Jason plays former detective inspector Huw Miller, who is haunted by the one that got away: The Ripton Stalker. This deadly predator killed two victims, tortured a third and signed off taunts to the police with the words, “Catch you later”. In the opening episode, Huw’s wife Alice (Sunetra Sarker) helps him to ease into retirement. When their next-door neighbour dies suddenly and authorities conclude it was an apparent suicide, Patrick Harbottle (Robson Green) moves in and charms the locals, except for Huw. The veteran officer’s pent-up guilt bubbles to the surface when Patrick happens to use the same three words as The Ripton Stalker. Huw becomes convinced that his arch-nemesis has moved in next door to torment him. His obsession with proving that Patrick is his elusive adversary nudges him to the brink of madness. “Huw is not at peace, and I don’t think he ever will be until this man is caught. We see how far this pushes him into doing things he shouldn’t be doing,” explains Jason. The last time he acted with Robson was in the third season of the supernatural drama Being Human. Jason played a murderous vampire, who psychologically and physically tortured his victims, and Robson was a werewolf. The Game was filmed on location in the Basque Country, where Jason made the historical drama Sabotage! 25 years ago. He has a strong sentimental attachment to the area and its traditions. “Families are very much at the centre of their social lives and their culture of singing and storytelling and going out all night dancing,” he enthuses. Robson describes this area of northern Spain as a “beautiful time capsule of a life lived and how it used to be.” He spent weekends exploring and getting to know the place and its people. “It was a wonderful experience that I will treasure,” he adds. Scenes on a golf course kindle crackling tension between Huw and Patrick, and Watkins fondly recalls his on-screen sporting rivalry with Robson. “I’m the better golfer,” he asserts. “Robson obviously fancies himself as a golfer, but I’m confident when I pick up any club or bat or racquet.” There is playful disagreement about who would have recorded the better round. “He kept ending up in the bunker!” Robson asserts about Jason. “He never got to the green. I did. Green got the ball on the green.” Whether viewers will keep pace with the various twists and turns of The Game is another matter. “We want to keep the audience intrigued and try to throw them off the scent,” concludes Jason. “Never let them believe they’ve cracked it. Because in life people surprise you and take you in different directions.”