Start date confirmed for the next season of BBC Traitors

The fourth series of Traitors follows hot on the heels of the debut series of the celebrity spin-off, which was won by comedian Alan Carr.

The first episode of the new series will air at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer on January 1, with the second and third episodes airing on January 2 and 3 at 8pm and 7.45pm respectively.

Claudia Winkleman will return to the Scottish Highlands to front the show, which sees a new batch of faithful civilians attempt to weed out the murderous traitors before the prize pot is snatched away.

Some 22 new contestants will try to win up to £120,000 and the BBC has promised “even more twists, turns, secrets, epic missions, deception, banishments and, of course, murders aplenty”.

The first series of Celebrity Traitors, which aired in the autumn, was a cultural touchstone and a ratings winner for the BBC, and saw Carr snatch victory from faithful historian David Olusoga and actor Nick Mohammed.

It made a TV star out of former rugby player Joe Marler, who became a fan favourite with his shrewd analysis of the game and his friendships with comedian Joe Wilkinson and Mohammed.

Viewers were aghast when Mohammed voted to banish Marler in the final episode, unwittingly handing victory to traitor Carr.

The official visualised companion podcast is also returning alongside the new series.

The Traitors: Uncloaked will start on BBC Two immediately after the main series on January 1 at 9.05pm.

The show will then move over to BBC One for the remainder of the series from January 2 at 9pm onwards and will also be available on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer.

Host Ed Gamble will be joined by celebrities and players from previous series to analyse and react to developments in the castle.