You probably remember the hype. Greg James—the voice of BBC Radio 1 and generally one of the most likable humans in broadcasting—was fronting a massive new reality show. It had a sleek, corporate-industrial aesthetic. It promised to be the "ultimate game of power."
But the Rise and Fall show didn't quite become the next The Traitors. Not even close.
Reality TV is a fickle beast. One year, everyone is obsessed with people wearing giant animal masks while singing; the next, we're all watching a group of strangers try to figure out who "the murderer" is in a Scottish castle. When Channel 4 launched Rise and Fall in early 2023, the timing felt perfect. People were angry about the cost-of-living crisis. Trust in leadership was at an all-time low. A show about the divide between the "haves" and the "have-nots" should have been a slam dunk.
It wasn't.
Instead, it became a fascinating case study in how to get the "prestige reality" formula almost right—but ultimately wrong.
What Was the Rise and Fall Show Actually About?
The premise was basically a literal interpretation of the class system. Sixteen strangers started the game. They were divided into two groups: the Rulers and the Grafters.
The Rulers lived in a luxury penthouse. We’re talking champagne, velvet sofas, and the power to make decisions that affected everyone else. The Grafters? They lived in a basement. It was grim. No windows. Barely any privacy. They spent their days performing grueling, repetitive tasks to add money to a prize pot that only one person would eventually win.
The catch was that Rulers could be voted out, and Grafters could be promoted.
It sounds like a psychological goldmine. Honestly, on paper, it’s brilliant. You get to see how quickly people’s personalities change when they get a taste of power. You see the resentment build in the basement. It’s basically The Platform meets Big Brother, but with more British politeness and the occasional flare-up over who ate the last bit of rations.
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The Casting Gamble That Didn't Quite Pay Off
In reality TV, casting is everything. You need heroes. You need villains. Most importantly, you need people who are self-aware enough to be entertaining but delusional enough to take the stakes seriously.
The Rise and Fall show had some standouts. Take Ramona, for instance. She entered the penthouse and immediately embodied the "boss" persona in a way that made viewers at home scream at their TVs. Then there was Jeff, the seasoned entrepreneur who seemed to think he was in a boardroom rather than a TV set.
The problem? The divide felt too artificial.
In The Traitors, the conflict is baked into the mechanics—someone is literally lying to your face. In Rise and Fall, the conflict was just... life being unfair. While that’s a great theme for a documentary, for a 9:00 PM reality slot, it often felt frustrating rather than gripping. Viewers found it hard to root for Rulers who weren't doing much, and they felt too bad for the Grafters to actually enjoy their suffering.
Why it Struggled to Match The Traitors
Comparisons are odious, but they’re inevitable. Because Studio Lambert produced both shows, everyone expected Rise and Fall to be the spiritual successor to the Claudia Winkleman-led juggernaut.
It lacked the "watercooler" factor.
The Traitors works because the audience is in on the secret. We know who the killers are. We watch the "Faithful" mess up, and it creates this incredible dramatic irony. In the Rise and Fall show, there wasn't really a secret. We were just watching people be tired in a basement while other people ate grapes upstairs.
The stakes felt weirdly low. Even though the prize pot could reach £100,000, the "power" the Rulers held felt cosmetic. They could choose what the Grafters ate or how hard they worked, but it didn't feel like a high-stakes psychological game. It felt like a HR department gone rogue.
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The "Greg James" Factor
Greg James is fantastic. He’s charming, witty, and has that "one of us" energy that makes him the perfect bridge between the audience and the contestants. But in Rise and Fall, he was tucked away in a control room.
He wasn't in the mix.
One of the reasons Love Island works is the interaction with the host during those high-tension fire pit moments. In Rise and Fall, the Rulers made their decisions in a vacuum. By the time the feedback reached the Grafters, the energy had dissipated.
The Brutal Reality of the Ratings
TV is a numbers game. The premiere of the Rise and Fall show pulled in decent numbers, but they started to dip as the weeks went on.
It’s hard to sustain a nightly format. When you ask an audience to commit to several nights a week, the payoff has to be huge. If the "Fall" part of the show—the moments where a Ruler is humbled and sent to the basement—isn't satisfyingly dramatic, people switch off.
There was also the issue of the "work" tasks. Watching people sort through recycling or do manual labor for forty minutes isn't exactly peak entertainment. We do that in our real lives. Why would we want to watch it on Channel 4?
Where the Show Actually Succeeded
It wasn't all bad. Not by a long shot.
- The Production Design: The contrast between the penthouse and the basement was visually stunning. The cold blues of the basement versus the warm, golden hues of the penthouse told a story without a single word of dialogue.
- The Ending: Without spoiling too much for those catching up on All 4, the way the power shifted in the final episodes was genuinely interesting. It showed that "nice guys" don't always finish last, but they usually have to get their hands a bit dirty first.
- Social Commentary: It did spark conversations. People on Twitter (or X, if we must) were debating the ethics of the game constantly. Is it okay to be a "benevolent" leader if you're still benefiting from someone else's labor?
What We Can Learn From the Rise and Fall Experience
If you're a fan of the genre, the Rise and Fall show is still worth a watch, if only to see the experiment play out. It’s a lesson in the "Goldilocks" zone of reality TV: you need enough cruelty to keep it spicy, but enough heart to keep it watchable.
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The show proved that audiences in the 2020s are savvy. They want more than just a social experiment; they want a game they can play along with at home. They want to be able to say, "I would have spotted that lie" or "I would have made a better move."
In Rise and Fall, the moves were limited. You were either up or you were down.
How to Watch and What to Look For
If you’re diving into the series now, pay attention to the shift in the middle episodes. That’s where the "Fall" actually starts to mean something.
Look at the way the Grafters begin to organize. It’s a fascinating look at unionization in a microcosm. When they realize that the Rulers have no power without their labor, the show finally finds its teeth. It’s just a shame it took so long to get there.
Actionable Insights for Reality Fans
If you're looking for your next binge-watch or trying to understand why certain shows "stick" while others slide into obscurity, keep these things in mind:
- Check the Producer Credits: Shows from Studio Lambert (the team behind this and The Circle) usually have high production values even if the format is experimental. They're worth a look just for the "newness" factor.
- Look for the Power Pivot: In any competitive show, the most interesting episodes are always the "transition" episodes. In Rise and Fall, these are the episodes where a Ruler is voted out by their peers. Watch the body language; it’s more telling than the scripts.
- Engage with the Backstory: Reality TV thrives on "why" someone is there. The contestants in the basement who had real-world leadership experience but were forced to "graft" provided the best psychological insights. Focus on them.
- Follow the Host's Commentary: Even though Greg James was distanced, his voiceovers often highlighted the absurdity that the contestants were too deep in to see. It’s the best way to stay grounded while watching people argue over a literal basement.
The Rise and Fall show might not have changed the world, but it was a bold attempt at doing something different in a landscape filled with dating shows and singing competitions. It was messy, it was sometimes frustrating, and it was deeply British.
Ultimately, it reminded us of a very simple truth: power is only as strong as the people who allow you to have it. And on television, the ultimate power always belongs to the person with the remote.