They’ve hired a puppet as a host, moved set and are targeting the TikTok generation. Stars old and new line up to explain why it’s time for the television classic to evolve or die
There’s only one thing more surreal than making a Blue Peter “Here’s one I made earlier” creation and that is doing one with the help of CBBC’s star puppet Hacker T Dog.
On the new set of the world’s longest-running children’s TV show, its first non-human presenter is helping me craft an insect hotel using a tin can, glue and some “chenille stems”. The latter is the rebranded name for pipe cleaners, although that might have passed you by.
“It’s not catching on like ‘innocent men’ did,” quips Hacker, referring to the hilarious fourth wall-breaking viral clip of him and his former CBBC continuity co-star Lauren Layfield corpsing.
My bug hotel efforts may be at the Premier Inn end of the insect accommodation market but Hacker is encouraging. He’s surprisingly useful for someone lacking opposable thumbs – and whose paws his puppet master Phil Fletcher (who also does Hacker’s voice) has to operate using sticks, while watching the action on a monitor below the desk.
