The Traitors is back for a fourth series on New Year’s Day – but this time, something will be different.
Undoubtedly, the return of the award-winning show in January is the best thing to happen to the bleak, post-Christmas winter month (no offence to anyone born in Jan).
It provides nail-biting drama, scenes of deception, andthe perfect excuse to get friends together around the TV.
After three editions of the main series and one recent version of the spin-off, Celebrity Traitors, you might be worried that it could start to get repetitive.
Well, fear not – host Claudia Winkleman has assured us that ‘there’s something new’ this time around.
She added: ‘What happens in this series is truly extraordinary, with moments that made me gasp.
‘I can’t wait for people to see it. The producers have the greatest minds on Earth.’
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Fans were left guessing on Christmas Day when the BBC released a teaser for the new series that involved somebody dressed in a never-before-seen red cloak.
Could this be the twist?
Those who saw were theorising with this new information: ‘New traitor role or just trying make the colours fit nicer?’, asked @sightduhdushy on X.
While @VeritaserumukT went deeper: ‘I think the red cloak will be a secret traitor role.
‘They will be an unknown traitor who the other Traitors know nothing about.
‘They will work against both the Traitors and the Faithful to get to the end. If they make it, they take everything and the Traitors get nothing.’
What could the red cloak be?
Our Deputy TV Editor, Tom Percival, has his own theory on what the red cloak in The Traitors might mean…
The addition of a new role will add a bit of spice to this fourth season and remind those playing that you have to expect the unexpected when you enter Claudia’s castle.
But what role does the red cloak have? Well, the boring answer would be a ‘detective-type character’.
In the game Mafia, there’s a player who takes on this role, and they have special powers that allow them to identify the guilty outside of normal gameplay.
People predicted that Celia Imrie might secretly be the detective when Celebrity Traitors was on, but that turned out to be a load of old rubbish.
Honestly, though, I don’t think the detective role will add much to the game. Even if the Faithful finger a Traitor early on, they’ll just be replaced by another, rendering the whole thing a bit pointless.
What would be more fun is a new ‘Super Traitor’ role — a Traitor operating within the Traitors who can target his fellow murderers!
It’d be a dangerous position for sure, but it would help with one of the format’s biggest problems, which is the power the Traitors have when they’re united.
Viewing figures for the spin-off series, which aired in the autumn, are certainly confirmation that the show is a huge hit with audiences.
The Celebrity Traitors final had an average audience of 11.1million and peaked at 12m, with the nation gripped as comedian Alan Carr emerged victorious as an unlikely Traitor, winning £87,500 for charity.
One of the many families watching was Claudia’s – but she revealed nothing prior.
When asked if she let any spoilers slip to them, Claudia said: ‘Genuinely, I’d lose my job. Plus, there’s no fun in knowing.
‘When Alan won, my husband and youngest son couldn’t stop screaming and crying and shouting, “But you knew!”‘
After he won, Alan hinted at a big twist in the following series, by reading a note with an ominous message: ‘Dear new Traitors, look after the place, won’t you? Because you’ll never guess what Claudia’s got planned this time.’
In January, we’ll see 22 more players descend on the castle in the Scottish Highlands as they attempt to play an elaborate game of wink murder, which could see them win up to £120,000.
On arrival, the cast often comment on the stunning location, and Claudia agrees: ‘The Scottish Highlands might be the most beautiful place on the planet.
‘It’s a privilege to spend so much time surrounded by the jaw-dropping landscape. I’ve never been anywhere like it.
‘There’s something about the expanse of sky, the breathtaking lochs and the flora and fauna.’
The new series of The Traitors starts New Year’s Day at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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