The Celebrity Traitors; War

SPOILERS AHEAD

“High fashion and even higher kitsch were on display as, with dazzling Gothic melodrama, The Celebrity Traitors commandeered a Scottish chapel for the launch of its most thrilling and inventive series yet. The sheer effrontery of the opening scene was enough to make you laugh out loud and then gasp with delight, as the 21 victims – many of them household names – lined up on pews for a mock funeral. Love Island presenter Maya Jama wore high heels and the world’s most expensive pac-a-mac. Comedian Joe Lycett sported shorts with lilac socks and a matching feather collar. Even actor Michael Sheen, usually so scruffy that any hobo would be embarrassed to be seen with him, was wearing a suit. But as a wooden coffin was carried in by masked figures and placed upright by the altar, all of them were upstaged by the apparition that emerged.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Lord of chaos, unhinged uncle: Richard E Grant is the instant star of The Celebrity Traitors (BBC One). The BBC has stuffed the line-up with comedians, but they have yet to say or do anything funny. It’s the rest of them providing the laughs. And Grant is laughing more than anyone, while having the time of his life. Welcome back to the most fun show of the year, which may even top last year’s series for joyous entertainment value.”
Anita Singh, Telegraph

“So, the lightning – is it bottled? Not quite as successfully as last time. The law of diminishing returns is brutal in television. The cast feels slightly more muted – the energy is not quite there yet. But Claudia and her clothes and attitude are, and the opening episode of any Traitors outing is always the weakest. It is relationships and alliances that make the show, and they of course take time to build. Seeds have been sown (is Jerry Hall bossy? Is former army captain James Blunt about to reinvent himself as a national hero? Will Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett’s real-life friendship be an asset or a liability?) and will flourish in due course. But it feels as if they are at work in ever so slightly less fertile soil this time round.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“And the beauty of the show — and it is joyous to have The Celebrity Traitors back — is that everyone suspects everyone else of mind games and bluffing. The blunder may not be disastrous if enough people conclude it was a deliberate piece of misdirection or a sort of “I’m Spartacus” moment. Many already do. Jerry Hall thinks he is “acting out” because he “wasn’t chosen”. Myha’la (Harper from Industry) thinks it’s too obvious to be a real admission. Let’s face it, most people wouldn’t believe that a traitor would be gormless enough to say, “I’m a traitor,” at the first time of asking. Let’s hope Grant, whom Amol Rajan has dubbed the “Lord of Chaos”, gets away with it, for the show will be worse without him.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Could there be a more exquisite way to begin a series which, against all odds and six series in (including the civilian version), is showing no signs of getting old? There is a reason real celebrities (Michael Sheen, Bella Ramsey and Miranda Hart are among the British treasures this year) are keen to do it – most of the cast are genuine fans. The parlour-game-cum-reality-TV-show has consistently had record ratings and has singlehandedly revived the concept of water-cooler television for the 2020s. It’s precisely because of wholly unpredictable moments like this – and the generally ridiculous high-camp of it all, such as Claudia Winkleman being carried into the chapel, in the opening scene, in a coffin, then bursting out of it like some absurd, fake-tanned Count Dracula – that it stays fresh and exciting.”
Emily Bootle, The i

“The only bad thing about The Traitors is the danger that the most entertaining players get bumped off too soon, with just the played-it-safe dullards left at the end. Obviously, Grant and Kemp must be protected at all costs. Whatever happens, though, all the signs are that this will be another series of unmissable telly, with the episode ending on a brilliant cliffhanger: two celebs have to make a plea to join the Traitors – one to be recruited, the other leaving the game. These twists are a reminder that the show has to continuously reinvent in order to keep its contestants – and viewers – guessing. In a mass of tired TV formats, where Strictly is slogging on and Bake Off is going stale, it’s a joy to watch something that doesn’t even feel close to peaking. Maybe a day will come when it starts to wear out, but for now, let’s luxuriate in a show in its golden age.”
Jessie Thompson, Independent

“A mark of Sky and HBO’s confidence in War is that a second season is already in the can, centering on a defamation case and featuring the same lawyers but new clients, played by Kelly Macdonald and Marisa Tomei. It will need to go great guns to match season one. “If they play dirty we will be total and utter filth,” Bea snarls, and there’s a tremendous switcheroo at the end of episode one that opens up a new dimension in legal chicanery. Let battle commence.”
Ed Potton, The Times