“Immersive experiences bring new opportunities”: How All3Media International brought The Traitors and Race Across the World to life beyond the screen

Jane, Tom and Tom – it’s great to catch up! Let’s start with The Traitors and this live experience put together with Immersive Everywhere. Jane, why did you feel the show lent itself to this kind of treatment?
Jane Sharp, VP Licensing (Operations), All3Media International: The format is addictive by nature as it is all about human behaviour. On screen, audiences love to watch how people strategise, scheme, form alliances and betray those closest to them. When watching at home you know who The Traitors are, but at the experience you are thrown into the player’s world of trying to catch a traitor… Unless you are one yourself! It’s been exciting to see the winning formula translate as players experience the game first hand in this compelling two-hour experience.

Ultimately the format is so strong because it works both on-screen and off-screen and bringing The Traitors to an immersive experience brings new opportunities.

And Tom, did that all play a part in why this brand appealed to Immersive Everywhere?
Tom Roe, Head of Licensing, Immersive Everywhere: Its mix of strategy, tension and high drama make it a natural fit for an immersive format. At its heart, it’s a social game built on psychology and interaction – elements that translate seamlessly into a live, participatory experience where players step directly into the action.

What aspects did you feel it vital to capture in this experience?
Tom Roe: The tension. Those edge-of-your-seat, heart-in-your-mouth moments are what make The Traitors so addictive. Our aim was to bridge the gap between watching and playing, allowing people to step into the world they’ve only seen on screen. Central to this is the Round Table – it’s the beating heart of the show, and for many fans it’s the moment they’re most excited to experience firsthand… Recreating that atmosphere with authenticity and drama was extremely important.

Absolutely. And are there aspects of the experience that help players get into the right ‘headspace’ quickly – given how, on the show, that dynamic builds over days?
Tom Roe: Absolutely. We’ve designed The Traitors: Live Experience so players are immersed from the very start. Our professional hosts play a crucial role in setting the tone, guiding participants into the mindset of suspicion, strategy and intrigue.

Layered into that are clever gameplay mechanisms that accelerate the action and heighten the drama. While you don’t need to be a superfan to enjoy it, many arrive with deep knowledge of the show – they already know how they’d play as a Faithful or a Traitor… That mix of familiarity, anticipation and smart design means players quickly find themselves fully absorbed in the game.

Terrific. And also new for this year is All3Media International’s Race Across the World Live experience with CityDays. This seems like a really interesting creative challenge – bringing a country-hopping show like this into the immersive space. For anyone new to this, can you tell me a bit about how you’ve translated the format here?
Jane Sharp: We kept the core of the format and scaled to local cities around the UK. Our cities are brimming with interesting facts and hidden gems, but we rarely have the chance to explore them. One of the aspects audiences love about the show it lets the contestant and audience experience a place in a whole new way. Race Across The World: The Experience enables players to see their surroundings in a new light, while racing at their own pace or against the clock!

Tom, let’s bring you in. CityDays is known for hosting immersive urban adventures. What made the Race Across the World brand a neat fit for this kind of experience?
Tom Rymer, Founder, CityDays: Discovering new places, as well as exploring the hidden depths of places people might think they already know, has been at the heart of what we do since our very first experience launched over half a decade ago.

On screen, Race Across the World champions the exact same thing – so it was an intuitive fit from the word go – as long as we could turn it from ‘Across the World’ to ‘Across A City’. Teamwork, competition, decision-making and problem-solving are all core elements of why audiences connected with the series, and so our experiences feature these elements in a variety of thrilling ways.

What were some of the ‘beats’ from the show that were important to capture here?
Tom Rymer: We aimed to evoke similar emotions as the show; urgency, competitiveness, team spirit and strategy. The awe and excitement of finding surprising new places was important and we were confident we had this covered given CityDays’ past experience. Similarly, the show’s focus on learning new things about friends and family through confronting challenges as a team was something we knew we could pull off.

Other crucial beats – like working and budgetary decisions – required more ingenuity for us to translate into the experience… How would we make work fun? How would we capture the choices of a long and epic journey in a one-day experience? Answering these questions took a lot of creative thinking, but we knew we didn’t want teams to just rush through London… They had to engage with it, step by step, and I think this has been at the heart of the experience has had such a successful initial launch.

Can I ask about some of the logistical challenges involved in developing an experience like this? And what went into deciding on your final ‘routes’ and checkpoints?
Tom Rymer: Like the show, the experience takes place in the real streets of real cities. This means anything can happen. Anticipating every curve ball the world could throw us – and designing the game to run safely, smoothly and entertainingly no matter what – was a huge logistical challenge, which massively informed the final routes and checkpoints.

“The format is so strong because it works both on-screen and off-screen.”

We needed areas with such a wealth of interesting sights that, even if film shoots and special events overran large parts of it, there would always be a bounty of places for the players’ decisions to take them. On top of this, the area needed thrills to suit a wide variety of tastes and needs: historic pubs, trendy cafes, ancient ruins, modern sculptures, step-free routes, family-friendly routes and dog-friendly routes… Finding places that met all of our requirements was no small task, but we couldn’t have asked for better final collaborators or better locations.

Amazing. And I suppose the neat thing about the city-hopping format is that it can be transported to other countries where the show is popular. Do you see it travelling well?
Jane Sharp: It is a very universal concept playable in all languages and translatable across cities. London and Manchester launched earlier this year and we are now launching a second London route in November in the West End that will be festive themed. There are plans to further expand in the UK and internationally next year as Race Across the World has already been adapted on screen in several territories, including Germany and Scandinavia.

And Jane, before I let you go we should also mention the Midsomer Murders stage show. What makes this format perfect for this brand?
Jane Sharp: Midsomer Murders has been on air for over 25 years and remains one of our longest-running, evergreen properties. With a host of beloved, returning characters, a huge fanbase around the world and ratings success with repeat episodes, the brand is perfect for off-screen expansion.

Bringing it to stage with a production of The Killings at Badger’s Drift retains the iconic, original storytelling featuring fan-favourite characters and the charming setting fans love – while evolving the world of Midsomer Murders, and the way fans can enjoy it.

Have these three projects sparked a wider appetite to bring more of your IP into the experiential space?
Jane Sharp: Absolutely. We are always looking for new ways for fans to interact with their favourite brands and for an opportunity to reimagine gameshows, cooking programmes and lifestyle series. We have lots of exciting opportunities in the works for our brands so watch this space.

Nicely teased! Thanks guys and congrats again on the experiences.