Hey Duggee welcomes some new friends from Ukraine

Mavka and Swampy’s arrival brings ‘The Welcome Badge’ and a brand new song.

Like thousands of children at schools and nurseries around the UK, Duggee has been joined by some new Ukrainian friends. Duggee’s new friends are called Mavka and Swampy the Kittyfrog, who many Ukrainian children will recognise from Mavka. The Forest Song.

Being from Ukraine, Mavka and Swampy speak a different language to Duggee and his friends. The language is called Ukrainian. To help them settle in, Duggee, The Squirrels and Hummingbirds burst into song. ‘The Welcome Song’ is complete with translations of Ukrainian phrases to help the new arrivals feel at home (and to give children here some phrases to use for a nice big welcome), along with lots of waving, something everyone understands!

The hope is that seeing some friendly faces with Duggee and friends will help make the real world new arrivals feel even more welcome, and that also helps children here saying a big Ukrainian hello to their new friends.

Hey Duggee narrator Alexander Armstrong voices the story and he is joined by children from the UK and recently arrived from Ukraine - who all sing the words of the song in their native language.

Harriet Newby-Hill, VP Marketing - Kids & Family at BBC Studios said “We are delighted to team up with Mother and Animigrad, and feel very proud that Hey Duggee is playing its part to help children coming to the UK from Ukraine feel welcome in such a charming and educational way.”

This extra special episode of Hey Duggee is available across all Hey Duggee social channels: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, HeyDuggee.com, and on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer.

Mavka and Hey Duggee were introduced by Mother, as part of its Friendly Faces project. Felix Richter a Partner at Mother London added: “Collaborating together on this project to help thousands of children see the value of friendship, across language barriers, has been an absolute privilege.”

-ENDS-

For more information please contact: tomwong@motherlondon.com

Notes to editors

About Hey Duggee

Hey Duggee has shared more than 40 original songs for fans, including traditional songs and new compositions; as well as favourites from the show. All songs are available on YouTube and BBC iPlayer.

Hey Duggee is a fun, inclusive and educational series devised by Grant Orchard, senior director of Studio AKA, and narrated by comedian Alexander Armstrong.

BBC Studios and CBeebies recently announced it had commissioned a fourth series of the hit animation. Series 4 debuted on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer in September, with the new batch of episodes, including Dame Shirley Bassey voicing the character of Peggy.

Hey Duggee has over 2.2 million fans across its social channels and its official YouTube channel has over a billion lifetime views. Hey Duggee launched its TikTok on 26th September 2022 and amassed a following of 23K fans and 2.9 million views in under 72 hours. The Stick Song, in particular, went viral with over 5.6 million views and counting.

Recently Hey Duggee teamed up with Sir David Attenborough for The Green Planet Badge, a special episode to share the wonder of plants on CBeebies, BBC iPlayer and YouTube.

Hey Duggee will embark on its first ever live theatre show from December through until late August 2023. Hey Duggee The Live Theatre Show is touring 37 theatres across the UK and Ireland.

About Mavka. The Forest Song

MAVKA. THE FOREST SONG is a Ukrainian animated feature film produced by Animagrad studio (FILM.UAGroup), directed by Oleg Malamuzh and Oleksandra Ruban. The film is based on ancient Slavic myths and legends, and also inspired by a classic Ukrainian literature masterpiece “The Forest Song” by Lesya Ukrainka (a poetess, writer and true inspirer of women’s empowerment). It features a unique female character, Mavka – the Soul of the Forest and its newly chosen guardian. She faces an impossible choice between love and her duty when she falls in love with the talented young (human) musician Lukas. MAVKA. THE FOREST SONG aims to share Ukrainian culture with the world, with unique and authentic attributes (traditions, rituals, music, locations, ornaments etc). This is also a story of the power of love capable of uniting, saving and granting life.

About BBC Studios

BBC Studios is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group with profits (EBITDA) of £226 million on sales of £1.6bn (21/22). Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, its activities span content financing, development, production, sales, branded services, and ancillaries across both its own productions, and programmes and formats made by high-quality UK independents, with three-quarters of its revenues from non-BBC customers including Discovery, Apple and Netflix. Around 2,400 hours of award-winning British programmes made by the business are internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear, Bluey and Doctor Who. BBC.com, BBC Studios’ global digital news platform, has 139 million unique browser visits each month.