The Murder Game (TV series)

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The Murder Game

Genre	Reality / Murder mystery
Created by	George Verschoor, Robert Fisher, Jr., and Gordon Cassidy (for FOX)
Developed by	FOX/BBC
Directed by	Ewen Thomson
Presented by	Kate Humble
Composer(s)	Sophia Morizet, Helene Muddiman
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producer(s)	Conrad Green
Producer(s)	Ewen Thomson, Nichola Hegarty, Aidan Hansell (reality producer), David Newcombe (drama producer)
Editor(s)	David Tibballs
Location(s)	Brentwood, Essex, England, UK
Cinematography	Janet Tovey
Running time	60 mins
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One, BBC Three
Picture format	PAL (576i)
Original run	29th March 2003 – 17th May 2003
Chronology
Related shows	Murder in Small Town X
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Murder Game was a British reality television series that aired on BBC One from March through May 2003. The show was based on the American FOX television show 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.

1 Premise
2 The Investigators
3 Suspects
4 Production
5 Viewer interaction
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Premise

In the town of Blackwater a fictional woman named Catherine Prior had been murdered. Ten contestants from the British public were set the challenge of becoming investigators and finding the killer. The investigators were led by Bob Taylor, known as the Chief Investigator or Chief, who was in real life a retired Detective Chief Superintendent from the West Yorkshire Police^[1]. The people from the town, played by actors, formed the suspects, some of whom later became victims.

At the beginning of each episode, one investigator would be appointed as the Lead Investigator, who would have specific responsibilities and powers. The investigators would be split into teams by the Lead Investigator, and sent down different lines of inquiry determined by the Chief. These lines of inquiry would involve hidden tests, which the teams would either pass or fail as judged by the Chief. The investigators from all the failing teams would be put to a group vote, where one of them would be chosen as a contestant to play the Killer's Game. All of the living investigators could cast a vote, with the exception of the Lead Investigator. The Lead Investigator would then choose a second contestant for the Killer's Game.

At the end of each episode, in the Killer's Game, the two selected contestants would be sent to two different remote locations completely alone, with their movements recorded only by a head-mounted camera. One of the contestants would discover a further clue to the mystery, whereas the other one would be eliminated from the show as a "murder" victim, with his last seconds seen from the point of view of the "killer" in the manner of classical slasher films like Psycho.

The eliminated contestant would choose the Lead Investigator for the next episode, by means of a prerecorded "last will and testament".

[edit] The Investigators

In reverse order of elimination

Andrew Weaver – Winner
Melanie Sainz
Nick Sykes
Richard Sharrocks
Ruairi McNally
Meryl Holt
Mervin Merchant
Samantha Matthews
Sarita Raval
Christine Rose

[edit] Suspects

Tina Wells – The Vicar’s Wife
Vanessa March – The Babysitter
Trevor Dobie – The Builder
Frank Prior - Catherine’s Dad
Goldie (Gillian) Prior – The Bride
Jay Wilmington - The Groom
Jennifer Wilmington - The Groom’s Mother
Dean Garretty – The Best Man
George Hawick – The Music Teacher

[edit] Production

The town of Maldon, Essex was used as the fictional town setting of the series, Blackwater^[2]. The Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker was also used in the series. Before playing the game, the investigators were sent on a four day training course at the Police Training Centre in Wakefield.

[edit] Viewer interaction

Using Sky, Cable or Freeview, viewers could watch additional parts of the show using digital interactive features. One feature entitled Blackwater TV was based around reviewing the case and showing mock television news reports. The React feature was where viewers could vote for whom they thought was the killer; the voting results would then be shown the following week. The Investigators section featured exclusive footage from the Chief commenting on the contestants' current handling of the case. The fourth interactive feature was the Case File which held all of the details of the case which had currently been uncovered, including timelines, locations, relationships of suspects, and evidence.