The Traitors (UK)/Series 1

***The Traitors Series 1*** is the first season of *The Traitors (UK)*. It was regularly broadcast from Tuesdays to Thursdays on BBC One, typically from 9:00pm to 9:30pm onwards, starting from November 29, 2022.

Although the show initially had a modest audience, it swiftly gained momentum through word-of-mouth and performed strongly on streaming services, eventually becoming a cultural phenomenon. As a result of its popularity, it was officially renewed for a second season on February 27, 2023.

## Background

It was first announced on October 5, 2021 that the BBC had acquired the rights to produce The Traitors as an original series for BBC One and their iPlayer streaming service.

## Unique Characteristics & Twists

* **Secret Pre-existing Relationship:** Contestants Alex Gray and Tom Elderfield were already in a romantic relationship before the game started. They competed as individual contestants. For the first time in the franchise, this pre-existing relationship was not initially revealed to the other contestants.
* **Fake Starting Elimination:** At the start of the game, Claudia asked the contestants to rank themselves based on how likely they were to win. The two contestants who placed at the bottom were informed they would be Banished immediately. However, it was later revealed in Episode 5 that their Banishment was faked, and they returned to the game after taking part in a Mission in disguise.
* **The Bribe:** During the dinner party in Episode 8, a party game was played where each contestant took turns to choose someone else in the game they trusted the most. This chain continued until only one contestant was left; they were then offered £3,000 from that episode's mission winnings to leave the game.
* **Murder in Plain Sight:** At the end of Episode 8, there was no Traitor's conclave. Instead, the Traitors had to select someone they would deliver a 'kiss of death' to at the dinner party, in order to Murder them.
* **Traitors' Ultimatum:** At the end of Episode 11, there was only one Traitor left. They had the option of offering an Ultimatum to a Faithful of their choice, who would either be obliged to accept Recruitment or be Murdered otherwise.

## Contestants

 **Winner: Faithful**

 **Winner: Faithful**

 **Winner: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

## Voting History

1. ↑ There was no Traitors' Conclave in the previous episode. Instead, Claudia threw the remaining contestants a dinner party, while instructing the Traitors to give a Faithful a Kiss of Death.
2. ↑ Kieran received a Traitors' Ultimatum, requiring him to either be Recruited or Murdered.
3. ↑ Amos and Kieran were seemingly eliminated after ranking themselves as least likely to win the game. It was then revealed after Episode 5's Mission that they would return to the game.
4. ↑ There was no Banishment this episode.
5. ↑ Kieran returned to the game at the end of Episode 5's Mission. As he just returned to the game, he was safe from Banishment, but unable to vote as well.
6. ↑ Amos returned to the game at the end of Episode 5's Mission. As he just returned to the game, he was safe from Banishment, but unable to vote as well.

## Season Overview

### Episode 1

*Airdate: November 29, 2022*

* **Fake Eliminated:** *Amos & Kieran*
* **Traitors Selected:** Alyssa, Amanda & Wilfred
* **Mission Synopsis:** Wicker Beasts
The contestants were split into two teams of 10, and each team must set fire to a giant wicker beast within 30 minutes. Some of the team members would row out to the loch and retrieve a flame using torches, while others would search through and organise materials to build the fuse to ignite the beast. The first team to lit the first fuse earned £10,000 and the second team lit the second fuse earned £5,000.
* **Prize Earned:** £15,000 of £15,000

### Episode 2

*Airdate: November 30, 2022*

* **Murdered:** *Aisha*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Name That Tune
The contestants divided themselves into two teams, with one team of 8 in charge of ringing bells at the nearby chapel to play five different tunes. The other team searched the Castle for a music box that was playing the same tune. Each music box contained an item – a larger version of which was hidden in the Castle, and the castle team then had to find and bring back that item within the time limit. Each correct item brought back was worth £2,000 for the prize fund.
* **Prize Earned:** £8,000 of £10,000
* **Banished:** *Nicky* (17-1-1)

### Episode 3

*Airdate: December 1, 2022*

* **Murdered:** *Claire*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Carnival Wheel
Five contestants' names were randomly drawn from a tombola and they would be strapped to a revolving funfair wheel, while the remaining contestants answered Mr & Mrs-style questions. For each answer that matches with someone on the wheel, they would earn £100 for the prize fund – and they would also earn a £2,500 bonus if everyone stayed on the wheel for ten minutes. There are two rounds – each with a potential prize of £5,000 to be won.
* **Prize Earned:** £8,700 of £10,000
* **Banished:** *Imran* (10–6–1)

### Episode 4

*Airdate: December 6, 2022*

* **On Trial:** Alex, Ivan & John
* **Mission Synopsis:**
The group is split into three teams – led by those on Trial (Alex, Ivan & John). Each team sent one person into a pen full of sheep while their team described a photo of one of the sheep. The person in the pen had to work out which sheep was being described – and each sheep was wearing a coat with the name of a contestant on it. After each round, more sheep were added. Each correct sheep identified by a team would earn £1,000 for the prize fund and the fastest team would be given the chance to earn an extra £1,000 if they could round up all of the sheep within two minutes.
* **Prize Earned:** £8,000 of £10,000
* **Banished:** *Ivan* (7–6–2–1)

### Episode 5

*Airdate: December 7, 2022*

* **Murdered:** *John*
* **Returned to Game:** *Amos & Kieran*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Church Match
The contestants were split into two teams of 7 and one representative from each team at a time went into the confessional booth to hear a page and paragraph reference from Claudia. They would then relay this information to their team and use The Book of Traitors to find a riddle – leading to a clothing item worn by one member of the masked congregation. Only the first team to identify an item counted, and each correctly-identified item earned £2,000 for the pot. The team who identifies the most correct items fastest would be given the first opportunity to visit the Armoury and potentially earn a Shield.
* **Prize Earned:** £8,000 of £8,000
* **Armoury Access:** Alex, Amanda, Hannah, Meryl, Theo, Tom & Wilfred
* **Shield:** Tom
* **Banished:** *Tom* (7–4–1–1–1)

### Episode 6

*Airdate: December 8, 2022*

* **Murdered:** *Matt*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Buried Alive
The group were split into three teams, two members of each team were buried in underground graves and it was up to the remaining team members to uncover them within 45 minutes. Each person who escaped their grave was worth £1,500 for the prize fund and the fastest team to uncover their two teammates would win a trip to the Armoury.
* **Prize Earned:** £9,000 of £9,000
* **Armoury Access:** Aaron, Alex, Amanda, Hannah & Theo
* **Shield:** Amanda
* **Banished:** *Alyssa* (6–5–2–1)

### Episode 7

*Airdate: December 13, 2022*

* **Recruitment:** Alex *(rejected)*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Barrel Transport
 The group had 45 minutes to transport whisky barrels to an old distillery on the top of a nearby hill. Along the way, they would find more barrels of increasing size worth more money, as well as five barrels which would allow contestants of their choice to enter the Armoury.
* **Prize Earned:** £8,400 of £10,000
* **Armoury Access:** Andrea, Fay & Theo
* **Shield:** Fay
* **Banished:** *Rayan* (7–3–2–1)

### Episode 8

*Airdate: December 15, 2022*

* **Murdered:** *Alex*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Cabin in the Woods
The group were split into two teams, contestants had to escape a Fishing cabin-themed escape room. For each team who escaped, they would add £3,000 to the prize fund – and the fastest team to escape would be given the opportunity to enter the Armoury.
* **Prize Earned:** £3,000 of £6,000
* **Armoury Access:** Fay, Hannah, Kieran, Maddy, Meryl & Wilfred
* **Shield:** Maddy
* **Banished:** N.A.

### Episode 9

*Airdate: December 16, 2022*

* **Murdered:** *Amos*
* **Mission Synopsis:**
The group were split into three teams, contestants would drive a route and encounter True or False statements. If they pick the incorrect answer, they would hit a dead end. Teams had 45 minutes to complete their route, and each team who completed the route would earn £2,000 for the prize fund. The fastest team to complete the route would also be given the opportunity to enter the Armoury, where one of them would win the Shield.
* **Prize Earned:** £6,000 of £6,000
* **Armoury Access:** Kieran, Meryl & Wilfred
* **Shield:** Meryl
* **Banished:** *Theo* (6–2–2)

### Episode 10

*Airdate: December 20, 2022*

* **Murdered:** *Fay*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Laser Dodge
The contestants were given twenty minutes to individually make their way through a room and steal artifacts which were protected by lasers. Each artifact was worth a set amount of money for the prize fund, with a shield among the artifacts which would keep them safe from murder. Breaking a laser would cost the group one minute of time and any artifacts being carried would be lost. After all eight contestants have made an attempt, they are then given a second opportunity.
* **Prize Earned:** £3,700 of £7,000
* **Shield:** None
* **Banished:** *Amanda* (4–2–1–1)

### Episode 11

*Airdate: December 21, 2022*

* **Recruitment:** Kieran *(accepted)*
* **Murdered:** *Andrea*
* **Mission Synopsis:**
* **Prize Earned:** £3,250 of £7,000
* **Banished:** *Maddy* (4–2)

### Episode 12

*Airdate: December 22, 2022*

* **Mission Synopsis:**
* **Prize Earned:** £20,000 of £20,000
* **Total Prize:** £101,050 of £118,000
* **Banished:**
	+ *Kieran* (4–1)
	+ *Wilfred* (3–1)
* **Winner(s): *Aaron, Hannah & Meryl***
* **Runner(s)-Up:** *Wilfred*

## Viewership

The series started as a modest - although not outstanding - success. However, it was successful at drawing in younger viewers, with over five million accumulated viewers for the premiere. The finale episode ranked among the top 10 most-viewed 9pm entertainment episodes for 2022.

The series has over 34 million views on BBC iPlayer as of February 2023, and was the BBC's biggest new entertainment launch in years. It was also the biggest new series for young audiences across all BBC titles in 2022, and the highest-rated new entertainment series on the BBC since at least 2017 for young audiences.

## Trivia

* This is the first season in the international franchise:
	+ To allow and watch the first 3 episodes before they broadcast network (BBC One) via the BBC's streaming service BBC iPlayer, the US followed this option for the 2nd season

## References

1. ↑ NBCUniversal, BBC Order U.S., U.K. Adaptations of Studio Lambert Format ‘The Traitors’ | Variety — October 5, 2021
2. ↑ The Traitors: Why viewers became so loyal to the BBC reality series | BBC — December 22, 2022
3. ↑ The Traitors parts with 3.3m | Broadcast — December 23, 2022
4. ↑ The BBC is 100% faithful to The Traitors as series two confirmed | BBC — February 27, 2023