The Celebrity Traitors returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer in spectacularly confident fashion. Claudia Winkleman emerges from a coffin carried by two cloaked men, wearing a gigantic ruff and leather finger-gloves, before introducing a 35-second high-camp board-game sequence featuring a miniature Ardross Castle and figurines waiting to be “murdered”.
Most programmes would build an entire series around that gag. Here, it is discarded almost immediately. The joke captures the show’s current golden age: lavish, ridiculous and completely certain that viewers will follow wherever it goes.
The returning host presides over a formidable line-up including Richard E Grant, Maya Jama, Jerry Hall, Miranda Hart, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Michael Sheen, Ross Kemp, James Blunt, Bella Ramsey, Myha’la, James Acaster, Romesh Ranganathan, Joe Lycett, Rob Beckett, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Amol Rajan.
Winkleman selects Grant and Jama as the first Traitors. Almost immediately, Grant announces that he is a Traitor to a bar full of celebrities while sipping from a wine glass. This is not a double bluff. It appears to be a genuine burst of unguarded excitement, delivered before he has received his cloak or taken the Traitors’ oath.
The moment is jaw-dropping because Grant is both catastrophically bad at the game and magnificent television. The other contestants respond with blank, baffled faces, while Grant’s hysterical laughter and theatrical relish turn a strategic disaster into pure box office. Jerry Hall insists he cannot be a Traitor because she has known him for 30 years, making the denial even funnier.
Ross Kemp supplies another comic masterclass, treating every physical contact as aggression after being patted on the arm and interpreting a sailor’s hat placed on his head as an attempt on his life. The first challenge, involving wetsuits aboard a ship supposedly due to explode in 90 seconds, adds the necessary physical panic.
The episode’s cliffhanger sends James Acaster and Amol Rajan into competing pitches to become the third Traitor, with one set to join the cloak and the other facing murder. It is exactly the sort of twist that keeps the format fresh.
There are weaknesses. The comedy-heavy cast risks squeezing out less media-trained personalities, while the funniest players may be removed early, leaving the cautious survivors behind. With spin-offs, companion shows, international editions and a stage production also expanding the brand, audience fatigue is a reasonable concern.
For now, though, The Celebrity Traitors remains brilliant, bonkers and endlessly watchable. Richard E Grant has ignited season two before the game has properly begun.
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