“Are you a Traitor?”

So says Claudia Winkleman from the trailers, the mysterious posters and social media dropping in late December…

It sounds good, doesn’t it? It sounds dangerous…hinting at a touch of planning, scheming, and delicious betrayal…. It sounds a lot better than “Are you a wink murderer?”

Because that is essentially what The Traitors (Series 3 – the jewel in the BBC’s New Year’s Day crown – coming soon to get you through the pain of dry January) is. It’s posh wink murder, the game you were probably forced to play in a high school drama lesson. But this version takes place in Ardross Castle, the most impossibly Gothic backdrop. It is hosted by Claudia Winkleman, who is having the most fun it’s possible for a TV presenter to have, having been given free reign over Britain’s best knitwear catalogue and the BBC’s credit card.

So, what has made this very rudimentary game the highlight of Britain’s TV-based discourse, for the past 2, and about to be 3, years?

Well – There are lots of reasons, but let’s start with the most important…. And sorry to go all Nessa on you (also seen propping up Auntie Beeb’s festive offerings) It’s Lush! And I mean that in the proper sense of the word. This is a reality show that has been seriously thought out, structured and had a tonne of money thrown at it. It oozes quality.

For the uninitiated, Traitors is a gameshow, where three of the original 12 participants are selected by Claudia (with probably more than a little help from the production team) to be a “Traitor”. The Traitors select one “Faithful” (Those not selected) to “murder” every night, with them leaving the competition, or to be offered  the chance to join them as a traitor. Before this occurs, the contestants get together to discuss who they believe is a Traitor, and there is a vote… The loser of that vote leaves the competition. Daily, there are challenges where contestants can win immunity from that night’s vote. The aim of the competition is to make it to the final three where, if you are a Traitor, you steal all the money, or if you are all Faithful, you share the money. So, the vast majority of the contestant’s job is to find out who are the Traitors, and the Traitors’ job is to lie and cheat their way to £100,000.

But money does not a cultural phenomenon make… so let’s dig a little deeper…

For a start, let’s look at where it sits. BBC1. The Nation’s identity. Part of the establishment. The channel you turn on in the good front room. The place that brings us a front-row seat to the Nation’s psyche playing out. This mark of quality is not to be underrated in the audience. It’s the channel that bought you umpteen Agatha Christie’s, Jonathan Creek’s, Christ…. even Death in Paradise! This is a channel that does safe, non-violent, quality murder mystery. Traitors fits fully into this mould but with a reality TV sheen…In short – a programme about murder and betrayal in a weird old castle, fits the channel like, well, the dark satanic cult-style robes they make the Traitors wear.

Next up,the host. Claudia is the nuts. Yes, her eyes might be fighting a valiant lost cause against the most luxuriant fringe in British television, but when they do pop through, my Lord do they sparkle with mischief! She does knowing camp so well. On the one hand, she is the sombre figure of authority, doing the exposition-heavy lifting. But on the other hand, she is conspiring with the Traitors like a giggly mean girl, and delivering solemn camp sub–Edgar Allen Poe style setups, like the gothiest teen who ever listened to The Cure.

This is a show that leans into successful genres like horror and murder mystery but can’t quite escape its reality tropes. However, unlike some other notable reality fare *cough* Love Island *cough cough* you aren’t watching 55 mins of filler (with adverts) before the interesting thing they teased at the start happens in the last 2 minutes. There is ALWAYS something happening. They structure it so that there are mini cliffhangers, leading up to big cliffhangers – and as you know who the Traitors are, you are always watching them “playing the game” and misleading the group. The fact that the audience knows more than the characters makes it a very rewarding watch, as you get to scream at the TV in frustration, and impotent horror as they chuck out the wrong person time and again. The episodes also build up to the greatest set piece in reality TV at the moment… The interrogation scene. In this, all the paranoia, alliances, gameplay, lying and subterfuge crescendo in a wonderful mix of people playing detective whilst having their entire honour and character called into question.

The casting is also brilliant. Readers, we need to have a chat about celebrities… They’re out of control… literally every show that used to feature the great and good (and completely awful) of the Great British Public has been remorselessly replaced one by one, by a celebrity version. My pet theory is that people are getting a bit sick of celebrities, hence the success of shows like Traitors and Race Across the World – because it reminds us that there is nothing more captivating than an extraordinary ordinary person – someone that the audience can see themselves in. It’s basic empathy, and we get it, because we could be that person. £100,000 is not going to make a massive amount of difference to H from Steps, but Harry the Squaddie? It’ll change his life!

In many ways, I feel this is an old-fashioned show, that reminds people of the communal power of TV. Though a lot of us haven’t been near a watercooler since covid, this is the definition of water cooler TV. This is the show that people are talking to their friends and co-workers about. Virtually. The last two series have seen an explosion of social media commentary, TikTok videos and think pieces (ahem) inspired by gameplay. Audiences love a show that they can chat about, adopt favourite characters, pretend hate a character (Boooooo Paul from Series 2… the most vanilla diet coke villain in TV villain history – you’re not fit to lace Nasty Nick’s boots) and analyse to within an inch of its life/take the piss with a funny meme.

Weirdly, I also think that The Traitors has tapped into the zeitgeist as far as personal relationships go. Who knew what “Gaslighting” was 5 years ago? Who could define a narcissist? With the increasing usage and understanding of psychology terms and therapy-speak in the mainstream – people are much more comfortable analysing people’s psychology as an armchair sport. And you literally get to see these concepts on screen – In a safe way! Everyone is “playing a game” based on lying and deceit, so the lying, gaslighting, deceiving little shit is only playing at being those things, as opposed to being an actual sociopath. It’s weirdly cathartic to see someone telling an obvious lie on screen, and maybe even be caught for it, when the real world hasn’t got round to punishing your Trump’s and Johnson’s for doing the same.

The final reason it works so well is really boring, and obvious. It’s on in January. January is far and away the shitest month of the year. No one can afford to go out, it’s too cold to even if you wanted to, and it’s very easy to enjoy the basic misanthropy of hating on people behaving awfully after having just been forced to spend a week or so with your family at Christmas!So…am I going to be a traitor and seek my January entertainment elsewhere? Absolutely not. As far as The Traitors is concerned, I am totally faithful.

Traitors returns New Year’s Day on BBC One.