Kmflett's Blog

The Traitors Series 4. Agency & Class

Series 4 of the Traitors ended on 23^rd January. Viewing figures have been lower than for the Celebrity version but still decent 6 million plus.

There has been a good deal of media comment. The Guardian has run several articles and The Times (22^nd January) has a piece looking at the possible biases in the programme on race, gender and age. One might think, guilty, given these are significant biases in British society as a whole.

I’ve had a look at a few other angles. One was suggested by Barbara Ellen in the Observer. Namely that some players familiar with previous series have agency. That is they are running their own agenda on how to play the game rather than just reacting to events. Rachel is perhaps the most obvious example.

I also pondered whether there might be a London bias (I am a Londoner of course) to the 22 players. That is not where they came from but where they live now. If you include Essex and Brighton in a wider London diaspora (see house prices) it still doesn’t get above 30%. So that doesn’t fit.

Class is a more interesting angle. Those who have had the clearest (if often wrong) analysis of who might be a Traitor, the two QCs, the DCI and of course Rachel who is some kind of senior professional are firmly middle class.

Jade is a PhD student and Ellie a psychologist but neither offered a compelling perspective, perhaps deliberately- see agency above.

The more proletarian players, gardener, builder, hairdresser, one might think would have some views on how someone like Rachel might not quite be what she says she is. Apparently not.

I won’t be applying for the next series but as a long time union officer who represents members and negotiates with employers you do need to have a reasonable sense of who is telling the truth, the whole truth etc, and who might not quite be on the level.

So next time as well as QCs and retired police officers what about one or two people from the labour movement. You can of course take a view. At the end there would either be no traitors left or only one…