Hopster sets up Saturday Club

Saturday Club will debut on Hopster early next year

Preschool SVoD service Hopster has added to its slate of original content with an animated series about empathy from Dog Ears (Puffin Rock) and Robin Davey (Hey Duggee).

Set in a makeshift den, Saturday Club follows four friends as they gather every Saturday to discuss their week and leap into the lives of people they’ve seen or heard about to explore how they would feel in their shoes.

Set to debut on Hopster in early 2019, the series will be accompanied by a game featuring the show’s characters that helps kids practice their skills in recognising various expressions and related emotions.

The game is being developed in consultation with EmpathyLab, an organisation dedicated to helping children develop strong empathy skills.

Northern Ireland-based Dog Ears, producers of preschool series Puffin Rock, will produce the series, while illustrator and animator Robin Davey, who has worked on shows such as CBeebies’ Hey Duggee, will be the creative lead on the show.

Northern Ireland Screen helped fund the project, which comes as Hopster secured a “multimillion-pound” funding round from investors including Sony Pictures Television Networks earlier this year.

Hopster launched one of its first original series, Clever Brenda, last year and subsequently agreed a deal with the sales arm of Wallace & Gromit producer Aardman.

Ellen Solberg, content lead at Hopster, said: “Understanding how others feel equips us with important social-emotional skills that help us form strong relationships. We feel there is not enough content like this on the market.”