From a celebrity special to a ‘spine-tingling’ Prom, how did The Traitors take over TV?

The “spine-tingling celebration of musical treachery” was, however, rather overshadowed by the leak of the roster of names taking part in a special celebrity series.

Many of the presenters, ­comedians and ­musicians on the list were seen landing at Inverness airport on Friday ahead of filming, including Clare Balding, Tom Daley, Jonathan Ross, Charlotte Church, Stephen Fry, Paloma Faith and Alan Carr.

Both spin-offs are a sign that Traitors Inc is in full swing; both coups for a format that launched on British screens only three years ago.

Usually it takes the cultural clout of a show such as Doctor Who to waltz on to the stage of the Albert Hall whenever it likes. This summer, The Traitors: Live Experience also gets under way in London’s Covent Garden, with new merchandise.

The Traitors’ format places 22 strangers inside a Highlands castle to face a series of challenges that may earn a prize pot of up to £120,000. Some of the group are secret traitors who can eliminate the others, unless they are detected. Betting has already begun on who might do best in such a game of deception and misdirection.

Securing so many household names for a celebrity TV jaunt is ­unusual, although the programme-makers are reportedly unhappy that an internal traitor divulged a list to the Sun ahead of time. Amanda Lovett, a star of the first British series, told The Observer: “The producers have clearly been conscious of the different worlds the celebrities come from, so they won’t know each other too well.”

How did the show become a national cultural landmark so quickly? The handlers of the British and American franchise, Studio Lambert and its parent company All3media, are veterans of developing the potential of a show without cheapening it. Much of the effort, given the show now has 30 versions worldwide, is concentrated on restraint; especially in the light of the spate of board games and T-shirts spawned by series one.

“The great thing about owning the idea is that we manage all the brand extensions as well, from the online game to the live experiences,” said Jane Turton, All3media’s CEO. She admits no one knows how long the life of The Traitors will be: “All shows behave differently, but the biggest challenge is innovation.”

The show was originally Dutch. De Verraders, inspired by the ­parlour game known variously as wink murder, werewolves or mafia, ­premiered on the channel RTL4 in March 2021. Working for IDTV, creators Marc Pos and Jasper Hoogendoorn melded a love of duplicitous fun with the true story of a 17th-century mutiny and shipwreck. Pos originally envisioned a maritime setting.

The Netherlands has an ­impressive back catalogue of international TV hits, including Stars in their Eyes, Deal or No Deal, The Voice and, of course, Big Brother, which has had 500 series airing across 65 markets. Big Brother’s British producer, Peter Bazalgette, has a theory about why the Dutch are so good at it. ”They are what we would see as blunt, although they just think they are honest,” he told The Observer. “So they are better at coming up with bolder ideas.”

Classical music pundits have been sniffy at news of the prom, for which host Claudia Winkleman says she has asked for “a cloak and an owl”. But Sam Jackson, controller of Radio 3 and the man in charge of the Proms, defends it as an entry point for newcomers.

Celebrity casts have been in versions of the show in the US, Scandinavia, Italy, Germany, France and Australia.

And, of course, it transforms its regular contestants into familiar faces. Aside from Lovett, a benign figure who fooled most people in 2022’s series one, The Traitors has made stars of Wilf Webster, runner-up in the same season, and former opera singer Linda Rands from 2024, who may appear in the prom.

“It has changed my life completely,” Lovett said. “I am back to my normal part-time job now, managing new homes, and sometimes people say to me they think they’ve worked with me before. I don’t always explain, because then we end up talking about The Traitors the whole time.”

Photograph: BBC/Studio Lambert/Cody Burridge