Currently watching: Crime Scene

I may be busy, but I’m never too busy for a new Korean game show. My most recent discovery is Crime Scene, a game of deduction and bluffing. In this show, a murder is recreated and the six contestants (five regulars and one guest) have to solve the crime. The twist is that they are all given roles to act out, and one of them is the murderer.

I don’t know any of the regulars, apart from Hong Jinho, the winner of series one of The Genius, but I don’t think it matters much. The scene is set out in the studio, and everyone has a set amount of time to search, or to question the others.

The crimes are all based on real events (interestingly, three crimes into the series, two of them have been from the UK. I guess that means our murders are easily adapted to television) and so far all have had twists and turns that I couldn't see coming. What's most fun is that the viewers are also not told who the murderer is, allowing them to play too. So far I've got two right, but only at the very last minute. Every one has been confusing, cunning and baffling.

The five regulars have already started to gel. This could be good, since it makes for more interesting TV, or it could be bad if they start to recognise each others' habits when they lie. But at the moment I'm enjoying the banter between them all.

The first six episodes, subbed by the wonderful Bumdidlyupmtious (who also did The Genius), have had three investigations stretched over two episodes. Apparently from now on it'll be one crime per episode (and one of the regulars, Lim Banggeul, is sadly leaving), which I'm a little worried about because I thought the format was nicely thought out: not too hurried and not too slow. We shall see, but with a cast and a concept as strong as this, I can't see it going wrong.