It all seems so obvious now. Put 22 ordinary people in a spooky Scottish castle, divide them into Traitors – whose job it is to murder the others – and Faithfuls, whose job it is to work out who the Traitors are and banish them. It’s Wink Murder on steroids. Put the effervescent Claudia Winkleman at the helm, and let the viewers come.
While everyone continues to remark on the so-called golden age of drama on TV, a growing number of constructed factual shows have been quietly grabbing huge audiences and winning awards.
Fresh off the block, The Traitors – effectively a game of “wink murder” writ large in a spooky Scottish castle, with Claudia Winkleman presiding – won at the RTS Programme Awards and the British Press Guild Awards, as well as grabbing two Baftas.
The six-part series will see contestants try to win a prize of £100,000 by answering only one question.
There will be twenty possible answers but only one correct answer. The contestants must eliminate the incorrect answers to show them the path to victory, but if they eliminate one correct answer it will be game over.
Claudia Winkleman commented: “I am ridiculously excited about One Question. There’s no time limit, no buzzers, no complicated rules. A sofa, a chat, just one question that could win our players £100,000. Not only that, we give them the answer.
The findings have been released following the BBC’s disclosure of the wages of on-screen talent paid more than £150,000 annually. The BBC revealed 96 earners who fall into the bracket, including Chris Evans, Gary Lineker, Claudia Winkleman and John Humphreys, however it has been criticised by many for the size of some of the biggest stars’ wage packets.
