The Traitors has been a revelation (SPOILERS BELOW) and the ratings haven’t been bad either.
Last night’s finale of the BBC entertainment hit closed with 3.2M, a series high for a ‘word of mouth’ shocker that has steadily accrued viewers over the past weeks. For some, the Claudia Winkleman-hosted caper has really been all they can talk about.
According to Barb data supplied by overnights.tv, a share of more than 20% of UK TV watchers tuned in for a dramatic finale worthy of the bone-janglingly intense 12-part run, in which traitor Kieran was outed and then dramatically hinted at his fellow traitor Wilf’s position with the immortal phrase “a parting gift.” Cue chaos. The remaining faithfuls cottoned on and went home with more than £30,000 ($36,000) each.
The share was a 50% increase on the previous episode and the audience has been steadily growing through the run, an impressive feat given that live viewing has been rising at the same time as new viewers cotton on to the show’s wow factor and catch up on iPlayer. By last night, it appeared many had caught up, and The Traitors was the most-watched program on UK TV yesterday bar the news and Emmerdale.
In almost all areas the show has been heaped with praise as it has grown from sleeper hit to outright hit in double quick time and one consistently singled out has been the intelligent scheduling, which could set a bar.
The Traitors, which is produced from an original Dutch idea from Marc Pos by Gogglebox indie Studio Lambert, aired three times a week at 9 p.m. GMT on BBC One (Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday for its final week) and this has allowed viewers to feed their addiction while not falling too far behind. More could be scheduled in this vein next year, one feels.
The premise is simple: 22 contestants enter a castle – 19 are faithfuls and three are ascribed traitors. Those traitors have to evade their fellow faithful’s watchful eyes while ‘murdering’ one per night and avoiding being ‘banished’ during intense roundtable sessions when contestants select who to evict from the castle. In the daytime, they compete in challenges in order to add money to a prize fund that will eventually be either shared out with the remaining faithfuls – as happened last night – or land with a traitor.
Nobody from the BBC or Studio Lambert could have anticipated the drama that has ensued. Producers are even referring to the opening of one episode as the ‘Red Breakfast’ in a callback to Game of Thrones. As contestants stayed longer in the game, their paranoia grew – and at some point everyone was accused.
Casting has also been lauded, with producers praised for choosing a diverse, ‘normal’ bunch of contestants that the public can relate to. Love in particular goes out to 72-year-old Andrea, who almost made it to the end, repping an area of diversity that is maybe less discussed in the wider diversity debate – older people living alone. Not a dry eye was in the house for her departure speech.
Since launching in The Netherlands on RTL4 having been created and produced by All3Media-backed indie IDTV, The Traitors has had 11 recommissions in less than a year – demonstrating its instant global appeal.
All eyes now turn to NBC’s U.S. version for Peacock launching next month, in which celebrities will compete for the prize alongside non-celebs, and to whether the BBC will choose to order a second season, although it’s hard to imagine this is in doubt. More international sales are also incoming, we hear, with distributor All3Media International shopping far and wide.
In what has been a cold, dark December full of strikes and bad weather, The Traitors has shone out like a beacon – a reminder that ‘word of mouth’ hits still exist in the age of peak content and streaming. The BBC will be simply delighted.
