''Copycats'' is a

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

which aired on

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

and was presented by double act

Sam & Mark Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes, known collectively as Sam & Mark, or simply Smark, are an English popular music and Television presenter, television presenting Musical ensemble, duo. They previously competed on Pop Idol (series 2), the second serie ...

(

Sam Nixon Sam Nixon is an English singer and television presenter. He came third on the ''Pop Idol'' television series in 2003 and is now one half of the duo Sam & Mark, with the other being Mark Rhodes. Early life He was originally a catering stude ...

and

Mark Rhodes Mark Thomas Rhodes (born 11 September 1981) is an English singer, actor and television presenter. Career Born in Wolverhampton, England, Rhodes finished in second place in the second series of ''Pop Idol'' in the United Kingdom, runner-up to M ...

). It involved two teams of friends and family, each of six contestants, battling against each other in a series of games. Each episode consists of a number of rounds. Three of the rounds were based on

chinese whispers Chinese whispers (some Commonwealth English) or telephone (American English and Canadian English) is an internationally popular children's game. It is also called transmission chain experiments in the context of cultural evolution research, and ...

. These alternate with physical challenges, which varied from episode to episode. On 17 January 2016,

announced on their

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that ''Copycats'' would return after a three-year absence. The new series was filmed in March. The new series of "Copycats" had a brand new look with new opening titles, new logo, new games and new set.

Games

Chinese whispers-style rounds

These rounds form the general theme of ''Copycats''. Each team plays in turn. The members of the team are each placed in cubicles separated by sliding doors. Each team member has just 10 seconds to copy the words on the card. The rounds of this form are: ; Mime Time : An action, conveyed by miming. Examples are, "Flipping a pancake" or "Clipping Your Toenails". ; Quick on the Draw : An object, drawn rapidly on a whiteboard. ; Music Round : A musical piece, conveyed by performing it on a

kazoo The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifie ...

, or by mouthing the words clearly to the next team member. In each case, the entity to be identified is given to the first member of the team, who must communicate it to the second by the given means, who must in turn communicate it to the third, and so on. The last, sixth member is then asked what was being mimed, drawn or played. If this player correctly identifies the action, object or tune that was originally supplied, the team scores 50 points. Otherwise, the remaining players are asked in turn, with the available score decreasing by 10 for each player who fails to answer correctly. The winner of the Mime Time and Quick on the Draw rounds (or if the game is a draw, the winner of a

rock-paper-scissors Rock paper scissors (also known by other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone," or as Rochambeau, roshambo, or ro-sham-bo) is a hand game originating in China, usually played between two people, in which each p ...

game) chooses whether to play the physical challenge that follows or pass it to the other team.

Physical challenges

Transmissions

Series

Special

References

External links

* * * {{UKGameshow, Copycats 2009 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings 2000s British children's television series 2010s British children's television series 2000s British game shows 2010s British game shows CBBC shows BBC children's television shows BBC television game shows British children's game shows British television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows Television series by BBC Studios