A Scottish castle, an Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery, Claudia Winkleman’s fringe – The Traitors is decked with British hallmarks. But unlike many of our most beloved television institutions, it isn’t actually homegrown: the original format of the show is Dutch. More specifically, it’s based on a famously grisly incident from the 17th century, when the Dutch ship Batavia was wrecked on an island off the west coast of Australia. One of the bloodiest mutinies in history soon broke out, during which around 125 of the 300 survivors were murdered.
For Dutch TV producer Marc Pos, the story of the Batavia planted a seed of an idea that grew into The Traitors, which first aired in The Netherlands in 2021, and is now a huge, world-conquering TV format with editions in more than 20 countries. Pos spoke to GQ about the show’s origins and the reasons why it’s been so successful.
What was the inspiration for the show?
I bought a book in 2014 about a vessel that crashed into some islands near Australia. The story is not about traitors or loyalists – it’s about mutineers on an island. But when [the ship’s passengers] crashed on the island, they didn’t know who was in favour of the mutiny or not. They all lied to each other, because they didn't trust anyone. When I was reading this, I thought, what happens when there is a group together on an island, and they need each other? What does that human behaviour look like?
I was the first director of Big Brother in my country, and that was a social experiment about human behaviour. So I thought that, instead of doing a documentary, maybe I could make a psychological reality show out of [the Batavia story]. In the first two years of development it was called The Mutineers, not The Traitors, because I wanted to set it on a ship. But while pitching it, the cost of something like that meant a change in location, so it became a castle.
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Was it an instant success?
I pitched it for five years, and nobody wanted to buy it. I probably pitched it 40 or 50 times to broadcasters [in the Netherlands] – some of them said to me, “Oh no, not The Traitors again.” But when we made the first series in November 2020, I had a feeling that this was something really special. And when we aired it at the beginning of 2021, it was immediately a success. During the series there were already countries calling us to try to [buy the format]. I think by episode three there was already some interest from big countries like the UK and US.
What explains its popularity around the world?
It’s about human behaviour. We’re all part of the human race. And deep in our minds, we react the same in these kinds of situations – that’s what many neuroscientists said to me while I was creating [The Traitors]. But the group dynamics, they change. And that’s why every series will differ and will always be surprising for people. Another reason it works is the zeitgeist: with social media and the news, there’s this thing going on about trust now.
There are cultural differences. The second country to film The Traitors was Belgium, and when I watched the first round-table next to a Belgian broadcaster, I thought nothing was happening – all the contestants were being very polite. But next to me the [Belgian] programme director was laughing. It just differed from the direct Dutch style. How people put their frustrations out differs by country: in Norway, for example, it’s more introverted, while Americans are very outspoken.
Are you watching the current UK show?
I’ve seen one episode and I’m going to binge it a bit later. The UK version is very creative: like in the first series, when in the beginning you had that line-up, and two [contestants were taken] out, that was a very good creative angle. I created the format with normal people, and not celebs, but the Dutch broadcaster wanted to do it with celebs. The UK decided immediately to do it with normal people, which was really fantastic. Normal people, you don’t know them, but people are surprising.
What do you think about how it’s been received as such a cult, uniquely British show?
I’m proud that this Dutch guy had an idea which British people feel is very British! In the core idea there’s probably something British – the Agatha Christie detective element – but the show speaks to such universal feelings that people take it as their own. It’s been a success in so many countries, but the UK blows the roof off.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
