Podcast · Kids & Family

Gotta Be Done - A Bluey Podcast

Two Melbourne mums obsessed with ABC TV's Bluey, episode by episode! Email [email protected] or say hi on our socials #blueypod Artwork by J-F Tranquille, music by Ari Danaher-Flavell

New episodes: Every two weeks
Typical length: 55 min
Latest: 5 Jun 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

5 Jun 2026 · 45 min

BONUS EP (We're BACK IN THE LIBRARY!)

It was November 2021 that Bluey episode Promises first put Kate and Mary in the library... and now, the Library dogs are back baby! (Or perhaps they never left?) Bluey's Library is the latest interactive offering at bluey.tv, and it's a brilliant combination of books, stories, play, and choose-your-own-adventure. And Gotta Be Done gets a starring role guiding you through! Brought to life by legends across BBC Studios, Ludo Studio and UK digital producers Jollywise, Mary and Kate chat to two of them: thanks for joining us, Connor Johnston and Will Weaver! Hear why The Adventure, Stories and…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

E202 · 31 May 2026 · 46 min
BONUS EPISODE (Playdate Psychology with Dr Martha Deiros Collado!)
"Kids are playful beings. You will build a better relationship with your kids the more playful you are." Clinical psychologist and author Dr Martha Deiros Collado has built a career helping kids and families. A devoted Bluey fan, she's also done research with BBC Studios to understand how playdates help kids, and fit in family life... with some seriously Bluey-related results. Dr Martha joins Mary and Kate in the wagon to talk why Aussie families are sneaking in more playdates than the US and UK, how a playdate is a "mini life-skills workshop", and why sometimes kids need to know the…
E201 · 18 May 2026 · 43 min
Slide (aka Ensemble Recorders are the Reason)
You can solve all the problems of the world, and someone will still shout "I don't know what that is!" Enter the Big Blue Guy, and Slide! Kate and Mary wonder if Bingo and Lila's commitment to bug wellbeing is the balm our belligerent world needs right now (although Mary admits they're feeding snails to chooks at her place, so maybe she's contributing to warlike behaviour?) Plus proliferation of Christmas Beetles (Darren Hanlon has a song about them!), encouraging gratitude in your kids, music about problems and also recorders, and Gotta Be Done's renewed quest to recap every episode of…
E200 · 11 May 2026 · 53 min
Show and Tell (aka We're the Ones Taking the Orders!)
Like a surf board resolution after a summer holiday, Gotta Be Done is back baby! (And honestly, what's a resolution that hasn't been recycled a few times?!) Show and Tell takes Mary and Kate on a sat-nav-less route from shark-punches and traumatising orca attacks to Facebook Marketplace friends and cautionary tales for course correction... if Statue World doesn't get you first! Plus the still-looong wait til the Bluey movie (August 2027), can the girls knock over the final nine episode recaps on their list before then?! It's (truly this time, showing not telling) Gotta Be Done! This episode…
E199 · 1 Mar 2026 · 39 min
BONUS EP (Yup Yup Yup Yup Burger Dog/ Daniel O'Brien!)
So the Sleepytime score is FINALLY available for our global listening bliss. It's the second single from the whole new Bluey album Up Here, out worldwide on 27 March 2026 and featuring the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Camerata – Queensland Chamber Orchestra... and all our Bluey music favourites! But did you know, before any of that, Burger Dog was the feelgood hit of mid-2025?! Composed brilliantly by Bluey musician Daniel O'Brien to be "a really annoying song", the newest member of the music team nailed the brief in the best possible way, and has been achieving plenty more besides.…
E198 · 21 Mar 2025 · 1 hr
Stickbird (aka Don't Have Answers, Just Trauma)
From Moana moments on standup paddle boards, to the pipecleaners of the natural world, Lake Currimundi on Queensland's Sunshine Coast has something for everyone - even Stickbirds! Kate and Mary are back and asking the big questions: some universal (what's bugging Bandit?) and some extremely niche (when will Chilli reinvent herself as an Olympic coach??) And some ridiculous, like is Stickbird wearing a tie or a shell-bikini... and is the answer IN A CAKE?? Then there's random new year musings (because this was recorded in January), and listen to the end for a (belated!) big reveal - THE TRUE…
E197 · 21 Dec 2024 · 1 hr
Relax (aka Three Seasons and a Movie!)
It’s the biggest week of Bluey news since… big screens! But the path to Bluey the Movie has been paved with burnout and mental load – or is that just Kate and Mary trying to prepare for Christmas? First up, here’s Joe Brumm’s letter that accompanied the Bluey feature film announcement... no advice yet on how to wait until 2027! Then, is there a way to relax amidst the relentless demands of parenting/ festivities/ life? The girls canvas books that might help – The Wife Drought, Small Habits for a Big Life, and whatever Chilli is reading – but disclaimer, good advice only works when you…
E196 · 12 Dec 2024 · 59 min
Space (aka We've Needed Some!)
It's been a long time between galaxies for an honest-to-goodness Gotta Be Done recap - but Kate and Mary didn't disappear into a black hole (of parenting) for ever, just for about a year. Space is the mind-bending Bluey episode that brings them back, ready to fix things and figure everything out. But are they chief scientists enough? Plus, radical candor, space destinations in Adelaide and Parkes, and amazing sponsor the Epping Club in Sydney's north-west is doing Bluey Trivia! Book now and have all the answers for 2025 (and do Gotta Be Done proud!) - the family-friendly event on Saturday 25…
E195 · 12 Nov 2024 · 25 min
BONUS EP (Bluey's World x Bluey's Brisbane x producer Andrew Kay!)
When Kate and Mary from Gotta Be Done and Lou from Bluey's Brisbane sneak along to the opening day of Bluey's World, it's not going to be a subtle affair. And this epic crossover chat, just outside the new Sunshine State landmark/ destination/ (other) happiest place on earth, was next level excitable. It even prompted Bluey's World and Bluey's Big Play producer Andrew Kay to join the fun! Hear first reviews of the one-of-a-kind immersive/ panto/ playful experience at the Northshore Pavilion in Brisbane, Queensland, attempts to divine life advice from fortune cookies and career guidance from…
E194 · 25 Oct 2024 · 39 min
BONUS EP (Our Rug Island Era and JOFF BUSH!)
Skip out on work and bring your connector pens - it's RUG ISLAND DAY! The THIRD album from Bluey maestro Joff Bush and his glorious music team is out globally today (25 October 2024) wherever you get your music (and even on vinyl!) So of course Mary and Kate were going to drag out the wagon and skive off work Bandit-style, to ask Joff about how this journey into playful imagination came together (it started with a Cafe play-date, and ended with new friends!) From collaborating with Arnhem Land legends King Stingray, to who you can ask to make octopus sound-effects, how Joe Brumm and Costa…
E193 · 8 Aug 2024 · 24 min
Gotta Be Done's Mary with Bluey's Brisbane at the Markets!
So it's been a while, but when one half of Gotta Be Done sneaks up into Blueyland/ Brisbane... podcast magic happens! Mary caught up with Justin and Lou from Bluey's Brisbane for this fun and frenetic crossover episode, on the for-real-life location of iconic Bluey ep Markets (the West End Markets, every Saturday at Davies Park!) Now in their fourth year of exploring the real life world of our favourite Heelers, Justin and Lou have plenty of local knowledge to share. And the superfans also spill theories, feelings and insights about new Bluey music (listen to the brand new single 'Octopus'…
E191 · 17 Apr 2024 · 59 min
BONUS EP (Looking for signs with Joe Brumm)
Bluey creator Joe Brumm tells Gotta Be Done how biggest ever Bluey episode The Sign came to be, and what it says about endings, and causes, and unknowable futures.
E190 · 4 Mar 2024 · 1 hr 29 min
Gotta Be Done's Mary does TONTS!
So Gotta Be Done has been missing in your podcast feed for a bit (and you better believe Mary and Kate are missing it too!) But of course they haven't stopped talking about Bluey in any/every other aspect of their lives, and for this special crossover, Mary talks about Bluey A LOT. Thank you TONTS host Claire Tonti for sharing the mic, over to her to explain! In a very special episode of TONTS. I deep dive into the wonderful world of Bluey podcast with Bluey expert and podcast host Mary Bolling. Mary is a journalist, mum and kids culture enthusiast, and one half of the Gotta Be Done podcast,…
E189 · 7 Dec 2023 · 45 min
BONUS EP (Play, Development, and the Importance of Being Bingo)
It's not often an episode of Gotte Be Done has required reading... but when there's three developmental scientists putting Bluey under the microscope, then of course we're all diving in! Mary's joined in the wagon by Dr Molly Scott, Research Scientist in Playful Learning at Temple University, Aria Gastón-Panthaki, Research Coordinator for Children's Development at Harvard University, and Doug Piper, PhD candidate in psychology at Georgetown University. The play-hard trio recently penned a research piece, Bluey teaches children and parents alike about how play supports creativity and other…
E188 · 16 Nov 2023 · 41 min
BONUS EP (Gotta Be Done Back and Bluey Fest!)
Gotta Be Done's been on a break, but Mary and Kate just couldn't keep mum for BLUEY FEST! (For international types, that's the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's celebration of five years since Bluey launched... and the top 100 episodes as voted by Australia!) So, the girls have got the somewhat-broken-down wagon back together, for a lap through the trials of trying to pick top five episodes, the delights of being in a Bluey book (Where's Bluey? At Christmas), and what's ahead for the rest of season three... .. and also, what should we see in (new 28-minute Bluey ep in 2024) The Sign?? ++…
E187 · 31 Aug 2023 · 57 min
Pizza Girls (aka We’ve Covered a Lot of Pizza Feelings)
Recently listener Matthew in London emailed Gotta Be Done to ask when the Pizza Girls recap was coming. And Mary and Kate laughed because they'd totally recorded that back in February 2023... and then stopped laughing, because Mary had forgotten to release it. So, strap yourselves in kid, for all the late-summer reminiscing, fresh-new-year-misty-eyed-ness... and Muffin dropping the clutch and drifting her way to glory. Is Pizza Girls the unofficial sequel to Bedroom, and do families need to hold onto every item ever that has a story? (Well Marie Kondo has given up on tidying, you know...)…
E186 · 24 Aug 2023 · 37 min
Cricket II (aka It’s Gonna Take More than a Tea Towel)
Yep, Gotta Be Done is still talking about Cricket... in this second-half recap, and in Mary and Kate's for real life generally! More music, more obscure cricketenalia, more Rusty love, and the tightrope walk of encouraging your kids without overwhelming them (that Rusty's Dad makes look easy!) Plus, a good guess at when Australia might see the last of Season 3's new episodes... if Gotta Be Done is right, it will be so spooky! ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours into mama life,…
E185 · 3 Aug 2023 · 50 min
Cricket I (aka How Many Innings Will This Take and Also What’s an Innings?)
It's more than a year since Bluey creator Joe Brumm told Gotta Be Done a cricket episode was coming... which is even longer than the average game of cricket! Kate (vessel of cricketing knowledge) and Mary (cricketing knowledge vacuum) explore the whys and wherefores of the deeply weird (but supremely strategic) game of cricket. And how the never-ending, convoluted, global obsession impacts a childhood - theirs, their children's, and theirs again as parents of children! Plus, slips, gullies, silly-mids, fruit and pies - and not the kind you get at tea break! (Speaking of tea break, this recap…
E183 · 13 Jul 2023 · 56 min
Smoochy Kiss (aka Maybe That’s the Fairytale and This Is the Reality)
So Gotta Be Done isn't here to call out annoying habits - but if Smoochy Kiss goes there, do Mary and Kate maybe kind of have to?! From what (on earth) Bandit's doing in his first scene, to best kitchen weaponry that's not too weapony (and how saucepan lids pre-date shields, actually?!), crimes against laundry sinks, boxes big enough for grown-ups, inversion and flipping the chase (music), and whether it's toughening up or softening up that makes a relationship work. In short, it's just another day in the Heeler household/ Blueyverse/ Gotta Be Done... works for us! Oh, and courtesy of the…
E182 · 29 Jun 2023 · 59 min
Dirt (aka Need a Redemption Arc in Our Lives)
Gotta Be Done is back after a break, and redeeming oneself is the theme of this recap - in all the ways. Morning, Wendy! Memories of mud piles and doubts about overly-clean modern life (is Insta to blame??), and is that dirt under fingernails, or potential neural connections? Oh, and what IS a chow chow? Well if a dog and a lion had a very adorable baby... that's Wendy and Judo! Also, parents modelling to children is a big theme of Dirt - but hang on, has Bluey been modelling to everyone all along?! Du-du-du-dirt! ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and…
E181 · 1 Jun 2023 · 46 min
VINTAGE GOTTA BE DONE: The Show (aka Advice for the Ages)
CONTENT WARNING: In this episode, Mary and Kate talk pregnancy loss, infertility, and grief... and life in lockdown, because this is a 2020 throwback. It can get heavy. Bluey is known for tackling big issues - and in 2023 we know there's definitely a miscarriage storyline in The Show. (Back then and now, there's still plenty of hope, hilarity and happiness to take from this gorgeous episode too.) And in these overwhelming times (i.e, all times!), who doesn't need a helpful checklist on hand? While this trip down memory lane takes Gotta Be Done deep into July 2020 feelings, it gets happy…
E180 · 25 May 2023 · 58 min
Onesies (aka Getting People Up to Speed on Kid Chaos)
Content warning: This episode of Gotta Be Done covers topics around fertility, pregnancy loss and grief. Onesies broke hearts and healed them again, and Mary and Kate wade into "the messy middle" to work out how. In summary: Families are hard, children who have complaints about the presents they receive are annoying but predictable, incredible Australian actor Rose Byrne (who plays Brandy!) is lovely (even if she's not who we think she is!) And, two years on, the moving miscarriage storyline in Bluey episode The Show is finally confirmed, thanks to the beautiful book Hard to Bear by Isabelle…
E179 · 18 May 2023 · 55 min
Granny Mobile (aka Muffin’s Shiny New Career as a Hostage Negotiator)
Gotta Be Done loves doing the slow crawl past a garage sale, and Granny Mobile brings more Bluey delights than a giant bargain table! Mary and Kate talk the endless possibilities for types of grannies (nobody puts granny in a corner!), the Muffin redemption arc (can toddlers really grow out of their tantrums?!), and weapon-of-mass-destruction qualities of a Glomesh handbag. Plus the historical details/ The Crown facts captured by royal wedding plates (spoiler alert, they hated each other), why Bizet is perfect Muffin mood (Joff Bush says: "deliciously grouchy!"), and more of the glorious…
E178 · 11 May 2023 · 1 hr 6 min
Exercise (aka Personal Fulfilment at Work, Not Just a Unit of Production)
It's the episode that launched a thousand hot takes, and Gotta Be Done is finally here with a slightly reheated one! Kate and Mary recorded their Exercise recap before ABC and Ludo re-released an updated episode, then recorded more again after the fact - so get ready for many, many thoughts about the challenges of exercising, the niceness (or otherwise) of bosses, and the fact that kids really do copy everything we do. So, let's play more lawn table tennis! Nice shot! Big thanks to episode sponsors mathsonline.com.au in Australia, and mathonline.com in the US! ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos…
E177 · 4 May 2023 · 58 min
Turtle Boy (aka Kids TV Dichotomy of Preachy or Mindless Violence)
Gotta Be Done has confessions to go with Turtle Boy - Mary and Kate have both let their kids take lost toys home. Can this episode undo the damage? Lucky the childhood magic of a park never changes (captured by Rafferty Amor)! Also, are all kids shows either preachy or mindless violence? (No, some have songs about physics and structural engineering!) Big thanks to episode sponsors mathsonline.com.au in Australia, and mathonline.com in the US! ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon and Mary Bolling, as we deep-dive every Bluey episode, with plenty of detours…
E176 · 27 Apr 2023 · 31 min
BONUS EP (Rich J Labels on Everything!)
He's the all-knowing and all-seeing Series Director of Bluey, and Richard Jeffery has all the panicked 4am wake-ups to prove it! Rich/ Rich J from the Fairytale 80s montage/ Mackenzie's Dad/ RichWOW jumps in the Gotta Be Done wagon to share his Bluey origin story, what director life actually involves, and the true state of Aussie-Kiwi relations behind the scenes at Ludo Studio ("we don't jump on sheep Mackenzie!") Plus favourite scenes, favourite character, favourite episode - and just how long it took to make Sleepytime as magical as it is, plus all the series secrets Rich was desperate to…
E175 · 20 Apr 2023 · 1 hr 16 min
BONUS EP (Jazz and Joff in Dance Mode!)
"Finally I've got an outlet for what I'm really good at, that is: singing like a cat." There's no shortage of surprises on the new Bluey album Dance Mode out worldwide TODAY - and Joff Bush's feline finesse is high on the list! Bluey music legends Joff (famously the voice of Cat Squad) and Jazz D'Arcy (famously the singer/songwriter behind Rain/Boldly in the Pretend) jump in the Gotta Be Done wagon to talk through their new album highlights, reveal Bluey secrets (OMG the voice of Chattermax!) and get Kate and Mary even more euphoric about this glorious album! Plus the battle for an extra…
E174 · 13 Apr 2023 · 57 min
Puppets (aka Do We Know the Meaning of Life Yet?)
How's it goin', salad dodgers?! Whether you've been dodging salad or not, you might want to know why that's a shout-out to the original Bluey pilot (now leaked!) - and Gotta Be Done wouldn't mind advice on ending the salad dodging by obstinate kiddos, also? Puppets has bigger issues than salad to dodge though - and of course Mary and Kate dive straight in! From voicing your children's toys to who's pulling whose strings, and what makes life a lie (or otherwise, hopefully?!), Unicorse is triggering all the big questions. (And just triggering full stop! Aaaaaand why should I care?!) Big thanks…
E173 · 6 Apr 2023 · 35 min
BONUS EP (Taking Bluey Global with BBC’s Kate O’Connor)
She's played keepy uppy on the stage of Madison Square Garden, floated down Sixth Avenue, and beamed into millions of homes around the globe on the daily - but strap yourselves in kids, Bluey's only getting bigger! And trying to wrangle the worldwide juggernaut and unstoppable tsunami of Bluey partnership requests is BBC Head of Brands and Licensing (ANZ), Kate O'Connor. BBC Kate jumps in the Gotta Be Done wagon with Kate and Mary, and shares the couldn't-stop-watching awe of her first Bluey binge, the behind-the-scenes of taking Bluey to New York, and why travelling with the Ludo family is…
E172 · 30 Mar 2023 · 1 hr
Fairytale (aka An Accurate Historical Document)
It's the Heeler history we all need to believe in, and Gotta Be Done is fact-checking and fetishising every glorious 80s moment! From montages to hazy memories, violent consequences of jinxes and whether child discipline should be depicted for historical purposes, Mary and Kate have a fairytale's worth of half-baked theories. Also, this Fairytale poster by Bluey animator Mark Paterson, art director Costa Kassab's reimagining of little Bandit and Chilli, and the sun, the moon, the prickles, the princess, and everything! ++ Gotta Be Done is ex-journos and Adelaide/ Melbourne mums Kate McMahon…

About Gotta Be Done - A Bluey Podcast

Two Melbourne mums obsessed with ABC TV's Bluey, episode by episode! Email [email protected] or say hi on our socials #blueypod Artwork by J-F Tranquille, music by Ari Danaher-Flavell

Gotta Be Done - A Bluey Podcast is a English kids & family podcast from blueypod. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: blueypod
Language: English
Category: Kids & Family
New episodes: Every two weeks
Typical length: 55 min
Latest episode: 5 Jun 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1459779212

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