The Murder Game (TV series)
Encyclopedia
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. 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.
. 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 film
s like Psycho
.
The eliminated contestant would choose the Lead Investigator for the next episode, by means of a prerecorded "last will and testament".
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.
The team started gathering evidence when there was a bang at the door, outside was a noose with a message on from the killer. They continued to bag evidence until they heard a mobile phone ringing. On Richards advice they answered the phone. Later when asked directly by the chief if his team had answered the phone Nick denied having done so, this initially went unnoticed but the matter was brought up on the second day after a review of the teams work.
The team went to the morgue and met Jay and Goldie there. The suspects pumped them for information but they didn't give anything away.
Mel took the lead in questioning the family but Mervin advised against keeping the child in the room whilst doing so and the team requested to talk to the father and sister of the victim in private. They questioned both on their movements throughout the day.
The team asked Frank of his movements a second time but this time he left out the fact he had gone to a petrol station 35 miles away. Viewing this as suspicious the team requested CCTV footage from the petrol station in question.
Meryl started questioning Dean but Sarita became agitated and wanted to get the video camera off him. Dean realized the camera had been stolen but in the confusion Sarita allowed him to leave the scene.
Upon arriving at Dean's house the missing wedding car shot out of the drive way. The team were quick to pursue the car until the driver stopped at a disused railway and threw an object off the bridge into the wilderness. Sarita called to stop but Ruairi wanted to follow the car but this was denied as a tractors cut off their route. After a long search Ruairi found Dean's missing video camera and was tempted to tamper with it but Meryl convinced her team mates not to.
(Frank pior is clear for dodgey deals)
the frensics found out that the finger prints was Jay wilington the owener of the boat and cathorine pior
Team's Pick: Andrew
Location: The Deserted Railway
Lead Investigator's Pick: Samantha (for not being fully prepared for the press conference)
Location: The Grain Silos
Investigator Murdered: Samantha
Killer Clue: Andrew returns with an old newspaper clipping of Catherine's birth.
Note: Before the press conference, the Lead Investigator told Melaine and Samantha only to answer questions concerning Catherine's last movements and nothing else.
Team's Pick: Andrew
Location: The Hospital
Lead Investigator's Pick: Mervin (for (in the Lead Investigator's opinion) causing divides amongst the group and poor decision making in the past)
Location: The Fortress
Inestigator Murdered: Mervin
Killer Clue: Andrew returns with the necklace Catherine from the murder video. It is the Wilmington Jewel, but the center jewel is missing.
Bob's policemen took Dean's Computer. and saw on that Email. that he sent an email at the time of the murder he was at the carshow rooms.
Dean is cleared.
Team's Pick: Andrew
Location: The Dark Woods
Lead Investigator's Pick: Meryl (for tactical purposes as the Lead Investigator perceived Meryl to be the strongest Investigator)
Location: The Old Docks
Investigator Murdered: Meryl
Killer Clue: Andrew came back with a strip of 4 passport photos of Anya, Trevor and Catherine's daughter they believe that catharine is taking Anya somewhere.
Team 2 found out that the photo was cropped but uncropped seeing George Chopping the wood. George can not kill Cathranine.
Team 2 cleared George Hawick.
Team's Pick: tie (Melanie and Ruairi)
Note: The tie was broken by Nick, who chose Ruairi as he believed that Melanie did better over the last two days than Ruairi.
Location: The Quarry
Lead Investigator's Pick: Richard (due to process of elimination; Ruairi was already picked, Andrew had already done four and was given a 'night-off' and Melanie for a successful negotiation on Day 2)
Location: The Derelict Barn
Investigator murdered: Ruairi
Killer clue: Richard returned with a Jeweler's drawing of the Wilmington Jewel. the original Design of the jewel.
Other: Godie pior was kidnapped the message saw goldie in trouble and said to bring the necklace, the chief and the investigators in a serious kidnap.
Team 1 will place a bug in the bag with the necklace. they succeeded but loss the kidnapper.
Lead Investigator: Andrew
Note: The Lead Investigator was not eligible in the group vote and could get picked.
Team's Pick: Andrew
Location: The Boathouse
Lead Investigator's Pick: Richard (for not asking relevant questions during Day 2's line of enquiry)
Location: The Bottling Plant
Inestigator Murdered: Richard
Killer Clue: Andrew returns with a picture of a sort code and account number from a joint account belonging to Gillian "Goldie" Prior and Jay Wilmington.
Andrew, Melanie, and Nick first went to hear the last will and testament of Tony Wilmington. Also attending were suspects Goldie and Jay. Tony gives Jennifer and Jay the entire estate, and Catherine the Wilmington necklace. However, it is revealed that Anya would inherit the necklace afterwards. Then, Tony says Trevor is the one person who should not receive anything. Jay then calls Trevor a "bastard" and hastily leaves before the investigators got a chance to talk to him. Goldie then asks to talk to the investigators at the café. She confesses that Jay wanted the necklace badly, but Catherine wouldn't give it to him. Later, she asked Catherine for the necklace herself, but again the same result. Goldie then overheard a telephone conversation between Catherine and Trevor, but only knew it was just an argument. When questioned about the joint bank account between her and Jay, she stated that she forgot to buy a gift for Jennifer and withdrew £50 for flowers. She also declares that it was Jay's idea to come up with the fake kidnapping. Afterwards, she asks to leave.
Next, Trevor is seen hurridley moving out of Creeksea and driving off. Jennifer spots this and immediately calls the investigators. They investigate Trevor's living area, and find that one of the rooms has been boarded up. After they disassemble the blockade, they find it is a room prepared for Anya. This further strengthens the possibility of Trevor being the killer.
The investigators then go to Jay's barge to find Jay. Inside, they find familiar polaroids. Then, they find a new telephone message sent by Goldie, who tells Jay that she told the investigators everything. Melanie then takes the tape. Andrew and Nick find a bulletin board with pictures of Goldie, but only to find pictures of Catherine on the back. The investigators decides to bring the entire bulletin board back with them.
Back at headquarters, the investigators find out that the killer has broken in and created a mess. He/She had left chilling messages in blood, a hanged Barbie-doll, and two pictures with the locations for the next Killer's Game. The lights then go back on. The Chief arrives for the evening briefing and reads out the locations: Nuclear Bunker - Living Quarters, and Nuclear Bunker - Operational Zone. The two investigators who must play the Killer's Game will be, instead of a vote the ones who failed the most lines of inquiry. Andrew failed six, Melanie failed four, and Nick failed five. Andrew and Nick are sent out to the Operational Zone and Living Quarters, respectively. In the end, Andrew survives for the sixth time, and he and Melanie proceed to the final two.
But andrew found out the two key questions, who killed Cathrine pior and why?
Here is the story: by giving the £20,000 and the Wilmington jewel by his father Tony, Catharine plans to leave blackwater forever taking her daughter anya, but his Father Trevor Doby heard about Catharines
Departure and starting to threating her, Catarine left home and broke into Jay wilimgton's barge where she spend the night their, next day Goldie frank and Anya is due to marry jay, Cathraine was picked up by
Jenifer willmington and she saw Catharine wearing the priceless neckless that they thought it was missing she called jay to try to get it back but failed, then Goldie tried but she failed also. so did jay
go back and killed cathraine or did trevor kill catharine to get cudody of Anya.
That morning, Trevor went to the church to get Catherine 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 stoping Trevor to stop assling catharine. 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 24 hrs. Jay had 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 Ferlicity Wilmington killed his mothers baby to try and 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. Andrew Solves the mystery and won the £25.000 Reward.
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.
After the both cameras are cut off signaling the end of the run, the survivor of the two comes through the doors at the entrance and notifying that he or she chose correctly and will continue on. The eliminated investigator will chose the next lead investigator via video.
Andrew Weaver won the game, despite being sent to play the Killer's Game seven times (including 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 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 found Bob Taylor at the end, who proclaimed him as the winner of the £25,000 grand prize. Had both Andrew and Melanie chosen Trevor, they both would have won and earned £12,500 each.
, 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
.
, 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.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
reality television series that aired on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
from March through May 2003. The show was based on the American FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
television show Murder in Small Town X
Murder in Small Town X
Murder in Small Town X is an American reality television series created by George Verschoor, Robert Fisher, Jr., and Gordon Cassidy and was hosted by Sgt...
. 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 PoliceWest Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing West Yorkshire in England. It is the fourth largest force in England and Wales by number of officers, with 5671 officers....
. 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 film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
s like Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
.
The eliminated contestant would choose the Lead Investigator for the next episode, by means of a prerecorded "last will and testament".
Voting history
| Episode | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Finale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murdered | Christine | Sarita | Samantha | Mervin | Meryl | Ruairi | Richard | Nick | Melanie |
| Group's Pick | Sarita* | Sarita* | Andrew | Andrew | Andrew | Ruairi | Andrew | N/A | |
| Lead Investigator's Pick | Christine | Andrew | Samantha | Mervin | Meryl | Richard | Richard | ||
| Group Voting | |||||||||
| Andrew | Meryl | Meryl | Melanie | Mervin | Nick | Melanie | Richard | Six Failed | Winner |
| Melanie | Ruairi | Sarita | Andrew | L.I. | Andrew | Ruairi | Andrew | Four Failed | Runner-Up |
| Nick | Sarita | L.I. | Ruairi | Mervin | Andrew | Ruairi* | Andrew | Five Failed | |
| Richard | L.I. | Ruairi | Nick | Andrew | Nick | Ruairi | Melanie | ||
| Ruairi | Meryl | Meryl | Melanie | Andrew | L.I. | Melanie | |||
| Meryl | Ruairi | Sarita | Andrew | Andrew | Andrew | ||||
| Mervin | Nick | Richard | L.I. | Andrew | |||||
| Samantha | Sarita | Sarita | Andrew | ||||||
| Sarita | Ruairi | Meryl | |||||||
| Christine | Sarita | ||||||||
- 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 immuneImmunity (reality television)Immunity in reality television is a concept that is widely used in weekly elimination-type reality television shows by which a contestant participating in such a show may not be "kicked off" or eliminated from competition in a particular time period...
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.
Teams
| Teams | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Finale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team 1 | Christine, Nick, and Samantha | Mervin and Richard | Meryl and Richard | Meryl and Nick | Melanie, Meryl, and Richard | Melanie and Ruairi | Melanie and Nick | Andrew, Melanie, and Nick |
| Team 2 | Andrew, Melanie, and Mervin | Meryl, Samantha, and Sarita | Andrew, Nick, Ruairi | Richard and Ruairi | Andrew and Nick | Andrew and Richard | Andrew and Richard | No Team 2 |
| Team 3 | Meryl, Ruairi, and Sarita | Andrew, Melanie, and Ruairi | Melanie and Samantha | Andrew and Mervin | No Team 3 | |||
| Lead Investigator | Richard | Nick | Mervin | Melanie | Ruairi | Nick | Andrew | No Lead Investigator |
- The team failed their line of inquiry
- The team passed their line of inquiry
- There are no fails nor passes
The Investigators
| Investigator | Finish | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Christine Rose | 10th | The Power Museum |
| Sarita Raval | 9th | The Tyre Yard |
| Samantha Matthews | 8th | The Grain Silos |
| Mervin Merchant | 7th | The Fortress |
| Meryl Holt | 6th | The Old Docks |
| Ruairi McNally | 5th | The Quarry |
| Richard Sharrocks | 4th | The Bottling Plant |
| Nick Sykes | 3rd | The Nuclear Bunker - Living Quarters* |
| Melanie "Mel" Sainz | 2nd | The Grain Store |
| Andrew Weaver | 1st | The Construction Warehouse |
- The Nuclear Bunker had two locations. Andrew went to the Operational Zone and Nick went to the Living Quarters.
Suspects
| Suspect | Job | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Prior | Catherine's and Goldie's father | 1st suspect cleared | At a patrol station doing a dodgy deal |
| Vanessa March | The Babysitter | 2nd suspect cleared | Was buying a pregnancy test |
| Tina Wells | The Vicar's Wife | 3rd suspect cleared | Murdered while retrieving her husband's inhaler |
| Dean Garretty | The Best Man | 4th suspect cleared | At his showrooms sending an e-mail |
| George Hawick | The Music Teacher | 5th suspect cleared | Was chopping wood at his home |
| Jennifer Wilmington | Jay's Mother | 6th suspect cleared | Was visiting her solicitors about the Wilmington jewel |
| Gillian "Goldie" Prior | The Bride and Catherine's sister | 7th suspect cleared | At a cash point withdrawing £50 to buy flowers for Jennifer |
| Jay Wilmington | The Groom | 8th suspect cleared | In a telephone booth trying to call Trevor |
| Trevor Dobie | The Builder | Not Cleared | The Murderer |
Episode 1
In this episode, the investigators were under training. No lines of inquiry were given.Episode 2
Lead Investigator: Richard- Team 1: Christine, Nick, and Samantha
-
- Day 1: Gather evidence at the crime scene
- Hidden Test: Remember their training on gathering evidence
- Day 1: Gather evidence at the crime scene
The team started gathering evidence when there was a bang at the door, outside was a noose with a message on from the killer. They continued to bag evidence until they heard a mobile phone ringing. On Richards advice they answered the phone. Later when asked directly by the chief if his team had answered the phone Nick denied having done so, this initially went unnoticed but the matter was brought up on the second day after a review of the teams work.
-
- Day 2: Go to the morgue and collect Catherine’s possessions
- Hidden Test: Do not give away too much information to Goldie and Jay
- Day 2: Go to the morgue and collect Catherine’s possessions
The team went to the morgue and met Jay and Goldie there. The suspects pumped them for information but they didn't give anything away.
- Result: Fail, Nick answered Catherine’s mobile phone which could have affected the records.
- Team 2: Andrew, Melanie, and Mervin
-
- Day 1: Visit Frank and Goldie Prior and inform them of Catherine’s murder. Question them on their movements at the time.
- Hidden Test: Make sure Catherine’s daughter Anya is not present when breaking the news.
- Day 1: Visit Frank and Goldie Prior and inform them of Catherine’s murder. Question them on their movements at the time.
Mel took the lead in questioning the family but Mervin advised against keeping the child in the room whilst doing so and the team requested to talk to the father and sister of the victim in private. They questioned both on their movements throughout the day.
-
- Day 2: Visit Frank Prior and verify his story from yesterday.
- Hidden Test: Notice that Frank has changed his story and follow-up on it.
- Day 2: Visit Frank Prior and verify his story from yesterday.
The team asked Frank of his movements a second time but this time he left out the fact he had gone to a petrol station 35 miles away. Viewing this as suspicious the team requested CCTV footage from the petrol station in question.
- Result: Pass, the team made sure Anya was out of the room, and they caught Frank changing his story, which subsequently clears him.
- Team 3: Meryl, Ruairi, and Sarita
-
- Day 1: Visit Dean Garrety and get his video tape from him.
- Hidden Test: Recognize the fact that the theft of Dean’s camera makes his office a crime scene and act accordingly.
- Day 1: Visit Dean Garrety and get his video tape from him.
Meryl started questioning Dean but Sarita became agitated and wanted to get the video camera off him. Dean realized the camera had been stolen but in the confusion Sarita allowed him to leave the scene.
-
- Day 2: Visit Dean again
- Hidden Test: Do not tamper with the camera
- Day 2: Visit Dean again
Upon arriving at Dean's house the missing wedding car shot out of the drive way. The team were quick to pursue the car until the driver stopped at a disused railway and threw an object off the bridge into the wilderness. Sarita called to stop but Ruairi wanted to follow the car but this was denied as a tractors cut off their route. After a long search Ruairi found Dean's missing video camera and was tempted to tamper with it but Meryl convinced her team mates not to.
- Result: Fail, the team failed to recognize the crime scene on day one.
- Team's Pick: Sarita (3-3-2-1)
- Note: The group vote was tied between Sarita and Ruairi, but was split due to a group re-vote.
- Location: The Old Oaks
- Lead Investigator's Pick: Christine (for (in the Lead Investigator's opinion) not possessing any individual qualities which would be required late on)
- Location: The Power Museum
- Investigator Murdered: Christine
- Killer Clue: Sarita returns with a key to "Mill Fields". The key is believed to unlock Catherine's Caravan. It does not open it, as Frank Prior (Catherine's father) had changed the locks.
Episode 3
Lead Investigator: Nick- Team 1: Mervin and Richard
- Day 1: Go to Catherine’s caravan
- Hidden Test: Find a clue
- Day 2: Follow up on clue found at Catherine’s caravan.
- Hidden Test: Observe without being spotted
- Day 1: Go to Catherine’s caravan
- Result: Fail, the team is spotted by Dean Garrety.
(Frank pior is clear for dodgey deals)
- Team 2: Meryl, Samantha, and Sarita
- Day 1: Check Dean’s abandoned car for evidence.
- Hidden Test: Remove the car tracker as evidence.
- Day 2: Search Sluice pond for murder weapon.
- Hidden Test: Find the right object.
- Day 1: Check Dean’s abandoned car for evidence.
- Result: Fail, the team did not retrieve the tracker and brought back the wrong item from the pond.
- Team 3: Andrew, Melanie, and Ruairi
- Day 1: Go to Creeksea Place and interview Jennifer Wilmington. Interview Jay Wilmington at his barge.
- Hidden Test: Remember to check interior handle for fingerprints
- Day 2: Return to Creeksea and plant a bug on Jennifer Wilmington.
- Hidden Test: Don’t get caught.
- Day 1: Go to Creeksea Place and interview Jennifer Wilmington. Interview Jay Wilmington at his barge.
- Result: Fail, the team did not check interior handle for fingerprints.
the frensics found out that the finger prints was Jay wilington the owener of the boat and cathorine pior
- Team's Pick: Sarita (3-3-1-1)
- Note: The vote was tied between Sarita and Meryl, but was split due to a group re-vote.
- Location: The Tyre Yard
- Lead Investigator's Pick: Andrew (for not being involved in the inquiry as much as the other Investigators)
- Location: Dead End Farm
- Investigator Murdered: Sarita
- Killer Clue: Andrew returns with a pill box that belongs to Jennifer Wilmington. She reported it missing a month ago. It has the inscription "Death And His Brother", a quote from a Mary ShelleyMary ShelleyMary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
story
Episode 4
Lead Investigator: Mervin- Team 1: Meryl and Richard
- Day 1: Interview Trevor Dobie, ask if he knows he is Anya’s father. Interview Jennifer Wilmington about Pill Box.
- Hidden Test: Do not let Jennifer have the Pill Box.
- Day 1: Interview Trevor Dobie, ask if he knows he is Anya’s father. Interview Jennifer Wilmington about Pill Box.
- Day 2: Make air reconnaissance of area.
- Hidden Test: Spot a vital piece of evidence.
- Result: Pass
- Team 2: Andrew, Nick, and Ruairi
- Day 1: Go and interview Jay Wilmington about Catherine breaking into his barge.
- Hidden Test: Interview suspects separately
- Day 2: Interview Vanessa March about her relationship with Dean.
- Hidden Test: Confirm her story by checking credit card receipt.
- Day 1: Go and interview Jay Wilmington about Catherine breaking into his barge.
- Result: Fail, the team did not separate Goldie and Jay.
- Team 3: Melanie and Samantha
- Day 1: Interview George Hawick about his movements on the day of Catherine’s murder. Find out if he has an alibi.
- Hidden Test: Realise George could have got to the mainland by boat.
- Day 2: Hold a press conference.
- Hidden Test: Identify which question not to answer.
- Day 1: Interview George Hawick about his movements on the day of Catherine’s murder. Find out if he has an alibi.
- Result: Fail, the team did not answer any questions at the conference.
Team's Pick: Andrew
Location: The Deserted Railway
Lead Investigator's Pick: Samantha (for not being fully prepared for the press conference)
Location: The Grain Silos
Investigator Murdered: Samantha
Killer Clue: Andrew returns with an old newspaper clipping of Catherine's birth.
Note: Before the press conference, the Lead Investigator told Melaine and Samantha only to answer questions concerning Catherine's last movements and nothing else.
Episode 5
Lead Investigator: Melanie- Team 1: Meryl and Nick
- Day 1: Interview Tina Wells about the coat found by Meryl and Richard with Tina’s wedding invitation inside.
- Hidden Test: Notice anything suspicious.
- Day 2: Attend the wake after Catherine’s funeral. Interview the suspects.
- Hidden Test: Remember their training.
- Day 1: Interview Tina Wells about the coat found by Meryl and Richard with Tina’s wedding invitation inside.
- Result: Pass
- Team 2: Richard and Ruairi
- Day 1: Interview the witnesses.
- Hidden Test: Identify the correct statement.
- Day 2: Attend the funeral and interview Jennifer Wilmington about her dropping Catherine at the church.
- Hidden Test: Keep the suspects separate when interviewing them.
- Day 1: Interview the witnesses.
- Result: Pass - They identified the correct statement and when interviewing Jennifer Wilmington Ruairi noticed Trevor Dobie approaching and kept him away.
- Team 3: Andrew and Mervin
- Day 1: Interview Jay Wilmington about navigational dividers.
- Hidden Test: Do not tell him where and how they were found.
- Day 2: Visit Felicity Wilmington and search Alice’s Room.
- Hidden Test: Identify crime scene.
- Day 1: Interview Jay Wilmington about navigational dividers.
- Result: Fail, Team 3 found the secret in Alice's Room but left the crime scene living the Police to seal Creaksey place. (if Jenifer saw this she would have removed all the Evidence and the photos would have been poor)
Team's Pick: Andrew
Location: The Hospital
Lead Investigator's Pick: Mervin (for (in the Lead Investigator's opinion) causing divides amongst the group and poor decision making in the past)
Location: The Fortress
Inestigator Murdered: Mervin
Killer Clue: Andrew returns with the necklace Catherine from the murder video. It is the Wilmington Jewel, but the center jewel is missing.
Episode 6
Lead Investigator: Ruairi- Team 1: Melanie, Meryl, and Richard
- Day 1: Interview the Wilmington’s about the dead baby.
- Hidden Test: Realize Felicity is lying.
- Day 2: Visit nursing home of Trevor’s mother Dorothy.
- Hidden Test: Verify the truth of the interview between Dorothy and Catherine.
- Day 1: Interview the Wilmington’s about the dead baby.
- Result: Pass
- Team 2: Andrew and Nick
- Day 1: Visit Trevor Dobie and confront him about threatening Catherine. Afterwards, visit Tina Wells.
- Hidden Test: Notice the new messages on Tina Wells answering machine.
- Day 2: Return to Trevor Dobie and confront him this time. Visit Dean Garrety confront him about him threatening Tina.
- Hidden Test: Take Dean's laptop in as evidence.
- Day 1: Visit Trevor Dobie and confront him about threatening Catherine. Afterwards, visit Tina Wells.
- Result: Fail, the team did not take Dean's laptop.
Bob's policemen took Dean's Computer. and saw on that Email. that he sent an email at the time of the murder he was at the carshow rooms.
Dean is cleared.
Team's Pick: Andrew
Location: The Dark Woods
Lead Investigator's Pick: Meryl (for tactical purposes as the Lead Investigator perceived Meryl to be the strongest Investigator)
Location: The Old Docks
Investigator Murdered: Meryl
Killer Clue: Andrew came back with a strip of 4 passport photos of Anya, Trevor and Catherine's daughter they believe that catharine is taking Anya somewhere.
Episode 7
Lead Investigator: Nick- Team 1: Melanie and Ruairi
- Day 1: Visit Jay Wilmington ask him what he knows about Anya's paternity and ask if he has threatened Catherine.
- Hidden Test: Do not give too much information away.
- Day 2: Interview Felicity Wilmington about lying about the baby.
- Hidden Test: Caution Felicity when she admits to murder.
- Day 1: Visit Jay Wilmington ask him what he knows about Anya's paternity and ask if he has threatened Catherine.
- Result: Fail, the team did not caution Felicity.
- Team 2: Andrew and Richard
- Day 1: Visit George Hawick
- Hidden Test: Realize the significance of date the photograph was taken.
- Day 2: Visit newspaper office.
- Hidden Test: Spot the vital evidence in the original photograph.
- Day 1: Visit George Hawick
- Result: Pass
Team 2 found out that the photo was cropped but uncropped seeing George Chopping the wood. George can not kill Cathranine.
Team 2 cleared George Hawick.
Team's Pick: tie (Melanie and Ruairi)
Note: The tie was broken by Nick, who chose Ruairi as he believed that Melanie did better over the last two days than Ruairi.
Location: The Quarry
Lead Investigator's Pick: Richard (due to process of elimination; Ruairi was already picked, Andrew had already done four and was given a 'night-off' and Melanie for a successful negotiation on Day 2)
Location: The Derelict Barn
Investigator murdered: Ruairi
Killer clue: Richard returned with a Jeweler's drawing of the Wilmington Jewel. the original Design of the jewel.
Other: Godie pior was kidnapped the message saw goldie in trouble and said to bring the necklace, the chief and the investigators in a serious kidnap.
Team 1 will place a bug in the bag with the necklace. they succeeded but loss the kidnapper.
Episode 8
Other: They looked at the kidnaper's message again of Goldie pior and found out their was a box saying "Box pills" and also heard clocksLead Investigator: Andrew
- Team 1: Melanie and Nick
- Day 1: Visit Jennifer Wilmington and confront her with the evidence of Goldie's kidnapping.
- Hidden Test: Spot the date on the newspaper in the back room of Jennifer's shop.
- Day 2: Set up surveillance at Jennifer's shop observe Jennifer and Trevor. Follow up on Jennifer's alibi.
- Hidden Test: Ask for the confirmation of Jennifer's visit to the solicitor.
- Day 1: Visit Jennifer Wilmington and confront her with the evidence of Goldie's kidnapping.
- Result: Fail, the team did not confront Jennifer. nor they didn't follow their lines of Enquire finding the newspaper with the Date.
- Team 2: Andrew (as the Lead Investigator) and Richard
- Day 1: Search the flooded grain store.
- Hidden Test: Keep searching until they find the clue.
- Day 2: Visit Tony Wilmington, ask about the Wilmington jewel.
- Hidden Test: Find out if copies of Tony's taped conversation with Catherine exist.
- Day 1: Search the flooded grain store.
- Result: Fail, the team did not ask if there were copies or who had access to the tape or someone else know about the tape.
Note: The Lead Investigator was not eligible in the group vote and could get picked.
Team's Pick: Andrew
Location: The Boathouse
Lead Investigator's Pick: Richard (for not asking relevant questions during Day 2's line of enquiry)
Location: The Bottling Plant
Inestigator Murdered: Richard
Killer Clue: Andrew returns with a picture of a sort code and account number from a joint account belonging to Gillian "Goldie" Prior and Jay Wilmington.
Finale
No lines of inquiry and no lead investigator for the finale. Instead the final three investigators (Andrew, Melanie, and Nick) went together to confront the final three suspects (Goldie, Jay, and Trevor).Final Three
During the morning briefing, the Chief, Andrew, Melanie, and Nick discuss about the clue Andrew found at the last Killer's Game. It was an 8-digit number, which is the bank account shared by both Goldie and Jay. It also shows a withdrawal of £50 the morning of Catherine's murder. The investigators then figure it may or may not clear Goldie or Jay. The Chief declares they would be no lines of inquiry, no passes, no fails, and no lead investigator. They would only have to gather more information to solve the case.Andrew, Melanie, and Nick first went to hear the last will and testament of Tony Wilmington. Also attending were suspects Goldie and Jay. Tony gives Jennifer and Jay the entire estate, and Catherine the Wilmington necklace. However, it is revealed that Anya would inherit the necklace afterwards. Then, Tony says Trevor is the one person who should not receive anything. Jay then calls Trevor a "bastard" and hastily leaves before the investigators got a chance to talk to him. Goldie then asks to talk to the investigators at the café. She confesses that Jay wanted the necklace badly, but Catherine wouldn't give it to him. Later, she asked Catherine for the necklace herself, but again the same result. Goldie then overheard a telephone conversation between Catherine and Trevor, but only knew it was just an argument. When questioned about the joint bank account between her and Jay, she stated that she forgot to buy a gift for Jennifer and withdrew £50 for flowers. She also declares that it was Jay's idea to come up with the fake kidnapping. Afterwards, she asks to leave.
Next, Trevor is seen hurridley moving out of Creeksea and driving off. Jennifer spots this and immediately calls the investigators. They investigate Trevor's living area, and find that one of the rooms has been boarded up. After they disassemble the blockade, they find it is a room prepared for Anya. This further strengthens the possibility of Trevor being the killer.
The investigators then go to Jay's barge to find Jay. Inside, they find familiar polaroids. Then, they find a new telephone message sent by Goldie, who tells Jay that she told the investigators everything. Melanie then takes the tape. Andrew and Nick find a bulletin board with pictures of Goldie, but only to find pictures of Catherine on the back. The investigators decides to bring the entire bulletin board back with them.
Back at headquarters, the investigators find out that the killer has broken in and created a mess. He/She had left chilling messages in blood, a hanged Barbie-doll, and two pictures with the locations for the next Killer's Game. The lights then go back on. The Chief arrives for the evening briefing and reads out the locations: Nuclear Bunker - Living Quarters, and Nuclear Bunker - Operational Zone. The two investigators who must play the Killer's Game will be, instead of a vote the ones who failed the most lines of inquiry. Andrew failed six, Melanie failed four, and Nick failed five. Andrew and Nick are sent out to the Operational Zone and Living Quarters, respectively. In the end, Andrew survives for the sixth time, and he and Melanie proceed to the final two.
Final Two
Andrew and Melanie look over the clue brought back by Andrew from the last Killer's Game "who am I, if you are right you live. if you are wrong you die", which is a set of Polaroids challenging them to find out who the killer is and warning them of their fate should they fail to identify the killer. The Chief reveals that the bank have sent them security footage from the cash point of Goldie making a withdrawal. This confirms Goldie's story of withdrawing £50, and she is cleared. Jay and Trevor are the last two suspects both jay and trevor both had the opportunity to kill Catherine but why would they. Andrew and Melanie are given the rest of the time to figure out who is the killer, and why he killed Catherine. Andrew decided it was Trevor, and Melanie chooses Jay. The Chief announces he knows who the killer is, and for the final Killer's Game, the locations are determined by where the suspects were last seen. Jay was last seen at the Disused Airfield, and Trevor was last seen at the Yacht Club. Andrew and Melanie, are sent to their locations. Both pursue their suspects, only to lose them. The killer leaves them both a message, "Come to play one last time?". Andrew goes to the Construction Warehouse, and Melanie goes to the Grain Store. In the end, Andrew survives the final killers game, and Trevor turns out to be the killer.But andrew found out the two key questions, who killed Cathrine pior and why?
Here is the story: by giving the £20,000 and the Wilmington jewel by his father Tony, Catharine plans to leave blackwater forever taking her daughter anya, but his Father Trevor Doby heard about Catharines
Departure and starting to threating her, Catarine left home and broke into Jay wilimgton's barge where she spend the night their, next day Goldie frank and Anya is due to marry jay, Cathraine was picked up by
Jenifer willmington and she saw Catharine wearing the priceless neckless that they thought it was missing she called jay to try to get it back but failed, then Goldie tried but she failed also. so did jay
go back and killed cathraine or did trevor kill catharine to get cudody of Anya.
That morning, Trevor went to the church to get Catherine 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 stoping Trevor to stop assling catharine. 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 24 hrs. Jay had 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 Ferlicity Wilmington killed his mothers baby to try and 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. Andrew Solves the mystery and won the £25.000 Reward.
Killer's Game
The Killer's Game was the epic part of the show. The rules are that when any of the investigators from all the failing teams would be nominated for elimination for a group vote, where one of them would be chosen as the first person to play the Killer's Game. All of the investigators could cast a vote, with the exception of the Lead Investigator. The Lead Investigator would then choose the second person for the Killer's Game. This time, everyone is at risk for being sent out. The chosen investigators will have to pick an envelope to chose who will go where for example "The Olden Oaks" and "The Power Museum". Then, "The Chief" says to the players that they have one hour to pack their bags and get ready to play the "Killer's Game".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.
After the both cameras are cut off signaling the end of the run, the survivor of the two comes through the doors at the entrance and notifying that he or she chose correctly and will continue on. The eliminated investigator will chose the next lead investigator via video.
Andrew Weaver won the game, despite being sent to play the Killer's Game seven times (including 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 Murder in Small Town X
Murder in Small Town X
Murder in Small Town X is an American reality television series created by George Verschoor, Robert Fisher, Jr., and Gordon Cassidy and was hosted by Sgt...
. 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 found Bob Taylor at the end, who proclaimed him as the winner of the £25,000 grand prize. Had both Andrew and Melanie chosen Trevor, they both would have won and earned £12,500 each.
Quotes
- "Suspect everyone! Trust no one!" - Bob Taylor (The Chief)
- "Good luck, I think you are going to need it." - Bob Taylor
- "I am passing/failing you on your line of inquiry." - Bob Taylor
- "If anyone thinks that you can walk out of here with a cash prize and not get scarred for life, think again." - Andrew Weaver after surviving his third Killer's Game
- "If he could just be less bullish, arrogant, rude, loud and obnoxious, he might be quite a decent bloke." Andrew Weaver on team mate Richard Sharrocks
- "Mel's probably a bit over into it at the moment. I'm quite happy to be the way I am because I feel if I took too much onboard, I wouldn't be able to cope, because there's so much information with this case. I mean, as I told Ruairi, I said I still think it's a robbery." - Andrew Weaver, episode 3.
Production
The town of MaldonMaldon, Essex
Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
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
Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker
The Secret Nuclear Bunker at Kelvedon Hatch, in the Borough of Brentwood in the English county of Essex, is a large underground bunker maintained during the cold war as a potential regional government headquarters...
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
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
.
Viewer Interaction
Using SkySky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...
, Cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
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.