The Murder Game (TV series)

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 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".

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 Wilimgton'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 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.

Voting history

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.

Teams

     The team failed their line of inquiry     The team passed their line of inquiry     There are no fails nor passes

The Investigators

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

Episode 1

In this was first episode of the show, the investigators were under training for five days, learning the ins and outs of police investigation work. No lines of inquiry were given and no killer's game played either. We also got to learn about who the investigators were as they took part in the training session before the show began.

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

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 Richard's 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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Result: Fail, the team is spotted by Dean Garrety.

(Frank Prior is cleared as a suspect for dodgy 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.

Result: Fail, the team did not retrieve the tracker and brought back the wrong item from the pond. The actual weapon used were a set of Navigational Dividers from Jay Wilmington's boat.

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.

Result: Fail, the team did not check interior handle for fingerprints.

the forensics found out that the finger prints were from Jay Willmington, the owner of the boat and Catherine Prior

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Result: Fail, Team 3 found the secret in Alice's Room but left the crime scene living the Police to seal off Creaksea Place. (If Jennifer 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.

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 significance of a picture in Trevor's annex

During the night of Day 1 the team are sent to protect Tina Wells but during this time Tina is murdered and dragged out through a back door

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.

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.

Result: Fail, the team did not caution Felicity.

Team 2: Andrew and Richard

Day 1: Visit George Harwick

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.

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: Ruairi (Both Melanie and Ruairi were tied) 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: Goldie Prior was kidnapped, the message given to the investigators saw Goldie in trouble and said to bring the necklace, the chief and the investigators in a serious kidnapping situation. The kidnapper demanded to give the necklace in exchange for Goldie. Team 1 placed a bug in the bag with the necklace, they succeeded in the trade off but lost the kidnapper afterwards.

Episode 8

Other: They looked at the kidnaper's message again of Goldie pior and found out there was a box saying "Box pills" and also heard clocks

Lead 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.

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.

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 due to closed gates. The killer leaves them both a message, "Coming out to play one last time?", Inviting them to play one final killers game to Check the killers identity and claim the reward. Andrew goes to the Construction Warehouse, and Melanie goes to the Grain Store. In the end, Andrew survives the final Killer's Game, and Trevor turns out to be the killer.

Killer's Game

The unique part of the show's premise was the Killer's Game. At some point during the investigation days in each episode the killer would leave some form of message, consisting of polaroids with the two locations attached, usually accompanied by the taunting words 'coming out to play?'. At the end of each set of two days the investigators were 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 Killer's 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", Nick and Andrew had more failed lines of inquiry than Mel did, so both of them had to play the game, while the final game was used to determine the winner between Andrew and Mel.

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 flashlight, 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 as a "murder" victim, with their last few seconds being seen from the view of the "killer" rushing towards the investigators in the manner of classical slasher films like Psycho. After shaking up the investigators up, both camera feeds are cut off signalling the end of the game for one investigator, then 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 chose the next lead investigator the following day via prerecorded video as a part of their "Last Will".

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 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 grain store, where he found Bob Taylor at the end, who proclaimed him as the winner of the £25,000 grand prize.

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.

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.