The Murder Game (TV series)

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 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. The series was narrated by Rupert Smith. Although there was no host in the traditional sense the Chief, Bob Taylor, acted as a sort of host for the show.

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. 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 Killer's Game
At some point during the investigation days in each episode, the killer would leave some form of message showcasing two locations, usually accompanied by the taunting words 'coming out to play?'. This signalled the start of each episode's elimination segment, The Killers Game. The investigators were then passed or failed on their lines of enquiry and those who failed were put up for a group vote. Every investigator except the lead investigator could vote and the investigator with the most votes would be chosen as the first person to play the "Game" The Lead Investigator would then choose any investigator to be the second person for the Killer's Game. The two chosen investigators pick from two envelopes to decide who will go to either of the two locations given, for example the first locations for the show were "The Old Oaks" and "The Power Museum". "The Chief" then says to the players that they have one hour to pack their bags and get ready to play the "Killer's Game". In Episode 9, as the finale episode, two killer games were played. The game with the final three had a different approach to the selection process. The Chief decided that the investigators who failed their enquiries the most would play the "Killer's Game".

In the Killer's Game, the two selected investigators would be sent to two different remote locations completely alone, with their movements recorded only by a head-mounted camera and a torch, they also had to follow a map to where the "clue" would be located. One of the chosen investigators would discover an important clue that would help solve the mystery, whereas the other investigator would be eliminated from the show by being "murdered by the killer." The survivor of the two came through the doors at the entrance, notifying that he or she chose correctly and would continue on.

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

Story
By being given £20,000 and the Wilmington Jewel by her father Tony, Catherine plans to leave the town of Blackwater forever taking her daughter Anya with her, but Trevor Dobie heard about Catherine's plans on leaving and started to threaten her, Catherine left home and broke into Jay Wilmington's barge where she would spend the night taking the navigation dividers with her as protection. The following day Goldie was due to marry Jay Wilmington. Catherine was picked on the way to the church by Jennifer Wilmington and she saw that Catherine was wearing the priceless neckless that they thought it was missing, she called Jay to try to get it back but failed. Jay called Goldie and tried to get her to persuade Catherine to give her the necklace but Catherine refused. Meanwhile, Trevor was still pestering Catherine over Anya.

Later Trevor arrived at the church to get Catherine as she practiced for the wedding to admit on camera that he is Anya's father. As he entered the church his phone rang and he rejected the call. The call was from Jay in the phone box calling Trevor to stop hassling Catherine. Jay was the guy in the brown checked shirt seen by witness Edward Green. Jay was wearing the same shirt when Sam, Nick, and Christine saw him at the morgue the day after Catherine was attacked and he said then that he hadn't changed for twenty-four hours. Jay had an alibi without realising it. Trevor demands that Catherine admit that Anya is his daughter which she does. However, she tells him that he's never been a proper father to her and he never will as her and Anya plan to leave Blackwater. When Trevor asks how she can afford to do this she tells him that Tony Wilmington is her father and he has given her the money to get away. Trevor has always hated the Wilmingtons because Felicity Wilmington killed his mother's baby to try to save the family name. He attacks Catherine who tries to defend herself with the navigational dividers she stole from Jay's barge, however Trevor manages to get them off her and use them to stab her. He then took the necklace hoping to use it to frame Jay or Jennifer and he's had the necklace ever since the murder. Why he chose to play the killers game with the investigators is unknown.

Investigators

 * The Nuclear Bunker had two locations. Andrew went to the Operational Zone and Nick went to the Living Quarters.

Teams

 * † The team failed their line of inquiry
 * ✓ The team passed their line of inquiry
 * ⁘ There are no fails nor passes

Voting history

 * A * Indicates there was a tie in the group vote, resulting in a revote between the people who was in said tie.


 * The first episode included 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. This meant that he or she would participate in line of inquiries and the group vote.
 * In the finale, the final three investigators were told how many times they had failed their inquiries. The two with the most 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 reward.


 * 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* = In both of the first two votes, a tie occurred, first between Sarita and Ruairi, then between Sarita and Meryl. In both cases, a revote was performed, 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
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:100%; margin:auto;" ! scope="col" style="width:5%; background:#00A2CF; color:#fff;" | No. ! scope="col" style="width:80%; background:#00A2CF; color:#fff;" | Title {{Episode list
 * EpisodeNumber  = 9
 * Title          = Episode 9
 * ShortSummary   =

Lead Investigator: There is no Lead Investigator for the finale, no hidden tests and no passes or fails. Instead, the final three investigators (Andrew, Melanie, and Nick) work together to interview the final three suspects (Goldie, Jay, and Trevor).

Final Three
During the morning briefing the Chief and the final investigators discuss the clue Andrew found at the last Killer's Game. It was two numbers, which Nick concludes looks like an account number and sort code for a bank. It is revealed that the numbers relate to a bank account shared by both Goldie and Jay. It also shows a withdrawal of £50.00 on the morning of Catherine's murder. The investigators realize it may clear Goldie or Jay, or potentially Trevor if he had access to the account but they would need CCTV to identify who made the withdrawal as the pin number and card could have been used by anyone they trusted. The Chief tells the investigators that their first line of enquiry is to attend the reading of Tony Wilmington's last will and testament. Their second line of enquiry is to interview Jay and Goldie to establish who withdrew the money.
 * Day 1

The investigators hear the last will and testament of Tony Wilmington at the Solicitors Office. Also attending were Goldie, Jay, Felicity and Jennifer. Tony gives Jennifer and Jay the entire estate but via a video testament gives Catherine the Wilmington necklace. Tony Wilmington states that in accordance to Catherine's wishes, Anya would inherit the necklace afterwards but he also states that there is one person who under no circumstances should lay claim to the necklace, that is Trevor Dobie, Anya's biological Father. Jay calls Trevor a "bastard" and hastily leaves before the investigators have a chance to talk to him. While the rest of the family is leaving, Goldie asks to talk to the investigators at the café.

At the café she confesses what happened on the morning of the murder. Jay had phoned Goldie at approximately 11 am to ask for her assistance to get back the necklace. He said that he didn't know why Catherine had the family heirloom but he needed to get it back or the wedding wouldn't be able to go ahead, he had tried to ask Catherine for it she had refused to return it. At Jay's request, Goldie asked Catherine for the necklace under the guise that it could be her 'something borrowed' for the wedding but again Catherine refused and when questioned where she had got it from, Catherine refused to say but told her that it would all come out later. While leaving the church after an argument with Catherine, Goldie then overheard a telephone conversation between Catherine and Trevor. She could establish that the two were arguing over the phone but not what it was about. She then said that she saw Jay outside the church but only stopped to tell him she was unsuccessful and that she was not getting involved anymore before driving off.

Andrew then asks her about the joint bank account with Jay and the £50.00 withdrawal. Goldie states that she forgot to buy a gift for Jennifer and withdrew £50 for flowers before going home. Nick asks her who instigated the kidnapping and she states it was Jay's idea and gives her reasoning for being an accomplice as if he wanted the necklace then it meant that he couldn't have killed Catherine and provided her with hope that Jay was innocent. Goldie also tells the investigators that she did not reveal what actually happened on the morning of the murder when they first asked about her movements that day because she didn't want to implicate Jay as being the killer.

The investigators are alerted by Jennifer that she has seen Trevor moving out of the Annex at Creeksea Place. When they arrive, Trevor has already left and they are let into the property by Jennifer. They investigate Trevor's living area and find that one of the rooms has been boarded up. After they pull down the plasterboard covering, they find the attic room has been prepared for Anya. Jennifer states that she has never seen Anya visit the Annex and Nick spots that there are letters addressed to Anya that have been marked return to sender.

The investigators go to Jay's barge to attempt to interview him after they were unable to earlier due to him rushing off from the solicitors. Jay is not there but they enter the boat to investigate the scene. Melanie notices that there is a new answerphone message and upon playing it they hear Goldie telling Jay that she told the investigators everything, Melanie then takes the tape as evidence. Andrew and Nick find a bulletin board with familiar Polaroids. The front side contains pictures of Goldie but when they turn it around they find pictures of Catherine on the back along with a card from her relating to Jay being Anya's Godparent which is dated April 1991. The investigators decide to bring the entire bulletin board back with them and return to HQ.

Back at HQ, the investigators find the power has been cut and the killer has broken in. There are messages stenciled on the window, a hanged Barbie-doll, and two pictures with the locations for the next Killer's Game. The power is restored and after being phoned by Nick, the Chief arrives early for the evening briefing. The killer still wants two investigators who must play the Killer's Game, instead of a group vote, the chief sends out the investigators who failed the most lines of inquiry over the entire investigation.

Killer’s Calling Card: After having ransacked the HQ leaving “coming out to play” messages about, the killer left the mess as the penultimate message with the locations “Operational Zone” and “Living Quarters” within the same Nuclear Bunker.

Note: Melanie only failed four lines of enquiry, allowing her to progress to the last stage automatically.
 * Player 1: Andrew – 6 failed lines of enquiry
 * Location: Nuclear Bunker – Operational Zone
 * Player 2: Nick – 5 failed lines of enquiry
 * Location: Nuclear Bunker – Living Quarters
 * Eliminated: Nick
 * Killer Clue: Andrew returns with Polaroids which when put in the right order read "who am I, if you are right you live. if you are wrong you die".

Final Two

 * Day 2

At the morning briefing, the Chief reveals that the bank have sent them CCTV footage from the cash point and Goldie is seen making a withdrawal. This confirms Goldie's story of withdrawing £50.00, and she is cleared.

The Chief informs the two investigators that he has reviewed all the evidence that was put before them and he has deduced who the killer is. The investigators are told that they have one hour to do the same before they need to identify to the Chief who they believe the killer is and why. They are reminded that they are now in direct competition with each other for the prize money. However, if they both guess correctly they will share the £25,000 prize but if they are both wrong, they will both get nothing.

They separately inform the Chief of who they believe is the killer and give their reasoning.


 * Andrew's Suspect: Trevor Dobie
 * Andrew’s Reason: Trevor killed Catherine to secure custody of his Daughter, Anya. Trevor took the necklace on impulse after spotting Catherine was wearing it while killing her, using the pendant to fund leaving with Anya which is why he need the passport photos of her. The removal of himself and Anya from Blackwater would keep Anya away from the Wilmington's as Trevor knows that Catherine is half Wilmington and therefore Anya is also related, which complicates matters he has a deeply held hatred of due to their treatment of his mother while she was a maid for the family.
 * Melanie's Suspect: Jay Wilmington
 * Melanie’s Reason: Jay killed Catherine as an emotional response to discovering that the relationship he has been having is actually with his sister and due to this he has lost all of his family and friends. A lot of the evidence points towards Jay; The chart dividers as the murder weapon were accessible to Jay but not to Trevor, Jay wrote the ransom note and it included the same phrase that the killer used to taunt the investigators before the Killer's Game, the Polaroids in Jay's boat are the same type used by the killer. Trevor Dobie is also not smart enough to commit a crime like this but Jay Wilmington is.

The Chief then sends the investigators out to trail their chosen suspect. Andrew chases Trevor down a river where he is trying to get away by a boat from the Yacht Club and Melanie chases Jay across fields where he is attempting to escape on a dirt bike through the Disused Airfield. Both pursue their suspects, only to lose them due to closed gates leaving them having to wait for information on a new sighting of them. Melanie finds out that Jay's dirt bike has been spotted outside a remote grain store. Andrew receives news that Trevor's pickup truck has been located at a construction warehouse 30km away from Blackwater. They both head off to their location as The killer leaves them both a message, "Coming out to play one last time?", Inviting the investigators to play one final Killer's Game.


 * Andrew: Suspects Trevor Dobie
 * Location: Construction Warehouse
 * Melanie: Suspects Jay Wilmington
 * Location: Grain Store
 * Eliminated: Melanie

Jay Wilmington is cleared. He had an alibi from the eyewitness Edward who had to use another phone box as the one he was going to use was occupied by a man in a brown check shirt. This is the same shirt that Jay was wearing when he went to the morgue with Goldie and told the investigators he had not changed his clothes in over 24 hours. Jay had gone to the phone box to call Trevor to tell him to stop hassling Catherine, the video made by the killer catches the sound of a phone ringing once before it is rejected. This is the call made by Jay from the phone box right before Catherine was killed by Trevor.

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Production
The town of Maldon, Essex was used as the fictional town setting of the series, Blackwater (named after the river upon which Maldon resides). The Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker was also used in the series, where Andrew Weaver and Nick Sykes went to the Operational Zone and Living Quarters respectively during the second-to-last Killer's Game. Before playing the game, the investigators were sent on a four-day 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 Melanie "Mel" Sainz). He currently holds the record for the most times a person has been sent out the Killer's Game, breaking Kristen Kirchner's record of five times in the US version Murder in Small Town X. Andrew is the only investigator to fail his line of inquiry while being the lead investigator. In addition, he had received the most votes against him throughout the entire season, 10. 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 killers game at the Construction warehouse, where he found Bob Taylor at the end, who proclaimed him as the winner of the £25,000 grand prize.

Viewer interaction
Using Sky, Cable or Freeview, viewers could watch additional parts of the show using BBCi's 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 who 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.