X Factor judges Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell are to be parodied in a new Stella Street-style whodunnit being made by the BBC.

Murder in Successville is set in a town where everyone is famous, with a team of impressionists and comics playing exaggerated versions of stars, who also include Gordon Ramsay and the Beckhams.

A pilot episode of the show, in which celebrities are continually being bumped off, has been lined up by BBC Three.

Comedian Tom Davis will play Detective Sleet who has to solve the crimes and “make sense of this surreal world”, according to the BBC.

Morgana Robinson, who starred in Channel 4’s Very Important People and recently in BBC Two’s House of Fools, is among the impressionists to appear.

BBC series Stella Street, which was set in a celebrity-packed road Surbiton, starred Phil Cornwell and John Session. Zai Bennett, BBC Three controller, said: “Murder In Successville takes murder mystery to a whole new level and I can’t wait to see what happens in this weird and wonderful place.”

Other new commissions for the channel include a full series of dating show Sexy Beasts, in which participants take part using prosthetic disguises.

Nick Helm, who starred in sitcom Uncle for the channel, is lined up for a new series called Nick Helm’s Heavy Entertainment, featuring stand-up comedy, sketches and music.

Spoofs of Cowell and Cole did not prove popular enough with theatre audiences to save the X Factor musical I Can’t Sing! which is to close next Saturday, a little over six weeks since its opening night.

The production had received funding from Cowell.