The Murder Game is a British reality television series that aired on BBC One from March to May 2003. The show was based on the American Fox series Murder in Small Town X. Though classified as a reality television series, it was more accurately a hybrid of reality TV, game show, and mystery drama. The series was narrated by Rupert Smith. Although there was no host in the traditional sense, Bob Taylor, as "the Chief", served a similar role on the show.
Premise In the fictional town of Blackwater, a woman named Catherine Prior had been murdered. Ten contestants from the British public were set the challenge of becoming investigators and finding her killer. The investigators were led by Bob Taylor, known as the Chief Investigator or the Chief, who was in real life a retired Detective Chief Superintendent from the West Yorkshire Police. The people of the town, played by actors, formed the pool of suspects, some of whom later became victims themselves.
At the beginning of each episode, one investigator was appointed Lead Investigator, a role carrying specific responsibilities and powers. The Lead Investigator split the others into teams, which were sent down different lines of inquiry determined by the Chief. Each line of inquiry involved a hidden test, which the team either passed or failed as judged by the Chief.
The Killer's Game At some point during each episode's investigation days, the killer would leave a message revealing two locations, usually accompanied by the taunting phrase "coming out to play?". This signalled the start of the episode's elimination segment, the Killer's Game. The teams were then passed or failed on their lines of inquiry, and the investigators who had failed were put up for a group vote. Every investigator except the Lead Investigator could vote, and the investigator receiving the most votes became the first player of the Game. The Lead Investigator then chose any investigator to be the second player. The two chosen investigators each picked from two envelopes to determine who would go to which of the two locations — for example, the first two locations of the series were "The Old Oaks" and "The Power Museum". The Chief then gave the players one hour to pack their bags and prepare to play the Killer's Game. As the finale, episode 9 featured two Killer's Games; the first of these used a different selection process, with the Chief sending out the investigators who had failed the most lines of inquiry over the course of the series.
In the Killer's Game, the two selected investigators were sent completely alone to two different remote locations, their movements recorded only by a head-mounted camera. Equipped with a torch, each had to follow a map to the spot where a "clue" was located. One of the two would discover an important clue to help solve the mystery, while the other would be eliminated from the show by being "murdered" by the killer. The survivor's return through the entrance doors signalled that he or she had chosen correctly and would continue in the game.
The eliminated contestant chose the Lead Investigator for the next episode by means of a pre-recorded "last will and testament".
Story Catherine Prior's father, Tony Wilmington, had given her £20,000 and the Wilmington Jewel, and she planned to leave the town of Blackwater forever, taking her daughter Anya with her. Trevor Dobie, however, heard of Catherine's plans and began threatening her. Catherine left home and broke into Jay Wilmington's barge, where she spent the night, taking a pair of navigational dividers with her as protection. The following day, Goldie was due to marry Jay Wilmington. Jennifer Wilmington picked Catherine up on the way to the church and saw that she was wearing the priceless necklace the family had believed missing. Jennifer called Jay to try to get it back, but failed; Jay then called Goldie and asked her to persuade Catherine to hand over the necklace, but Catherine refused. Meanwhile, Trevor continued to pester Catherine over Anya.
Later, Trevor arrived at the church, where Catherine was rehearsing for the wedding, intending to make her admit on camera that he was Anya's father. As he entered the church, his phone rang and he rejected the call. The call was from Jay, phoning from a telephone box to tell Trevor to stop hassling Catherine. Jay was the man in the brown checked shirt seen by the witness Edward Green; he was wearing the same shirt when Sam, Nick, and Christine saw him at the morgue the day after Catherine was attacked, at which point he said he had not changed his clothes in twenty-four hours. Jay therefore had an alibi without realising it. Trevor demanded that Catherine admit Anya was his daughter, which she did. However, she told him that he had never been a proper father to Anya and never would be, as the two of them planned to leave Blackwater. When Trevor asked how she could afford to do so, she told him that Tony Wilmington was her father and had given her the money to get away. Trevor had always hated the Wilmingtons because Felicity Wilmington had killed his mother's baby in an attempt to save the family name. He attacked Catherine, who tried to defend herself with the navigational dividers she had taken from Jay's barge; Trevor wrestled them from her and used them to stab her. He then took the necklace, hoping to use it to frame Jay or Jennifer, and kept it from the murder onwards. Why he chose to play the Killer's Game with the investigators is never explained.
Investigators InvestigatorAgeProfessionEliminatedFinal Killer's Game LocationChristine Rose38HousewifeEpisode 2The Power MuseumSarita Raval28Recruitment ConsultantEpisode 3The Tyre YardSamantha Matthews31Communications Centre OfficerEpisode 4The Grain SilosMervin Merchant30Visual MerchandiserEpisode 5The FortressMeryl Holt55Retired Legal SecretaryEpisode 6The Old DocksRuairi McNally23Railway Maintenance Worker Episode 7The QuarryRichard Sharrocks32Commercial PilotEpisode 8The Bottling PlantNick Sykes34Property DeveloperEpisode 9The Nuclear Bunker – Living Quarters*Melanie "Mel" Sainz21Pub LandladyRunner-upThe Grain StoreAndrew Weaver56Dairy FarmerWinnerThe Construction Warehouse
Note: As episode 1 was a training and introduction episode featuring no investigations, no elimination took place.
The Nuclear Bunker comprised two locations: Andrew went to the Operational Zone and Nick to the Living Quarters.
Suspects SuspectPlayed ByRelationOutcomeNotesFrank PriorColin SpaullFather to Catherine and Goldie1st suspect clearedAt a petrol station doing a dodgy dealVanessa MarchLeona EkembeThe Babysitter2nd suspect clearedWas buying a pregnancy testTina WellsJoanne AdamsThe Vicar's Wife3rd suspect clearedMurdered while retrieving her husband's inhalerDean GarrettyGraham BryanThe Best Man4th suspect clearedAt his showrooms sending an e-mailGeorge HawickAlan DavidThe Music Teacher5th suspect clearedWas chopping wood at his homeJennifer WilmingtonJo RossJay's Mother6th suspect clearedWas visiting her solicitors about the Wilmington JewelGillian "Goldie" PriorJo-Anne StockhamThe Bride and Catherine's sister7th suspect clearedAt a cash point withdrawing £50 to buy flowers for Jennifer Jay WilmingtonLuke de LaceyThe Groom8th suspect clearedIn a telephone box trying to call TrevorTrevor DobieGuy ScantleburyThe BuilderNot ClearedThe Murderer
Teams TeamsEpisode 2Episode 3Episode 4Episode 5Episode 6Episode 7Episode 8FinaleTeam 1Christine, Nick, and Samantha Mervin and RichardMeryl and Richard Meryl and Nick Melanie, Meryl, and Richard Melanie and Ruairi Melanie and Nick Andrew, Melanie, and Nick Team 2Andrew, Melanie, and Mervin Meryl, Samantha, and Sarita Andrew, Nick, Ruairi Richard and Ruairi Andrew and Nick Andrew and Richard Andrew and Richard No Team 2Team 3Meryl, Ruairi, and Sarita Andrew, Melanie, and Ruairi Melanie and Samantha Andrew and Mervin No Team 3Lead InvestigatorRichardNickMervinMelanieRuairiNickAndrewNo Lead Investigator
† The team failed their line of inquiry ✓ The team passed their line of inquiry ⁘ There are no fails nor passes
Voting history
An * indicates that the group vote ended in a tie, resulting in a revote between the tied investigators.
Episode2345678FinaleEliminatedChristineSaritaSamanthaMervinMerylRuairiRichardNickMelanieGroup VoteSarita*Sarita*AndrewAndrewAndrewRuairi*AndrewN/ALead Investigator's PickChristineAndrewSamanthaMervinMerylRichardRichardGroup VotingAndrewMerylMerylMelanieMervinNickMelanieRichardSix FailedWinner MelanieRuairiSaritaAndrewL.I.AndrewRuairiAndrewFour FailedRunner-UpNickSaritaL.I.RuairiMervinAndrewRuairi*AndrewFive FailedRichardL.I.RuairiNickAndrewNickRuairiMelanieRuairiMerylMerylMelanieAndrewL.I.MelanieMerylRuairiSaritaAndrewAndrewAndrewMervinNickRichardL.I.AndrewSamanthaSaritaSaritaAndrewSaritaRuairiMerylChristineSarita
The first episode consisted of training for the investigators. The Killer's Game was not introduced until episode 2. Beginning in episode 8, the Lead Investigator was no longer immune from playing the Killer's Game, and so participated in the lines of inquiry and the group vote. In the finale, the final three investigators were told how many times each of them had failed their lines of inquiry. The two with the most failures played the Killer's Game. In the finale, the second Killer's Game required the two remaining contestants to declare who they believed to be the killer and why. Melanie answered incorrectly and became the killer's final victim. Andrew answered correctly, solved the case, and won the £25,000 prize.
The investigator's team passed their line of inquiry. The investigator's team failed their line of inquiry. The investigator was the lead investigator. The investigator was the lead investigator and failed their line of inquiry. The investigator was spared from playing the Killer's Game due to having the fewest failed lines of inquiry. The investigator played the Killer's Game because they did not have the fewest failed lines of inquiry. The investigator became the runner-up. The investigator won the game.
Sarita* = Both of the first two votes ended in ties, first between Sarita and Ruairi, then between Sarita and Meryl. In both cases a revote was held, and Sarita received the most votes both times.
Ruairi* = The group vote resulted in a tie between Ruairi and Melanie. As Lead Investigator, Nick broke the tie and sent Ruairi out to play the Killer's Game.
Episodes
Production The town of Maldon, Essex was used as the setting for the fictional town of Blackwater, named after the river on which Maldon sits. The Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker was also used in the series: Andrew Weaver and Nick Sykes went to its Operational Zone and Living Quarters respectively during the penultimate Killer's Game. Before the game began, the investigators were sent on a training course at the Police Training Centre in Wakefield.
Andrew Weaver won the game despite being sent to play the Killer's Game six times, excluding the final Killer's Game against runner-up Melanie "Mel" Sainz. He holds the record for the most times a contestant has been sent to play the Killer's Game, breaking Kristen Kirchner's record of five in the American version, Murder in Small Town X. Andrew was also the only investigator to fail a line of inquiry while serving as Lead Investigator, and he received the most votes against him of any contestant over the season, with ten. He correctly identified builder Trevor Dobie as the killer, whereas Melanie chose groom Jay Wilmington. Andrew was sent to the yacht club, where Trevor was last seen, and was "invited" to the final Killer's Game at the construction warehouse, where he found Bob Taylor waiting to proclaim him the winner of the £25,000 grand prize.
Viewer interaction