The Insider

The Insider

Series 1 Episode 4
BBC Three
Studio Lambert (All3Media)

Two weeks ago I turned on to this by accident and liked it straight away. As someone wanting to get into an industry which people don’t know too much about, this show that shines a light on little known but creative professions really captivated me. I think this fits very well with BBC Three’s target audience for similar reasons, quite a lot of people are looking for work or a change in career. Employment is a hot topic at the moment. Making the right choice is more and more important for employer and employee alike; in this show the taster interview and undercover element help out both parties.

In this episode we see the 4 candidates compete for a job at Groupon. The potentials had to do a presentation about a bird of prey experience and come up with their own experience in the form of a party.

One thing I’m particularly enjoying about this show is that my partner likes watching it with me even though he doesn’t normally watch too much television. I think the thing that is so gripping about it I the element of mystery, the ‘who is it?’. Not just who is going to get the dream job in the end but also the 15 minutes at the beginning where the audience are completely in the dark as to who the Insider is. My partner and I often debate over who it is, both the Insider and the winner, and generally guess completely wrong. However that surprise, that twist is another element that makes it so enjoyable.

An issue with this particular episode is that I was able to guess the Insider from just the short bios at the beginning, Matt had an absolutely atrocious cover story (an ex-charity fundraiser… so is he currently unemployed?). He obviously has no life beyond his work because the ‘friend’ they got to chat about him was from Groupon and damned thing was filmed in the Groupon offices… those bright green phones are seen later on in the show kicking about the desks of his colleagues. Far too easy - I missed that mystery this week.

Another thing I didn’t like about this particular episode was the focus on Matt sneaking away to chat to colleagues and hug everyone he’d ever worked with as soon as the audience knew he was the Insider. It felt like foreshadowing, that he might give the game away eventually but this didn’t happen. However this would have been interesting as this would have been the first time someone had given the game away. He did seem fairly careless and blasé about it… I guess you don’t have to be too focused to work for Groupon. Or perhaps he’s just that much of a people person.

There is an element of forced casting in this program too. From what I experienced of the casting process at The Network there is always a need to pick people that suit the show but in every episode of ‘The Insider’ there is always someone who is too keen and they were taken down a peg or two by an outsider creative type.

Thought this is not the best episode I've seen, it still delivers a very stirring emotional journey. It is very easy to get a discussion going about this program; it inspires interactivity when the show is airing, in the home and online, but also continues discussions beyond it such as with talking points such as; How would you cope in an interview like that? Would you be up to the challenge of being ‘The Insider’?

This show has a feeling of ‘Undercover Boss’ to it, no doubt it was a source of inspiration for the development of the programme. A development of this undercover concept might actually multiple contributors filming ‘mystery shopper’ kind of experiences, I think that this might be suited to a youtube channel that consumers and other shows (maybe watchdog etc.) can browse and move the content to a wider national audience when relevant.

Given the opportunity I’d love to take part in an episode of ‘The Insider’ for the role of a television researcher. But this also brings up a potential snag for the next series (if will be one) which is keeping all the contestants in the dark that it is ‘The Insider’ that is being filmed. This is an issue I’ve seen in shows like ‘Secret Millionaire’. It will be interesting to see how they approach it next year. I’ll be watching.