The clip aired just before Strictly Come Dancing, and saw its RTS Award-winning host Claudia Winkleman donning the iconic cloak before shushing the camera. Words revealed that the series was "coming soon" to BBC One.
Several fans clocked another hint during the live Strictly broadcast. A cloaked figure was seen looming behind Winkleman as she spoke to the dancing couples awaiting their scores.
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.
A panel of producers and competitors of The Traitors unpack their smash hit reality show.
Hosted by Rick Edwards, broadcaster.
Panel:
Wilf Webster, Cast
Amanda Lovett, Cast
Neil McCallum, Commissioning Editor, BBC
Sarah Fay, Executive Producer, Studio Lambert
Mike Cotton, Executive Producer, Studio Lambert
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.
It is rare for the BBC not to be in the crosshairs of a crisis and 2023 has been no exception. Behind the headlines, though, the opening months of the year have been a time of triumph for its creative chief, Charlotte Moore. The BBC has dominated the TV awards season. At the RTS Programme Awards, the corporation pocketed 17 out of a total of 30 awards.
Created by Geronimo, the award-winning team behind The Big Job Switch and Doctor Davy, the adventure reality competition show originated in Belgium in February 2023. It sends ten contestants on 'the road trip of a lifetime', but they are not informed of their location.
Once they are on the innovative Destination X bus, reality is tweaked to mislead them and those watching. They are given certain clues as to whether they can trust what they see, so they need to stay sharp to figure out where they are.
Sixteen British civilians will enter the competition as equals but will soon be split into Rulers and Grafters. In a caricature of real-world power dynamics, the Grafters will complete a series of arduous activities, creating a prize fund that only the Rulers can win.
Whilst the Grafters inhabit a basement, the Rulers occupy a deluxe penthouse. The Rulers will have to encourage the Grafters to work harder for them, whilst also making choices that affect only the Grafters and not themselves.
The US version sees a mix of famous faces and everyday Americans, 20 in total, play the game of deception and suspicion.
Award-winning actor Alan Cumming hosts the series at an ancient castle in Scotland where, just like the UK version, the contestants will have to work together on exhilarating missions to increase the prize fund up to $250,000.
And, of course, going deep undercover among the Faithful contestants are the Traitors, who must remain undetected while eliminating the Faithfuls one by one to claim the prize for themselves.
Set six weeks after aliens have conquered Earth, this new comedy from Ghosts stars Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond interrogates the absurdities of humankind through the eyes of their new masters, the Gu'uns, be it capitalism, nuclear weapons or a cup of tea.
