// BBC ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS — MODA & SOCIETÀ
Making murder fun: How the Traitors' soundtrack sets the tone
Watch: How does music on The Traitors manipulate your emotions?
Suspicion, intrigue, treachery, Claudia Winkleman. The Traitors has it all.
But the shadowiest of the show's shadowy secrets is its music.
Have you ever noticed how the soundtrack manipulates your perception? A sinister orchestral flourish hints at a double cross. A cheeky chord injects humour into a kitchen conflab.
As ever, though, you shouldn't trust what happens in the castle. The music can provide emphasis or act as misdirection, all at the producers' behest.
Duplicity was baked into the music from the beginning.
"I remember the BBC was quite reluctant to even think about a show with murder as a main feature, so I knew I didn't want the music to go really dark," says Sam Watts, who composed the opening theme and much of the incidental score (but is not responsible for the show's haunting cover versions of well-known pop songs... more on those later).
Watts, who had previously worked on Planet Earth and The Sarah Jane Adventures, pitched to work on the programme with only a basic idea of the set-up. It was only when he learned Winkleman was the host that he settled on his approach.
"They sent me a little shot they'd done of the opening with Claudia and the castle. That's when I knew it was going to be a bit camp and high drama and all the glorious things that Claudia brings to the show. So I just went with that - dark but fun."
Sam Watts' Traitors theme helped to establish the show's identity