The Traitors<\/a>. It was originally envisaged to take place on a boat, with banished players jumping overboard into the sea.<\/p>\nCo-creator Jasper Hoogendoorn joined Pos to develop the idea, The\u00a0Mutineers. After 20 rejections, they fine-tuned the game further. Filming it on a boat was too limiting, so they shifted the action on to dry land \u2013 and looked for more aesthetic inspiration. Pos was once a choirboy in a 14th-century cathedral, gazing up at its spooky gothic architecture. This became the template for the show\u2019s setting: cue cloak-clad figures walking silently down torch-lit corridors to a secret tower. The Traitors was finally born in 2021, now known as De Verraders.<\/p>\n
UK production company Studio Lambert \u2013 maker of superior reality TV from Gogglebox to Race Across the World \u2013 soon clocked this new Dutch show. \u201cWe watched it in the office and couldn\u2019t stop talking about it,\u201d says creative director Mike Cotton. \u201cReality TV goes in cycles. At the time, it was in a phase of dating shows. This felt totally different. It wasn\u2019t about love, it was about trust.\u201d He and executive producer Sarah Fay visited the Netherlands to witness the phenomenon first-hand. \u201cWe\u00a0went straight to the set,\u201d says Cotton. \u201cAll these people in a castle were discussing how someone had been murdered and taking it very seriously. Even unedited, it was fascinating to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snapping up the UK and US rights, Studio Lambert began adapting it. \u201cThe Dutch version was smaller, so we supersized it,\u201d says Cotton. \u201cWe tweaked the format. Changed the endgame. We decided to film the British and\u00a0American shows at the same castle in the Scottish Highlands.\u201d Each episode is estimated to cost \u00a31m, almost double a normal reality\u00a0show, enabling it to splash out on cinematic flourishes such as\u00a0exploding pirate ships and creepy cabins.<\/p>\n
Now all it needed was a worthy host. Enter Claudia Winkleman, clad in covetable knitwear. \u201c[BBC One controller] Kate Phillips said she had a show for me,\u201d recalls Winkleman. \u201cIt was in Scotland for four weeks. But I don\u2019t leave the kids or my bed, so I said no thanks and forgot all about it. Then\u00a0Kate said: \u2018You should rethink. I\u2019m going\u00a0to send you the original series\u00a0they made in Holland.\u2019 I\u00a0watched two episodes and called\u00a0back to say I\u00a0was booking\u00a0my\u00a0train to Inverness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caped crusaders \u2026 Maya Jama and Richard E Grant in The Celebrity Traitors. Photograph: Studio Lambert\/Euan Cherry\/PA<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we had Ardross Castle and Claudia, everything fell into place,\u201d says Cotton. \u201cThe UK version quickly became its own thing.\u201d Launching in 2022, it pulled in ratings of about 4 million. As buzz spread and punters caught up on iPlayer, audience figures grew exponentially. The second series leapt to 7 million, the third to 9 million, the fourth to 11.5 million. The inaugural celebrity edition last autumn peaked at 14.9 million, making it the year\u2019s most-watched\u00a0show.<\/p>\n
Did Winkleman ever imagine such stratospheric numbers? \u201cNot a chance,\u201d she laughs. \u201cBut I don\u2019t like knowing about ratings. My BBC boss Ed [Havard, director of entertainment] called me a couple of weeks ago to say \u201810 million\u2019. I\u00a0told him it was a clerical error and\u00a0never to call me again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fay believes Winkleman is key to the show\u2019s success. \u201cAs much as possible, we wanted The Traitors to feel like a drama,\u201d she says. \u201cThat was our approach in every department, be it set design, music or Claudia\u2019s wardrobe. It needed to feel like a premium show. Claudia\u2019s integral to that. It\u2019s not your usual reality host role, where they\u2019re slightly removed from the action. She\u2019s embedded as queen of the castle and obsessed with the game. Right from the start, she begged to have screens in her dressing room so she could watch the footage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ever modest, Winkleman plays down her importance. \u201cI disagree with that quite viciously,\u201d she says. \u201cAt first, I couldn\u2019t bear being mean or cold. I loathed not smiling and telling everyone they were amazing. But under Sarah\u2019s guidance, I learned to trust that I could be a bit strict. It\u2019s hard because I feel protective and maternal \u2013 is that weird? \u2013 towards all our players. I want them to know they\u2019re smashing it. Then again, I\u2019m dressed like Chewbacca and throwing portraits on the floor, so\u00a0I\u2019m hard to take seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now airing in more than 40 countries, The Traitors has officially become the most successful TV show on the planet. It has won Baftas and Emmys, while spawning board games, stage\u00a0shows, escape rooms, even a Prom. Did TV insiders expect the\u00a0show to strike global gold?<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody saw it coming,\u201d says Deadline\u2019s TV expert Jake Kanter. \u201cViewing figures growing steadily is always a good sign because it means word of mouth is strong. The\u00a0best definition of a hit is that you don\u2019t need to tell anyone how well it\u2019s performing, they just know. Your friends, family and colleagues are talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Pos and Hoogendoorn shopped the show around, they resisted pressure to compromise and dug their heels in over certain core principles. One was that gameplay should take place in a self-contained bubble with minimal interference.<\/p>\n
Dead end \u2026 Claudia Winkleman arrives in style in The Celebrity Traitors. Photograph: Euan Cherry\/BBC\/Studio Lambert<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dutch always talked about it as a game, not a TV show,\u201d says Cotton. \u201cThis is the game, these are the rules. After that, they\u2019re very hands-off. That\u2019s something we\u2019ve adopted. We set up the game and just let it go. That\u2019s rare nowadays. We never want producers to come up at the round table or be the reason someone\u2019s suspected as a Traitor. If you interfere, they\u2019ll latch on to it. We plan certain elements but have no way of controlling what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another cardinal rule was that the identity of the Traitors isn\u2019t hidden from the audience. Wouldn\u2019t it be better if viewers played detective, too? \u201cWe did dabble with the audience not knowing with the Secret Traitor twist in series four,\u201d says Fay. \u201cBut what\u2019s delicious for the viewer is that they\u2019re in on it all. They see the strategies and paranoia on both sides. Imagine if you didn\u2019t know Alan Carr was a Traitor last year. You\u2019d have missed out on the hilarity of him sweating, panicking and going: \u2018What am I doing?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Winkleman finds the psychology of the game endlessly fascinating. \u201cIt\u2019s about gut instinct,\u201d she says. \u201cTurns out it doesn\u2019t exist. It\u2019s about what happens when we try and \u2018read\u2019 people. It\u2019s about trust, betrayal, friendship, all of it.\u201d It\u2019s no coincidence that The Traitors was conceived during the era of fake news and social media manipulation. In a post-truth world, it offers insights into conspiracy theories, herd mentality\u00a0and groupthink.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat still wows me is that every series is completely different,\u201d says Fay. \u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of a murder mystery. We\u2019re just back from filming the seventh UK series and, again, there are things coming up that you\u2019ve never seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n
When did the makers realise they\u00a0had a smash hit on their hands? \u201cFor me, it was episode four\u00a0of the first series,\u201d says Fay. \u201cThe Red Breakfast, when Tom stood up and went: \u2018Alex isn\u2019t a Traitor, she\u2019s my girlfriend!\u2019 We were watching the rushes with our\u00a0mouths wide open.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s rare to find a format that\u2019s multi-generational,\u201d says Fay. \u201cRemember when we walked down the street and pubs were showing the series one final on big screens, like a football match?\u201d grins Cotton. \u201cThat blew our minds.\u201d<\/p>\n
What have been Winkleman\u2019s highlights? \u201cThere are so many I could bore you for 18 months straight. I often have to stop myself\u00a0gasping out loud at the round table. When the Faithful catch a Traitor, it\u2019s electric. If Traitors turn on Traitors, I always think my head is going to fall off. And I still get a total buzz from going into the turret. It feels very special to be allowed in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
For its award-garlanded host, The Traitors has been transformative. \u201cIt\u2019s the greatest job I\u2019ve ever been given,\u201d says Winkleman. \u201cIt has changed my life and my career, no question. I\u2019ll be there with Barry the owl long after they\u2019ve fired me. I\u2019ve also told the peacock to make room in the shed where he roosts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flying friend \u2026 Claudia Winkleman in The Traitors castle. Photograph: BBC\/Studio Lambert\/Euan Cherry<\/p>\n
The Traitors has overtaken Strictly Come Dancing as the BBC\u2019s crown jewel but it\u2019s a mutually beneficial relationship. From Celia Imrie\u2019s guff to Richard E Grant\u2019s gaffe, from Ross Kemp\u2019s twitching paranoia to James Acaster\u2019s trembling terror, the franchise thrives on communal talking points. It wouldn\u2019t work nearly as well being binged on a streamer. \u201cThe Traitors demonstrates the power of television to bring people together,\u201d says Kanter. \u201cAt a time when there\u2019s lots of existential hand-wringing about the health of the broadcast industry \u2013 and the BBC particularly \u2013 it\u2019s a reminder that when terrestrial TV is good, it\u2019s\u00a0something to treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chaotic second celebrity series reaches its climax this week, with 17 million expected to tune in. What can they reveal about Friday\u2019s final? Fay laughs. \u201cI\u2019m trying to work out what we can tell you without ruining anything.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s stressful and unpredictable,\u201d says Cotton. \u201cGenuinely surprising, even for us,\u201d adds Fay. \u201cWith real heart-in-mouth moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI always cry at the endgame, regardless of who wins,\u201d concludes Winkleman. \u201cWhoever is left standing has played the best game. I feel incredibly proud of them. This series is no different. It feels momentous.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Celebrity Traitors climaxes at 8pm on Thursday 29 October and Friday 30 October on BBC One and iPlayer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It all began on a Dutch trading ship in 1628. No, really. When the Batavia set sail from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":["post-654903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}