The Murder Game (TV series)

Did You Know?

• Andrew Weaver holds the record for most times sent to play the Killer's Game, with six, breaking Kristen Kirchner's record of five in the American version.
• The town of Maldon, Essex was used as the setting for the fictional town of Blackwater.
• Viewers could access additional content through BBCi's digital interactive features, including Blackwater TV and a React feature to vote on the killer.

Premise

In the fictional town of Blackwater, a woman named Catherine Prior had been murdered. Ten contestants from the British public became investigators tasked with finding her killer. They were led by Bob Taylor, known as the Chief Investigator or the Chief, a retired Detective Chief Superintendent from West Yorkshire Police. The townspeople, played by actors, formed the suspect pool, with some later becoming victims. Each episode began with one investigator appointed Lead Investigator, who split the others into teams assigned different lines of inquiry by the Chief. Each line of inquiry involved a hidden test, judged as passed or failed by the Chief. During the investigation days, the killer left a message revealing two locations, often with the phrase "coming out to play?", starting the elimination segment called the Killer's Game. Teams were assessed on their inquiries, and investigators who failed were put up for a group vote. Every investigator except the Lead Investigator could vote; the one receiving the most votes became the first player of the Game. The Lead Investigator then chose a second player. Each selected an envelope to determine which of the two locations they would go to. The Chief gave them one hour to prepare. In the finale, episode 9 featured two Killer's Games; the first used a different selection process based on the most failed inquiries over the series. In the Killer's Game, the two selected investigators went alone to remote locations, each following a map to a clue. One found an important clue; the other was eliminated by being "murdered" by the killer. The survivor's return through the entrance doors indicated they would continue.

Story

Catherine Prior had been given twenty thousand pounds and the Wilmington Jewel by her father, Tony Wilmington. Her plan was to leave Blackwater for good, taking her daughter Anya with her. When Trevor Dobie found out about this, he started threatening her. Catherine left her home and forced her way onto Jay Wilmington's barge, where she stayed overnight and took a pair of navigational dividers to defend herself. The next day was set for Goldie to marry Jay Wilmington. On her way to the church, Jennifer Wilmington gave Catherine a ride and noticed she was wearing the necklace the family thought was lost. Jennifer tried to get Jay to retrieve it, but that did not work. Jay then asked Goldie to convince Catherine to give it back, but Catherine refused. Meanwhile, Trevor kept bothering Catherine about Anya. Later, Trevor showed up at the church while Catherine was practicing for the wedding. He wanted to force her to admit on camera that he was Anya's father. As he walked in, his phone rang and he ignored the call. The call was from Jay, using a telephone box to tell Trevor to leave Catherine alone. Jay was the person in the brown checked shirt that Edward Green had seen. Jay was wearing that same shirt when Sam, Nick, and Christine saw him at the morgue the day after Catherine was attacked, and he mentioned he had not changed his clothes in twenty-four hours, which gave him an alibi without him realizing it. Trevor demanded that Catherine say Anya was his daughter, and she did. But she also told him he had never been a real father to Anya and never would be, since she and Anya were leaving Blackwater. When Trevor asked how she could pay for that, she explained that Tony Wilmington was her father and had given her the money to escape. Trevor had always despised the Wilmingtons because Felicity Wilmington had killed his mother's baby to protect the family name. He attacked Catherine. She tried to defend herself with the dividers from Jay's barge, but Trevor took them from her and stabbed her with them. He then took the necklace, planning to use it to blame Jay or Jennifer, and kept it from the time of the murder onward. The reason he decided to take part in the Killer's Game with the investigators is never revealed.