The Traitors Ireland ★★★★★

By The Recs SCD - Steve Coats-Dennis 3 months ago

The Traitors Ireland offers conniving, cunning and a nice cuppa to banish the Autumnal gloom

In 2021, a modest reality show began on Dutch television. De Verraders was a social strategy game where a group of “Faithfuls” worked together to build a prize pot – while a secret few “Traitors” plotted their downfall. Half Big Brother, half Agatha Christie, the format immediately struck gold with viewers.

By late 2022, the show had spread its hooded cloak – and that’s when things really got interesting. The UK brand of The Traitors, hosted by Claudia Winkleman and filmed in a moody Scottish castle, became an instant hit, drawing millions of viewers, which would be tripled each subsequent series. Then came the US version on Peacock, hosted by Alan Cumming and stacked with reality-TV veterans. Suddenly, fans everywhere were hooked, swapping theories online and obsessing over every shocking “banishment” and heart-stopping betrayal.

Subsequently, The Traitors became a full-blown global franchise. The show has been adapted successfully in numerous countries across Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Which raises the question: will so many variants of the show dilute the brand?

Images by RTE Press Office Issue

Which brings us to The Traitors Ireland. Filmed in Slane Castle, County Meath, the 24 contestants vie for the prize pot, which could reach up to €50,000, roughly a third of the UK show.

But despite the underwhelming prize funds, the Irish take on The Traitors certainly doesn’t lack for charm. For a start, Derry Girls star Siobhán McSweeney rivals US Traitors host Alan Cummings for sartorial campery and borrows some of Claudia Winkleman’s flirtation. She is a delight!

Many of the new members of the franchise heavily borrow from tasks that have played out elsewhere in the franchise. So it is refreshing and bold to see a task centred around the Irish language (Gaeilge) so early in the series. Like they were planting an Irish tricolour and taking ownership of their take of the show.

The other striking difference from other offshoots of the franchise is how fucking sweary it is! Somehow this lends the show an authenticity. If someone you trusted blindsided you at the round table, you’d probably let fly with the expletives too. But then, in complete contrast to the effin’ and jeffin’, there is an endearing reoccurrence that all hostilities are halted for a lovely cup of tea. 

But the overriding feeling is how robust the show’s format is. Trust or lack of it, strategies or best-laid plans being upended, gameplay or just getting through each banishment or murder, the show provides its own twists and turns because putting a number of competitors in the same place with a monetary prize in their grasp will draw out those delicious human emotions. Loyalty, doubt, betrayal, self-preservation – it’s positively Shakespearean!

And the irresistible whisper of The Traitors, which so many reality shows ignore, is that tempting question: what would you do? If you were a contestant, would you want to be traitor or faithful? How would you approach the game? The show’s format gives the contestants the flexibility to forge their own strategic approach – and vicariously, The Traitors begs the question, which would you adopt? Under the radar? Sharing names? Backstabber?

And the murders…! For the record, without too many spoilers, we were delighted this series’ cloaked villains got rid of the most annoying player first – but then messed it up completely by choosing the sweetest as their next victim. Plus, bravo to whoever cast this opening Irish season. The two contestants with a family link has paid off with an ever-changing, unpredictable dynamic.

Although no announcement has been made about whether The Traitors Ireland will air in the UK, given that the US, Australian and New Zealand iterations of the show are currently available on iPlayer, The Recs hopes, nay demands, that the excellent Irish series should be screened for UK audiences forthwith.

Or perhaps they are holding it back to allow maximum publicity for the eagerly anticipated first Celebrity Traitors season, which is set to air next month on BBC One.

In the meantime, The Recs raises a cup of tea in honour of The Traitors Ireland and their deliciously duplicitous and wonderfully Irish take on the best reality show on the box! 

A fiendish, fearsome ★★★★★ 5 stars

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The Recs SCD - Steve Coats-Dennis