3.7 The Pen Pals Badge
Something Hey Duggee is great at doing is showing the similarities and differences in the personalities of children. In the Pen Pals Badge, we see this with children from around the world, just as in the Making Friends Badge we met the Hummingbirds. In this badge, every detail has been thought about, from the envelopes and writing styles of the Squirrels and their pen pals to the different pens each Squirrel uses. Betty has a quill and ink, Roly uses crayons and Happy is painting.
Badge Design
A rectangle letter with a Duggee stamp.
Episode Summary
Opening Squirrel
Tag is doing a Duggee block puzzle.
Start
Duggee is waiting for a delivery from the delivery stork.
Set-Up
Duggee arranged for five children from around the world to write to the Squirrels and tell them about their lives.
- Norrie opens a pink envelope. Her pen pal is Nancy and he is a seal. He lives on a busy street. We see that all the seals on Nancy’s street are asleep but he says it’s non-stop.
- Roly opens a white envelope with a wax seal. His pen pal is Florian the lederhosen-wearing lynx. He is accomplished in medieval harp, cheese-rolling, tapestry and martial arts. His inventions are award-winning and he made his own trophy carbonate. Roly is enamoured.
- Happy opens a blue letter. His pen pal is Marga the otter. Marga’s family love going to water parks and she has a cousin called Erica who loves to splash. However, Marga does not like water.
- Tag opens a brown envelope. His pen pal is Avi the shrew. Avi comes from a family of gymnasts. From the moment she wakes up, Avi does flips and rolls.
- Betty opens a green envelope. Her pen pal is Abedayo the okapi. He lives quietly on a hill and he likes it.
Duggee can help the Squirrels to write back, he has his Pen Pal Badge.
Story
The Squirrels sit down at the table to write. They put the letters in the envelopes, stick on a stamp and put them in the post box for the delivery stork.
- Nancy is first to receive a stylishly decorated envelope from Norrie the mouse. She describes some of her busy life at the clubhouse. Tag riding Caterpillar, birds singing, Rabbits playing music, Roly jumping on a mushroom, Norrie bouncing, Happy and Betty using Ethel’s trunk as a skipping rope, Sheep plying football, Cow being hypnotised and Enid chasing the mice in their car. All while Duggee does yoga. She describes one incident where Naughty Monkey scared Hennie and she nearly falls on the clubhouse. Luckily Duggee has his Force-Field Badge. Nancy is impressed.
- Marga receives her envelope decorated in watercolour from Happy the crocodile. Happy describes his love of water. He loves splashing in puddles, in the bath, in the sea, on a whale’s spout, with the hose, in the paddling pool, in the rain and down a water slide. Marga is disappointed.
- Abedayo receives a long letter written in neat cursive from Betty the octopus. Betty describes all the things she is busy doing. Drawing and sculpting, seeing how tall she is, tending her cacti, experimenting, philosophy, arranging her seashells, writing a musical and perfecting her carbonara. She has many questions for Abedayo which makes him dizzy.
- Avi receives a messy envelope from Tag the Rhino. Tag describes how he clumsily gets out of bed in a series of tumbles and rolls just like Avi. Avi is confused.
- Florian receives a muddy envelope covered in scrawl from Roly the hippo. Roly describes what they will do when Roly comes to stay. Running, dancing and bouncing downstairs. All loudly in Roly’s own special way. Florian is scared.
Close and Credits
The Squirrels have earned their Pen Pal Badge and they have a Duggee hug on an envelope.
Naughty Monkey presses the force-field button, sending Duggee into orbit.
Supporting Cast
- Nancy the seal.
- Florian the lynx.
- Marga the otter.
- Avi the shrew.
- Abedayo the okapi.
Outfits
There are a few good outfits that we only see for a few seconds. Betty flashes through many changes and Happy has a few of his too. Duggee’s yoga outfit also briefly returns. My favourite though is Roly’s denim rock outfit contrasted a second later to his lederhosen.
Get Your Pen Pals Badge
Write a letter to a pen pal.