The Game episode 1 recap: Has the Ripton Stalker struck again?

The Game is a gripping four-part thriller that sees a retired detective suspect his new neighbour is, in fact, the notorious serial killer he failed to catch.

Jason Watkins plays DI Huw Miller, who can’t quite settle into retirement, as he remains haunted by the memories of a case he failed to solve - that of serial killer, The Ripton Stalker.

But when the handsome and enigmatic Patrick Harbottle, played brilliantly by Robson Green, moves into a house on his street and utters the chilling phrase ‘catch you later’ - the sinister sign-off the stalker used to taunt Huw - he’s confident he’s got his man.

As an intense cat-and-mouse game between the neighbours ensues, will Huw finally be able to beat his most-feared opponent?

Here is everything that happened in The Game episode 1...

The first episode opens with Huw in a dark warehouse, looking for someone he has been chasing. It is dark and he calls someone on a phone to ask where they are and that he has found 'him'. However, as he searches the warehouse alone, he is attacked from behind and remains conscious long enough to hear a dark figure tower over him and say, 'Oh Huw, after all this time, you were so close. Catch you later, detective' before the episode cuts and the opening credits begin.

Time then jumps to three years later, when Huw and his wife Alice are leaving home for the morning. Huw is talking about his retirement party from the police, and Alice teases him about how he thinks it is going to be a wild night out despite the fact that he is 55. Their neighbour across the road, Frank, joins in the conversation and it is clear they are all friends.

At work, Huw packs up his desk and does the rounds, saying goodbye to everyone. One colleague says sorry that he is leaving with unfinished business and Huw tries to brush it off.

Huw invites everyone to the pub across the road for his leaving drinks, but only one colleague, Jenny, comes with him. She gives him some cufflinks as a leaving present, telling him they were quiet the team for a while, and he agrees. However, his evening isn't quite as raucous as he thought, as there is no big party waiting for him in the pub, much to his disappointment.

Huw's retirement starts, but he is struggling with having time on his hands and decides to fix the freezer at 7am the next day so that he can keep himself busy, much to his wife's annoyance.

Later, Huw passes the time by reading the local news on his computer, but he is tempted to search 'Ripton Stalker', the unsolved murder case that haunted his career. But instead, he deletes 'Ription Stalker and puts in 'Unsolved local cases' instead, in the hope there might be something there to keep him busy - however, he comes across a podcast all about his failings to catch the Ripton Stalker and he turns it off, annoyed.

Huw goes to play golf with his neighbour, Frank, and they talk about how much harder retirement is than they thought. Huw asks him why he can't stop thinking about the Ripton Stalker case, and Frank says regret is a useless emotion and to try and enjoy retirement.

Later, Huw is cleaning his golf clubs and sees that he has one of Frank's clubs in his bag so he takes it over to him, but there is no answer at the door. Worried, Huw gets the spare key from under a gnome in the garden and lets himself into the back door. But when he gets inside, there is still no answer, and he finds Frank dead in the bath.

The police arrive, but Huw is confused to see his old colleague, Jenny, arrive, which he comments to Alice is odd if Frank just died of a heart attack. She warns him not to get involved as he is retired now, but when Jenny comes to see him at home, he asks her questions about Frank. However, she isn't there to see him about Frank, she is concerned about some data that has been downloaded onto a flash drive from the computer at the police station - all files about the Ripton Stalker case. Huw denies stealing the data, and Jenny is cross as she knows he is lying. He asks again about Frank and she brushes it off as an overdose, which Huw says is impossible because Frank didn't take drugs. She points out sarcastically that maybe Huw didn't know Frank as well as he thought, just like she doesn't know him as well as she thought.

Not one to let things lie, Huw goes to Frank's house with gloves on and lets himself in again. But as he looks around, Alice calls and tells him she knows he is up to no good because she can see him from their house across the road, and he comes home, admitting it wasn't his best idea.

The following day, Huw listens to the podcast about his failings on the Ripton Stalker case, which tells the background of what happened, explaining the killer would get into his victims' homes, watch them while they slept and move things around in their houses, toying with them. He would watch them for months before killing them when they were at their lowest point.

We also hear in the podcast that the killer would send Huw a letter after each killing, signing it off with 'catch you later', his signature catch phrase. It is then revealed that Huw was demoted from the case, and the killer was never found.

After Frank's funeral, Alice and Huw are looking at his house across the road, which is now for sale. Alice gives Huw some golf balls and tells him to go and enjoy a round of golf, which he does, but he misses Frank.

Patrick Harbottle moves into Frank's house and as he is unloading the boxes he meets one of the neighbours, Liz, who flirts with him before heading over to Alice and Huw's for a girls' book club night and tells the rest of the group that she is planning to seduce Patrick as she needs an affair to save her marriage.

Huw makes a hasty exit from Alice's book club and is surprised to find Patrick on his doorstep. He is familiar with him and friendly, which Huw finds odd, but he accepts his invitation to the pub with Steve and Paul, their other neighbours.

Once there, talk turns to Patrick's job and he says he is a repair man, while Steve and Paul complain about their jobs and say Huw has the right idea, retiring early and tell Patrick that Huw has this amazing skill at sweeping a room and taking in information about the people in it that everyone else misses.

Huw shows Patrick his talent by talking about all the other people in the pub and what they are drinking and wearing without turning around, and everyone is impressed. As they walk home, Patrick and Huw chat, but as they part, Patrick says they should do this again, before uttering 'catch you later'. Huw is left chilled, knowing this is the Ripton Stalker's signature catch phrase, and he races indoors, where he has a panic attack.

The next morning, Huw goes to see Jenny and asks her to look at Frank's post-mortem because he is convinced that his death wasn't suicide. She is annoyed he is there when he is meant to be retired, and it is clear that Patrick has left him rattled from the night before.

Determined that he is onto something, Huw decides to get to know Patrick better and invites him to play a round of golf. Once there, he starts questioning him about where he used to live and if he has ever been married before, but Patrick asks why Huw is so interested. Huw tells him that Patrick seems to know a lot about him already and Patrick admits that he Googled him and asks about whether the case of the Ripton Stalker haunts him. Huw keeps his cool as Patrick brings up the old case, and pretends he is over it. But there is tension between the pair and it is like a game of cat and mouse has started when Patrick asks Huw what the most important thing in the world is to him, and Huw replies it is Alice.

The next morning, Huw wakes and is surprised to see it is 9 am and he has had a lie-in for the first time in 30 years. He hears voices downstairs and when he heads down, he finds Patrick having a coffee with Alice. Huw isn't happy to see him, but Patrick is there to invite them to a housewarming party, and Alice seems excited to go.

At the party, Alice and Huw are surprised to see the whole street has been invited. Patrick tells Huw he is 'so glad he is there' and goes to mingle, while Huw sneaks upstairs to have a look around. In Patrick's bedroom, he looks under the bed and in drawers and finds a briefcase, but before he can look in it, Alice catches him and demands that they go home.

At home, she confronts him, and Huw finally admits that he thinks Patrick is the Ripton Stalker. She is horrified, telling him he is becoming obsessed again, like before, and she can't watch him have another breakdown. She asks him why he thinks Patrick is the notorious killer and he explains about the catchphrase, his familiar voice, Frank's mysterious death and the fact that Patrick moved into the house across the road without even viewing it.

Alice breaks down in tears and says their daughter barely talks to them now since his last obsession wth the case, and Huw realises he is upsetting her and promises to try and let it go.

Meanwhile, back at Patrick's house, he goes into his room to check if the case is still there, and although he doesn't open it, he sees it has been moved and that Huw's beer is on his bedside table, and gently smiles to himself as if he expected Huw to snoop.

At the police station, Jenny is looking at Frank's postmortem like Huw suggested and she is complaining to a colleague that she is only doing it to keep him quiet. But, when she looks, she's shocked to see the death was inconclusive and requires further investigation.

That night, Huw looks out of his bedroom window and over at Patrick's house before he heads to bed, and he is shocked to see Patrick standing on his balcony, staring straight at him.

The Game airs on Channel 5 over four consecutive nights from Monday, May 12 to Thursday, May 15 at 9pm. It is also available to stream on 5.