The Game (review)

Published by Mason Oldridge, 20 May 2025

CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Jason Watkins and Robson Green go head-to-head in this new Channel 5 original drama.

Newly retired detective Huw Miller is tormented by the case of the Ripton Stalker - a serial killer he was never able to catch. When his new neighbour across the street repairman Patrick Harbottle uses the killer’s catchphrase used to taunt Huw, he is convinced he has finally found his man.

There seems to be one main question posed from the premise: is it him? And if so, isn’t that a little bit predictable and obvious? Well, it is heavily implied it is him before we learn that it is, but we also learn that the series is less about that and more about the game: the hunt for Huw and the chase for Patrick.

Patrick likes to psychologically manipulate people and does so in framing Huw in which the residents believe Huw is guilty. However, as convincing as Patrick may be, it still seems a little far-fetched that, when dead bodies start piling up at the same time that a single new neighbour has moved in, they don’t suspect him over Huw.

However, Patrick appears to have flown too close to the sun when he targets Huw as an encounter with his daughter results in him being exposed as the killer. In a tense showdown in Huw’s basement, Patrick stabs Huw as the police arrest him. The series delivers an open-ended conclusion as it is not revealed whether Huw survived the stabbing. This can be seen as poetic justice as Patrick claims that Huw would not survive five minutes without him, though ultimately Huw did deserve to live out his retirement happily after having made amends with his family.

Jason Watkins is stellar as always and, along with Robson Green’s unsettling charm, this tense thriller is a nice quick watch.

7/10