Channel 5’s psychological thriller The Game has returned for a second series, bringing Jason Watkins’s troubled former detective Huw Miller back into the orbit of Robson Green’s imprisoned serial killer, Patrick Harbottle. The four-part drama began its new run on Tuesday 1 September 2026, with further episodes scheduled across the week. ([viacomcbs-mediahub.co.uk](https://www.viacomcbs-mediahub.co.uk/press-releases/5-commission-second-series-of-hit-thriller-the-game-led-by-clapperboard-?utm_source=openai))
The first series ended with Huw badly wounded after Patrick’s attack, leaving viewers to wonder whether Watkins would return. Instead, it is Huw’s wife Alice, played by Sunetra Sarker, who is removed from the story almost immediately.
Alice makes the fatal error of walking alone along a quiet country road while speaking to her husband on the telephone. A car approaches at a suspiciously measured pace; the camera lingers on her alarmed face before cutting away. When the action resumes, Huw is holding her dead body, and the funeral has already taken place by the next commercial break.
It is an agreeably ruthless piece of television, although the circumstances raise an obvious question: how can Patrick be responsible when he is locked in prison?
The answer is Jackie, a prison officer played by Tanya Franks. She is captivated by Patrick and appears willing to carry out his instructions beyond the prison walls, adding burglary, intimidation and a series of ominous looks to his expanding list of methods.
Patrick’s influence is also felt through the letters he sends to Huw. From his cell, he continues to provoke the retired detective, while Huw obsessively assembles newspaper cuttings and photographs in his study, linking them with coloured threads as he tries to work out what is happening.
The drama’s strongest material remains the confrontations between the two men. A face-to-face meeting in the prison visiting room was particularly effective, with Huw and Patrick seated so close together that the encounter felt more like a private struggle than a formal interview.
Huw insists that Patrick has taken over his thoughts and pleads for another chance to investigate him. The scenes can be viewed as a portrait of obsession, with Huw unable to resist returning to the case that destroyed his retirement. They can also be enjoyed as unapologetically heightened thriller entertainment, in which coincidence and manipulation keep the two adversaries circling one another.
That tension is what gives The Game its momentum. Patrick may be behind bars, but his ability to reach into Huw’s life has not diminished. The second series has retained the central appeal of its predecessor: Watkins playing a man desperate to impose order on events, and Green answering him with a performance built on charm, menace and calculated uncertainty.
Channel 5 commissioned the second series after describing the original as one of its strongest-performing dramas of 2025. Watkins and Green return in the leading roles, with the broadcaster promising that Patrick will continue to exert influence despite his imprisonment. ([viacomcbs-mediahub.co.uk](https://www.viacomcbs-mediahub.co.uk/press-releases/5-commission-second-series-of-hit-thriller-the-game-led-by-clapperboard-?utm_source=openai))
There are stretches when the plotting feels deliberately extravagant, but the series understands that its appeal lies in the poisonous relationship at its centre. Provided it continues to give Huw and Patrick sharply staged encounters, there is ample reason to keep watching.
Verdict: four stars.
