The Traitors

With a top-notch host in Alan Cumming, tricky, high-level game play, and a tantalizing cross-section of reality show talent as its players – competitive Survivor styles up against Real Housewives wiles, or reality randos confronting established format schemers – Traitors is taking reality competition to stylishly outrageous new levels.

By the time you reach episode eight (which could already scoop the award for the year’s best hour of reality TV), the tension is so unbearable that you will be glad the last two episodes are there for binging. Just be prepared for the stress-inducing final episode, which is pure shout-at-the-TV brilliance.

The joy of this competition is that no one quite understands that there’s truly no obvious strategy to the game or immediate telltale signs of someone’s “traitor” status—at least in the first few episodes. ... The thoughtfully selected cast is obviously a huge part of the show’s winning formula.

A shame, then, that the The Traitors US, snapped up by the Beeb and now all on iPlayer, is heavily sprinkled with participants from other reality shows such as The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and The Bachelor. .... It’s still good fun – I gleefully wolfed down the 10 episodes (all on iPlayer) – and Alan Cumming makes for a mischievous host.

Despite being set in a Scottish castle just like the British version, it lacks the oomph. This is partly because Alan Cumming, while a decent host, hams it up to the rafters and doesn't have the same air of deadpan menace as Claudia Winkleman.