SUNDAY nights are busy on Strictly Come Dancing. For starters, there’s a dance-off to be held and the losing couple cast out into the light entertainment darkness.

So when producers give up a few precious moments to plug another BBC programme, as they did last weekend, said show must be important to the corporation. The Traitors is such a commodity.

Presented by Strictly co-host Claudia Winkleman, The Traitors is the BBC’s response to the success of I’m A Celebrity (11.5 million viewers for the final), Love Island, The Great British Bake Off, and other ratings juggernauts. Anything the commercial channels can do, Auntie can do better, right? Well … Welcoming the 22 (22!) contestants to “this beautiful castle in the Scottish Highlands” (Ardross Castle in Alness to you and me), Winkleman described the show as “the ultimate game of deception, skill and trust”.

It was simple enough. Three of the group were secretly tapped on the shoulder and told they were “traitors”. The rest were “the faithful”.

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By day the gang competed in outdoor games to put money in the prize pot; by night the traitors “murdered” the faithful, one by one.

Whoever is still standing at the end of 12 episodes wins. Think Duke of Edinburgh scheme meets Agatha Christie with the body count of Taggart.

Sounds fun? You would think so. The contestants include a magician, a BMX rider, a charity fundraiser, and a cheerleading coach. Hardly your typical cross-section of society.

A few stood out, chief among them Amanda, a 54-year-old estate agent from Swansea who could give Peter Mandelson a run for his money as a modern Machiavelli. Hard to decide if she is hilarious or terrifying; she is definitely the show’s Nasty Nick.

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Most of the 22, however, only succeeded in being spectacularly annoying. When not lounging around contemplating their navels, they ran about the house like sugar-saturated toddlers.

Winkleman, meanwhile, tried her best to be a scary master of ceremonies, though it was a struggle to see how this new “Mean Girl” Claudia was any different from nice, Strictly Claudia. They both need their fringes cut.

As for the “murders”, what a let down. While no one expects an actual killing to take place – that would never get past health and safety – it is surely possible to be a little more imaginative than telling people by letter that they are going home.

The Traitors began life as a Dutch show, De Verraders. The format has been sold to Belgium, France, Spain, the UK and the USA, where Alan Cumming is the host. It is produced by Studio Lambert, makers of Gogglebox and the Bafta- winning drama The Girls. It was a hit in the Netherlands, particularly among 16-24 year olds, which explains why the BBC was so keen to bag it. Every broadcaster dreams of attracting such a demographic.

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Yet somehow the corporation has managed to make the show safe, sanitised and deadly dull. There is no jeopardy. Everyone is fed and watered well. There is certainly none of the wit of I’m a Celeb or Love Island, and what drama there is turns out to be of the shouty, over-acting kind.

Too silly for older viewers, too bland for the younger streaming crowd, it would be a better fit on BBC3 but here it is, occupying a prime slot over three week nights. Now there’s a mystery.

Continues Wednesday, BBC1, 9.15pm, and Thursday, 9pm