EXCLUSIVE: The Traitors is all about backstabbing and accusations, however accusations of deception have now prolonged to the behind-the-scenes manufacturing of the hit present.
The BBC has been accused of portray a “really stunning image” with regards to the variety of individuals engaged on the present who’re based mostly in Scotland, which is the place it’s filmed and the place it qualifies as a “Scottish fee” below Ofcom laws.
The Traitors UK is made by Studio Lambert Scotland and is filmed at a fort in distant Inverness. Nonetheless, veteran Scottish TV director Peter Strachan, who’s on the board of commerce physique Director’s UK, has claimed the present might be failing on the Ofcom laws. These laws require producers to fulfill two of three standards to qualify as out-of-London: having a “substantive base” within the area, investing 70% of “manufacturing spend” exterior the English capital and having at the very least 50% of the off-screen expertise based mostly exterior London.
Strachan claims he has run the rule over The Traitors manufacturing group and located that “over 80%” are based mostly exterior Scotland. He additionally claims that if a Glasgow-based BBC government producer was eliminated, no “above the road” roles can be crammed out of Scotland.
In a LinkedIn publish that’s being shared all through the UK manufacturing group and has amassed greater than 650 likes, Strachan stated the info paints a “really stunning image.” He accused the BBC of “de facto cultural bias” and stated it’s “refusing to behave pretty.”
“Even when The Traitors does meet these two standards, it’s clearly not being carried out within the spirit of the Ofcom Regional Manufacturing laws,” added Strachan. Knowledgeable sources within the Scottish sector inform us that these questions have been raised inside the Scottish manufacturing group over the previous couple of years, since The Traitors launched with a bang in January 2023.
Insiders advised us that the third season of The Traitors does meet the Ofcom standards for an out-of-London manufacturing and that alternatives for native freelancers have elevated because the seasons have rolled on. Studio Lambert has round 10 employees in its Scotland workplace in Glasgow and is engaged on creating different exhibits and coaching alternatives.
Display Scotland Director David Smith advised Deadline his group is “actively participating” with the BBC and Studio Lambert relating to The Traitors and, whereas enchancment is required, the present is on a “journey.” “This can be a present that’s representing a component of Scotland, its geography, actually positively, in order a consequence we’re supportive of it,” he added.
However Strachan described his findings because the “tip of the iceberg” for TV manufacturing in Scotland. “Now we have discovered many different supposedly Scottish productions are failing to create jobs for broadcast freelancers in Scotland,” he added. “It’s proof that the BBC isn’t commissioning pretty and that its spend isn’t translating into a good degree of job alternative throughout the UK.”
Strachan’s publish is well timed. A Display Scotland report from late final yr discovered that solely 5 of the highest 15 Scottish producers had been headquartered in Scotland. Defending the findings from this report as lately as yesterday, new BBC Scotland Director Hayley Valentine stated BBC Scotland’s definition of what makes a ‘Scottish’ firm is wider than what Display Scotland says and stated Display Scotland’s information was considered by way of a “prism.”
However issuing a press release yesterday, Smith rejected Valentine’s notion of the “prism.” “That prism was Ofcom’s Made Out of London Register, and the episodes the BBC had opted to say had been Scottish qualifying in that Register,” he stated, whereas questioning the shortage of proof over the BBC’s declare that it spent £300M ($370M) final yr on content material in Scotland.
The UK’s networks have lengthy been plagued with criticism from the indie sector over their London skew. Nations & Areas guidelines are set by Ofcom and are in place to create a fairer system and extra work for ‘true’ native indies. They had been final up to date round six years in the past.
The Traitors launched its third season final week and has been posting its finest rankings but, with greater than 5M tuning in once more final night time. A star model will even launch later this yr. The present has offered world wide and a profitable U.S. model airs on Peacock.
The BBC and Studio Lambert declined remark.