Challenge

The Traitors UK season 4 began production in June 2025, with lighting designer James Tinsley returning to style the look of the unscripted social deduction series. The Traitors franchise began in 2021 as the Dutch show De Verraders and has since expanded into a massively popular global phenomenon with spinoffs produced in dozens of languages.

Tinsley has worked on The Traitors, The Celebrity Traitors, and all four seasons of The Traitors UK. He and his team were instrumental in balancing the needs of a reality show with The Traitor’s stylized dark gothic look. The Traitors UK is filmed at the remote Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, and the moody lighting heightens the atmosphere of paranoia and grand betrayals. But that light must work in a production that operates up to 15 cameras at once, including drones and jibs, and equipment must also withstand harsh weather and difficult terrain.

Solution

Over the years, the production has continuously updated its lighting package. In the fourth season, Aputure fixtures played a part in nearly every location.

The dramatic night castle exterior, with its warm castle lighting set against silvery moonlight, is a defining visual of The Traitors UK. To create a broad, natural moonlight spread across the castle’s facade, Tinsley used an array of Light Storm 1200d Pros rigged to a cherry picker, and Aputure STORM 1200xs on Avenger Long John Silver crank stands. Tungsten lighting from below completed the look.

For filming in the historic castle, Tinsley’s team carefully concealed trusses and support systems to hide lighting in the environment. The interior was lit primarily by Aputure fixtures, including the Aputure STORM 80c, Light Storm 600x Pro, Light Storm 300x, and Nova P600c. Dozens of B7c bulbs were used in practical fixtures like the church chandeliers, and the scullery was lit with INFINIBARs and STORM 80cs.

Exterior shoots were lit by weather-resistant lighting like the STORM 1200x with Lantern 90 modifier and an INFINIMAT 4x4. A variety of rigging methods were used, including crank stands, suspending speed rails in trees, and bouncing multiple STORM 1200xs into a frame mounted on a cherry picker. This moonlight wash was supplemented by battery-powered STORM 80cs. Compared to older lighting technologies, the capabilities of this kit freed the production up dramatically. Tinsley says, “The size, weight, and waterproofing make a huge difference, especially up here.”

Tinsley and his team continuously monitored and adjusted lighting in real time with Sidus Link Pro and a Sidus Four transceiver. The two most common tweaks were to add a flickering fire effect to supplement practical flames and to reduce output to create deeper shadows in the environment and on the players. As Tinsley explains, “We’re not lighting people to look beautiful, we’re lighting the story.”

Results

The Traitors UK season 4 debuted on New Year's Day 2026, and maintained a viewership of over 11 million in the UK across its run, with every episode ranked in the top 3 across all UK television. The look Tinsley and his team created for the franchise has also netted them multiple award nominations and a BAFTA win for The Celebrity Traitors.

For the next season, the production is adding a STORM XT52 to their kit. “For that big soft moonlight, we’re putting the two [STORM 1200xs] in a cherry picker with Lantern 90s,” Tinsley says. “If I could replace that with an XT52, with one big lantern, that frees up another two heads I can utilize. So that’s a great thing.”

Since Tinsley and his team began working on the show, the lighting of The Traitors has evolved significantly. The addition of new LED fixtures and other technologies enabled the team to deploy large-scale setups rapidly, even in remote environments. Reflecting, Tinsley says, “It’s tenfold better now—much more cinematic.”