Big Kids


Big Kids is a 13-episode comedy series that premiered on CBBC on BBC One on 27 September 2000. The US network Noggin signed on to create an US localization. Noggin was only credited in the US edits of the episodes, and the series' copyright belongs solely to the BBC.
Big Kids aired its thirteenth episode on 20 December 2000. It premiered on Noggin in the United States on 29 January 2001. The series briefly aired on Noggin's sister channel, Nickelodeon, from 9 to 25 March 2001.

Plot

The show follows the lives of the Spiller family: Simon, Kate, and their parents Sarah and Geoff. When the family attend a school charity event, Mr. and Mrs. Spiller are used in a performance by a hypnotist known by the stage name Ming the Mind Master. After the show is over, Kate and Simon realize their parents have never been properly hypnotized. At seemingly random moments they will black out and begin to act like children.
The two siblings have to deal with keeping their parents under control in their hypnotized state, trying to get their parents to believe what happens when they black out, and trying to discover what triggers the change. Often there's a role reversal, with Sarah and Geoff engaging in behavior they scold their children for during trances, and Kate and Simon being forced to act like mature adults.
Eventually, the children convince their parents by showing them filmed footage, and discover the trigger is any word with "ming" in it, just like the hypnotist's name. They finally track down Ming and convince him to unhypnotize the Spiller parents, apparently restoring them to normal. However, their childish behaviour on the carousel leaves the children confused – whether Sarah and Geoff are acting like this deliberately or have fallen back into a state of hypnosis is left ambiguous.

Episode list

  1. Performance by a Hypnotist
  2. Kate Avoids Friends
  3. Videotaping Mum and Dad
  4. Library/Shopping
  5. Restaurant
  6. New Car/Concert
  7. Museum
  8. Aunt Muriel
  9. Chicken Pox
  10. Puppy
  11. Simon Pursues Melanie
  12. Trigger Revealed
  13. Finding Hypnotist

    Cast