The Doc Has Spoken: Christopher Lloyd talks 21 years of ‘Cyberchase’

The Hacker has returned — and Christopher Lloyd says it’s time to start cleaning up our act.

Cyberchase, the PBS Kids animated series that follows the adventures of Matt, Jackie and Inez and their battles with Lloyd’s Hacker in cyberspace, is back for its latest season, featuring new adventures and new messages when it comes to taking care of our planet.

“It’s a wonderful indoctrination,” Lloyd tells ABC Audio about the show’s mission to get kids onboard with things like sustainability, recycling and reducing our carbon footprint. “It’s necessary for where we are going to end up if we don’t make changes in the way we live to accommodate the warming of the planet and all that. We’re in big trouble coming up. I’m glad to be a part of the cause.”

He’s voiced the character since Cyberchase started in 2002; part of the show’s longevity, he says, is its ability to solve problems using something the bad guys never see coming: math. “Every time [Hacker’s] ambitions are foiled by a mathematical formula, they’re learning mathematics, the reasoning behind it,” he says. “I think that’s kinda unique.”

It’s something Doc Emmett Brown from the Back to the Future films constantly used when it came to solving time-travel paradoxes. And it’s a role never far away from Lloyd’s heart. Same goes for his BTTF co-star and close friend Michael J. Fox, whose public struggle with Parkinson’s disease is something Lloyd thinks we can all learn from in solving our own struggles. “He has such a spirit. And he thrives all the time, just being Michael without, ‘Oh, I can’t do this,'” Lloyd says. “He is not a defeated person. And it’s just wonderful to be around him.” 

New episodes of Cyberchase air on PBS Kids. Check local listings.

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