The Traitors' Claudia Winkleman is giving an iconic murder mystery performance for the ages
With The Traitors, the BBC have brought us a new iteration of the classic murder mystery host in Claudia Winkleman – and her performance in the role is nothing short of legendary.
In the murder mystery genre, there is a long tradition of the dinner party. A group of people, usually strangers, all receive invitations to a gloomy manor house. When they arrive, it is revealed that their mysterious host is playing a rather morbid game with them: they are there to find the murderer lurking in their midst – and, hopefully, avoid their own demise in the process.
This trope appears again and again in the murder mystery genre, from 2022's Glass Onion to 1985's board game-inspired cult classic Clue to numerous novels – Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None and A Murder Is Announced and the brilliant The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, to name a few.
Crucial to the dinner party trope is the figure of the sinister yet alluring host – the puppet master leading her guests through an increasingly morbid game of spot the killer.
With The Traitors, the BBC have brought us a new iteration of the classic murder mystery host in Claudia Winkleman – and her performance in the role is nothing short of legendary.
The show leads us to imagine that her mysterious character lives alone in a rambling Scottish castle with only a few screeching peacocks and one spooky owl for company. To keep herself entertained, she invites a group of strangers to join her for a few weeks. She then marks some of them as Traitors, who she tasks with murdering off the others one-by-one.
Bedecked in a seemingly endless wardrobe of argyle, wool and tweed and eyes veiled behind a thick, dark fringe, she gives her guests daily morbid challenges and, each evening, lets them loose on each other to banish one member of the group, before the Traitors strike again.
This is the premise of The Traitors, now in its second season. It's a concept that demands high drama and intense solemnity from its host, and Winkleman takes on this role of Lady of the Manor with remarkable commitment.
This sinister role is, of course, new territory for Winkleman, who, prior to The Traitors, was best known for cheery hosting turns on kinder shows like Strictly Come Dancing and The Great British Sewing Bee.
"I felt bad because normally my role if I've ever done telly or radio is I'm like a cheerleader. You know?," she said in a BBC interview, adding, "On this I’m a bit crueller. I didn’t want to be too cruel, because I’m on their side. But the problem is I’m on all of their sides. I want the Traitors to win and I also want the Faithfuls to catch them. It’s confusing, it’s like having an affair or something."
And according to contestants of the first season, Winkleman's commitment to this crueller role is very real.
"She does kind of keep her character … She is very supportive but she is in the game as well," last season's Hannah Byczkowski said of Claudia's commitment to the character. "It feels very much real. It is real, the whole thing is real. And there is a lot at stake. She has to keep a total poker face. It’s a lot of pressure on Claudia really to not give anything away or gasp in horror or astonishment or anything like that.”
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The second season began with a gloomy shot of Winkleman crafting her invitations. We watch as she mulls over the invitation – chatting with her owl, naturally – before signing her name on the browning parchment with a fountain pen.
Later, she asks her chosen traitors to "take the traitors oath," passing each of them a folded cloak with a wonderful sense of gravitas.
This solemn performance continues throughout the show. She stalks gloomily around the roundtable as the players debate who to banish. She majestically ascends the stairs at the end of each day, presumably retiring to a gothic boudoir to rest before the "murdering hour". She is even shown lighting the torches on the castle wall with a literal torch pole.
Winkleman's remarkable performance reached a new peak in Thursday's episode, when she donned a suit, cane and lace veil and led the group on a sombre funeral march through the woods near the castle. Diane had been "poisoned" the night before and by the end of the march, Winkleman explained, she would be "dead".
When the group reached Diane's burial plot, Winkleman unflinchingly asked her to step into a coffin, before she slammed the lid shut, staring daringly into the faces of the remaining contestants.
For reality TV, this kind of high camp performance was dramatic, weird, and profoundly iconic. After all, a line like: "Think of today, if you will, as a slow march to certain death" is not easy to pull off, especially on reality television – but evidently, Winkleman is more than up to the task.
The Traitors airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 9pm. Season 1 is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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