Hider in the House

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Hider in the House
Format Childrens, Entertainment
Starring JK and Joel with Kate Edmondson
Country of origin United Kingdom
Production
Running time 1 hour
Broadcast
Original channel BBC Two, CBBC Channel
Original airing 17 February 2007-present

Hider in the House is an award winning children's show presented by Jason King and Joel Ross (aka JK and Joel). It is currently the most watched childrens show on TV. In the programme, a celebrity has to be hidden in a family's house by three children and a parent. If the family have fewer than three children, they use friends or related children to make up the numbers. The other parent of the family thinks they are taking part in a totally different programme. The children involved must undergo a series of tasks to win prizes which they will receive if the unaware parent does not work out what is really happening. The tasks are sometimes very messy or involve getting the unaware parent to do strange things.

The format was devised by Eyeworks UK.

Contents

[edit] Series History

In late 2006 CBBC put an advert on their website for families wishing to take part in a new Saturday morning gameshow, advertised as Our House. This was in fact the cover show for Hider in the House. The first series was shown on Saturday mornings between 9am and 10am on BBC Two and the CBBC Channel. The first episode was shown on 17 February 2007 and the first series finished on the 30th June 2007. The second series was shown from Sunday 6th January, 2008. It was changed from Saturday to Sunday because of Basil's Swap Shop.

For Series 2, the show went through a reformatting, with JK and Joel being joined by presenter, Kate Edmondson, as JK and Joel had to go undercover as too many people knew about Hider in the House. Kate is the supposed presenter of a new cover show Big Kidz. Two challenges were cut from the show and the final challenge (Hider in the House) was also changed slightly. Instead of just the unspecting parent trying to find the real celebrity, it was changed so the children have to find mini cut outs of the celebrity and the unsuspecting parent the real one with clues from JK and Joel. Also the celebrity has to Push the Pedal and gunge the unsuspecting parent, otherwise the children don't get the prizes they have won. The unsuspecting parent also received a large cardboard certificate, as well as being "hidered".

For Series 2, JK must go undercover for the fourth challenge to get the unsuspecting parent out of the way so the kids and the hider can get out of the house. JK sometimes cheekily drops hints of Hider in the House (e.g. while pretending to be a gardener, he said the name of a fake plant which involved the word "hider" (hiderdendrum) and while pretending to be from the army he said his last name was "hider" ). The parent rarely notices these hints.

In the sixth episode of the second series, David Grant was busted early when an unfortunate incident led to him being discovered on the first day. In view of the unusual circumstances, and because JK felt partially responsible, the three presenters discussed what to do. They offered the children the opportunity to continue playing, but on the condition that if they lost the challenges they would lose all the prizes they had already won. Unsuspecting friends and family were substituted for the unsuspecting parent.

[edit] Episodes

Series 1

Series 2


[edit] Forfeits

If the Hider fails a challenge, they are given a forfeit for the children to win back the prizes. In Series One, it was 'Suck the Sock' where the celebrity had to suck a smoothie out of a sock. Sometimes the sock was changed to other things associated with the celebrity. For example, for it was changed into 'Suck the Pot' for Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh. In Series Two, sometimes the forfeit was Lick the Tash, where they had to lick a horrible substance moustache off their face. In certain episodes, it was still 'Suck the Sock'. However, there can only be one forfeit per episode, and that is taken on the first challenge that was failed.

[edit] Criticism

The show has received criticism that most of the aspects of the show are staged. It seems very unlikely that a parent would not notice their children being suspicious and it is also unbelievable that on every single occasion the children have won. It is always said that the celebrities stay in the house for a full 48 hours, but it was mentioned once that the celebrity stays in the house for under 12 hours each day which is due to obvious CBBC rules.

[edit] Awards

The series won the Best Entertainment prize at the prestigious 2008 Rose d'Or ceremony.[1]