The Traitors UK vs The Traitors US: Like a good Agatha Christie novel - Brits just do smiling assassin best

Today’s reality TV is largely a turn-off for me, with its over-the-top casting and constant stirring up of non-dramas at every turn, I find them largely infuriating. That was until The Traitors hit UK television screens.

While the contestants are all, of course, carefully chosen, it’s not simply a bunch of fame-hungry, hysterical humans all vying for as much airtime as possible. There’s always a decent cross section of society, many with occupations or hobbies which may, or may not, make them more adept at weeding out the traitors among them.

And while the BBC show relies on dramatic twists and turns, they are weaved in as part of the show’s format. The latest series has already dropped plenty of bombshells, with three contestants not even making it as far as the castle, exiting the train before it had reached its final destination, and a sister turning on her sibling during a tense roundtable.

After watching the very first UK series, hosted by fashion icon Claudia Winkleman, it was to my great joy that the void left as that show concluded was going to be filled with the arrival of The Traitors US - which is even filmed at the very same Ardross Castle as the UK version is set!

So, it was to my enormous disappointment that I absolutely could not stand the American’s take on The Traitors. It was clear from the outset they had gone in quite a different direction when selecting the stars of the show and that the desire for constant conflict and drama between contestants had usurped all else.

Unnecessary confrontation, over-emotional round tables, and way too much whinging makes the whole thing seem utterly fake. And while I generally love host Alan Cumming, his theatrical performances punctuating the show’s action are also entirely uncalled for.

All-in-all, it’s just not very, well, British, I suppose. Which of course it wouldn’t be. And altogether too American, which of course it would be. Ultimately, I think the success of The Traitors (UK) hinges on its more low-key approach; The quiet plotting, polite disagreements (even though both parties are always clearly absolutely raging under the surface), and the general desire to avoid conflict if at all possible - these are the key attributes to making the show so utterly spellbinding.

Like an Agatha Christie novel, where the killer is generally a smiling assassin and the grumpy character is never above suspicion (but it’s never actually them who did it) - that’s exactly what we want to see playing out in the Scottish Highlands - something quite gentile, all while harbouring murderers in their midst.