There are hit television programmes, and then there is The Traitors. Whether you watch it or not, you’ve probably noticed that everyone seems to be talking about it. The deceit, the round table, the accidental slip-ups from famous faces - all of it has become part of the national conversation.

But while we see the drama unfolding around the round table, what we don’t see is everything that happens before the cameras roll.

As Programme Leader for the Film Making degree programme at UHI North, West and Hebrides, I teach in Alness, just 10 minutes’ drive from the now-famous Ardross Castle, better known to fans of the show as the Traitors’ Castle.

Outside of this, I’ve spent many years working in television and film as a producer and director. That changes the way you watch a show like Traitors. You start to notice the decisions, the preparation and sheer scale of the production that sits behind something which, to the viewer, appears to happen almost spontaneously.

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Take the moment Claudia Winkleman taps a contestant on the shoulder and tells them they are a Traitor. For the viewer, that is the beginning of the game. For the production, it is the culmination of a great deal of work.

Long before anyone enters the castle, producers and casting directors have been thinking about who should be there, how the personalities might interact and what might happen when they are put together. Different combinations will have........

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