADGE
There's a power cut in the clubhouse! While Duggee tries to fix it, the Squirrels play with torches. They create pictures in the shadows and there's a beautiful tribute to Queen. But of course, this being Hey Duggee, it gets pretty creative... Christmas trees, boats, butterflies, dragons - an exercise for Studio AKA to show off their skills. Really good. And then the payoff - there was no power cut, just Naughty Monkey arsing about. He needs a time out...
EP23 THE THEATRE BADGE
Conflict between Tino and Eugene - Tino wants an epic piece of theatre, whereas Eugene wants a crowd pleaser. Step in Duggee and the Squirrels. We end up with a Romeo & Juliet/ West Side Story theme, but instead of Jets and Sharks we have Mimes and Theatricals. And guess what happens at the end - they get along! Watch out for Tag's impersonation of Scooter from the Muppets. Fantastic.
EP24 THE MEMORY BADGE
Happy loses a tooth! But where? He can't remember and retraces his steps. The Squirrels try to help by recalling what Happy did with them during the day. They do this in drawings, paintings, sponge paintings and we're treated to different methods to tell the story. They're all different but fit in with the concept perfectly. Again, nice flex guys.
EP25 THE GOING SLOW BADGE
The Squirrels are on one - Imagine your overtired kids have had Haribos at bedtime. Duggee is trying to teach them to go slow and chill. They get with the program just when Tortoise comes into view - Mrs Tortoise has gone into labour and he has to get to the hospital stat! Once there, he needs to calm down to help deliver the babies. Nice bit of mindfullness. Well done Squirrels, those babies should be named after you!
EP26 THE OBSTACLE COURSE BADGE
Total Wipeout eat your heart out!! It's the day of the annual obstacle course race. The Squirrels take part and using their own skill sets make their way through it. You think - honestly that the Squirrels will win, but - spoiler alert - they don't. The yellow team win, courtesy of Enid. As it turns out you win a cup. But the Squirrels already have cups so what's the point? Moral of the story - winning isn't everything...