The Traitors, BBC1
Sonja loves knitting. She’s a cheery, bubbly lady of 66, a voluntary worker with fluffy hair, leopard-print spectacles and, so she says, ‘no off-button – I’m full on, all day’.
She is also proud to boast that she’s completely untrustworthy. ‘My natural inclination is to be devious, tricky and misleading,’ she declares. In the world of The Traitors, this is a good thing.
When this reality gameshow broke through in late 2022, it caused a sensation. My own expectations were frankly low: true, the Beeb has brought us addictive reality formats such as Strictly and The Apprentice, but more recent attempts have been generally dire (does anyone remember Freeze The Fear With Wim Hof?).
The Traitors shattered all preconceptions. From the outset, it delivered shocks, with two players suspended before they even entered the Scottish castle where the game plays out. Their crime? Showing a touch of diffidence, when this show demands ruthlessness.
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: Presenter Claudia Winkleman took a gleeful delight in subverting her scatty, muddle-headed image by revealing a talent for malicious manipulation
Presenter Claudia Winkleman took a gleeful delight in subverting her scatty, muddle-headed image by revealing a talent for malicious manipulation. Round-table showdowns, where contestants poured out their paranoid suspicions that other players were plotting to eliminate them, reached a toxic state of delirium. We’d never seen anything like it.
This time, we’ve all got a better idea of what to expect. And the players are much more prepared.
Suddenly, duplicity is a badge of honour. They’re all bragging about how underhand they’re prepared to be, how false and faithless they are.
An ice-cold heart is essential in this game, where several players – Traitors – have the secret power to evict others from the game, one by one.
Viewers know who they are but the contestants do not. It’s like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, as all the competitors gossip, probe and plot to uncover the liars among them. If all the Traitors are uncovered, the survivors share the prize money. But if any Traitor remains undiscovered, he or she scoops the jackpot and the others get nothing.
This game does odd things to people. In a fireside interview, Claudia challenged corporate manager Paul, 36, to describe himself in three words. ‘Competitive,’ he said. ‘Cruel, a traitor.’ Nothing wrong with a bit of competition, but how bizarre to hear a grown man proudly define himself as cruel.
Each night, the anonymous Traitors convene to pick a Faithful victim to ‘murder’ or kick out of the game
Insurance broker Andrew, 45, says: ‘I’m good at switching off my emotions. I’m quite a good liar.’
Tracey from Inverness, 58, brags: ‘I’m actually really good at lying.’ She also claims to be a clairvoyant, and says the spirits will help her. Video director Ross, 28, promises: ‘I can throw a few people under the bus if needs be.’
Not so long ago, maybe a generation or so, most people would have gone to their graves before they made such admissions. Honesty was the most basic of the decent British virtues. To call anyone a liar aloud, without certain proof, was unthinkable – and even now, the word cannot be uttered on the floor of the House of Commons.
The Traitors is a game, of course, and the players have a potential £120,000 incentive to betray and deceive each other. But the fact they can revel in it, and even win admiration for their dissembling, is quite an indictment of the society Britain has become this century. It would be too easy, of course, if the format was identical to last time. Claudia signalled changes were afoot by lining up all 22 players as though immediate eliminations were coming, as happened last year – then laughing, and ushering them all inside the castle.
At the first group meeting, all the contestants were blindfolded. Claudia, in red leather fingerless gloves (part dominatrix, part skinflint), walked behind them, selecting ‘Traitors’ by tapping them on the shoulder. Those who weren’t chosen are the ‘Faithful’.
Last year, the game began with three Traitors. This year, there are four, though the identity of the fourth won’t be aired until tonight.
Each night, the anonymous Traitors will convene to pick a Faithful victim to ‘murder’ or kick out of the game.
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: A word out of place, a careless gasp and a pack of lies is exposed. I love it. I must be a horrible person
Each day, all the players will convene and attempt to unmask a Traitor… knowing any one of them could be staring back across the table.
There are also physical challenges, group tasks where success adds money to the prize pot.
In the early stages, these mini-games have an added frisson, because players are trying to recruit allies (as protection from elimination) and size up rivals.
Early favourites for the final include events manager Ash, 45, whose face didn’t flicker when she was picked as a Traitor. By contrast, baby-faced Army corporal Harry, 22, couldn’t help breaking into a grin as he was selected.
He started breathing so hard that the player beside him – 63-year-old retired teacher Diane – spotted immediately that he was excited, and became suspicious.
That’s how perilous this game is. A word out of place, a careless gasp and a pack of lies is exposed. I love it. I must be a horrible person.