Television series
The Mole
This is the original Seven Network social-deduction reality show: strangers pool prize money by completing tasks together, while one of them is secretly trying to sabotage the whole thing. Nobody gets voted off — a quiz decides who understands the mole least. Slow-build, low-budget-charming, made for viewers who love working out who's lying before the group does.
If you liked this
The Traitors2022
This is basically what The Mole would look like today — glossier, campier, and with a host in a cape instead of a khaki shirt, but the same delicious paranoia.
But The theatrics tip into pantomime sometimes; if you liked the low-key, earnest vibe of the original, this can feel a bit much.
Survivor2000
Same era, same DNA of strangers building shaky alliances under pressure — swap the quiz for a beach and the mole for tribal councils. The granddaddy of the genre.
But It's about endurance and social politics rather than one hidden saboteur, so the specific whodunnit thrill gets spread thin across a whole cast.
Big Brother2000
The house, the confessional booth, the slow rot of trust between people stuck together — Big Brother is where this whole genre first weaponised paranoia between housemates.
But There's no single villain to hunt for; the drama comes from everyone being a little awful, which is a different kind of fun.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Thing1982
Both run on the same paranoid engine: trust nobody, because the saboteur looks exactly like everyone else and the only way out is deduction under pressure.
John Carpenter's Antarctic horror is the purest possible version of Mole's premise: a group of people, one of whom is secretly working against everyone else, with no way to prove who.
But It's gruesome practical-effects horror, not light entertainment — if you wanted a relaxing evening, this is the opposite of that.
More like this (8)
The Genius2013no page yet
A brutally clever Korean series where contestants invent their own social games and alliances flip weekly. If working out who's playing you was the appeal, this rewards that instinct tenfold.
But Needs subtitles and patience for elaborate rule systems — this is a show for people who enjoy homework with their entertainment.
The Circle2020
Everyone's performing a persona, the group votes on suspicion, and guessing who's lying about who they are runs the entire season. It's Mole's engine in influencer clothing.
But Very online, very of-the-moment in tone — if you want the clunky, earnest 2000s feel of the original, this is a different planet.
Solitary2006no page yet
Contestants are isolated in boxes and manipulated by an AI voice, turning the group psychology of Mole inside out into pure paranoid solitude. Deeply strange and oddly hypnotic.
But It's obscure and can feel more like a psychological experiment than entertainment — not for anyone wanting warmth or camaraderie.
Weakest Link2000no page yet
Same year, same elimination-by-quiz logic minus the traitor — just gleeful humiliation of whoever knows least. A tonal cousin if not quite a plot twin.
But There's no mystery to solve here, just trivia and insults, so the detective-work pleasure central to Mole is completely absent.
The Apprentice2005no page yet
Trust, sabotage and boardroom betrayal between people who supposedly all want the same prize — just with fewer disguises, more shouting, and a firing instead of a quiz.
But The 'mole' here is naked ambition, not a hidden identity, so the specific whodunnit satisfaction isn't really the point of the show.
The Amazing Race2001
Strangers, shifting alliances, and stakes that rise every leg — it's got the same reality-TV bones, just stretched across airports instead of hidden identities.
But It's about speed and geography, not deception, so if the whodunnit hook was the appeal, this swaps it for suitcases entirely.
Danganronpa: The Animation2013no page yet
Strip the format away and it's the same puzzle: watch your peers, spot the liar, work out who's secretly against the group before it's too late.
A Japanese anime where trapped students must identify a killer among their own ranks episode by episode — the same detective pleasure as Mole, turned up to homicidal stakes.
But It's violent, cartoonish and unapologetically melodramatic — a big swing away from the gentle Sunday-night tone of the original.
Icarus2017
Same question the whole way through — who's really working for whom — except the answer here involves an actual government cover-up instead of a prize fund.
A documentary that starts as one man's amateur doping experiment and accidentally uncovers a real state-sponsored mole inside Russian sport — truth stranger, and far higher stakes.
But This is dead serious, sprawling geopolitics rather than a game show, a big tonal leap for anyone wanting light entertainment.
People
Cast
Shura TaftHost
Recommended by
Fort Boyard, The Amazing Race, Survivor, Big Brother, The Circle, Wonka's The Golden Ticket