A beloved British actress who has starred in Jane Eyre, Luther and His Dark Materials has been spotted in footage from the original series of Traitor.
Although the BBC series that began in 2022 is based on the Dutch series De Verraders, which itself is styled on the party game Mafia, 20 years ago a very similar series also aired.
Apart from the striking similarity in the fact its title was Traitor, the 2004 series has near-identical gameplay to the current show.
Discovering a clip of it recently, presenter Greg James alerted others to the fact one of the contestants went on to become a very famous actress.
‘Before The Traitors there was a BBC show called Traitor,’ he began before the post cut to a clip of the original series.
As explained by host Tony Livesey, two of the contestants sitting in a circle were there to ‘lie your way to £5,000’, with the 7 others being ‘honest people’.
Poking fun at the show, Greg said it was obvious it had a smaller budget as there was ‘no castle or cloaks or Claudia’ and pointed out ‘they couldn’t afford a table’.
The clip then cut to a young woman called Ruth introducing herself and sharing she was a drama student who ‘once modelled on the cover of a teen magazine’.
Join Metro’s The Traitors community on WhatsApp
Want to get all the latest news and predictions for the best and most dramatic show this new year? Join our The Traitors WhatsApp channel for live episode coverage, behind-the-scenes gossip and a place to recover from all the cliffhangers.
Simply click on this link, select ‘Join Chat’ and you’re in! Don’t forget to turn on notifications!
‘By the way that’s Ruth Wilson. As in the very famous actor Ruth Wilson. Has won loads of awards. Was in The Affair, Luther, loads of things. We couldn’t believe we found this,’ he continued, adding he’d found the clip while researching for his show Rewinder.
During the interrogations from other contestants, Ruth was asked a man called Russell if she’d held ‘deluded’ aspirations of going on to bigger things after her cover girl moment, with Greg then reading out her list of achievements including Olivier and Golden Globe awards to indicate how successful she had in fact become.
Last year the show was shared on social media. ‘Extraordinary find here. BBC actually first aired a version of #TheTraitors in 2004. And it’s brilliant,’ the account captioned the post.
A synopsis from the show from the time explained how it all worked :’The first of a nightly psychological elimination game show in which nine contestants must work out which of them has turned traitor in order to win £5,000. All claim to be telling the truth, but two are lying. Can they be spotted?’
However, the series only ever ran for five episodes.
One of the former contestants, Pete Liggins, commented on X that the show was being considered as a replacement for The Weakest Link in the late afternoon slot.
But, he added, ‘I guess cost too much/was too complicated a production in comparison.’
Traitor, which can be watched in full on YouTube, didn’t feature any outdoor challenges like the current series, while the contestants were also all replaced each episode rather than staying the same throughout the series.
Audiences were also given the option to stay in the dark about the identity of the traitors and were told to look away from the TV if they didn’t want to find out.
Since De Verraders launched in 2021, the series has been remade internationally in 23 other countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Other countries to have picked up the format include Denmark, Greece and Poland.
The Traitors UK, US and Australia are streaming on BBC iPlayer.
This article was first published on February 5, 2024.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE: BBC programme has already broken Gavin and Stacey’s record as the most watched show ever
MORE: Strictly live tour issues apology as fans complain cancellation took ‘too long’
MORE: Inside The Traitors star Charlotte Berman’s private life ahead of dramatic finale
