The Game on Channel 5: Filming locations revealed, and it's not where you think!
By Helen Fear |The Game on Channel 5 is set in the UK, but was actually filmed across the English Channel in a European country not a million miles away - here's everything you need to know about where it was filmed, and the filming locations...
The four-part thriller starring Robson Green and Jason Watkins airs in May and follows in the tradition of other Channel 5 drama by being filmed in Europe.
Cosy crime fans will know that The Madame Blanc Mysteries is filmed in Malta, as was Jo Joyner thriller The Wives.
So where was The Game on Channel 5 filmed, and what did the cast say about the location? Here's everything you need to know...
Where was The Game on Channel 5 filmed?
Channel 5 thriller The Game was filmed in Spain - specifically Northern Spain, which is called the Basque Country or region.
Cast and crew - including leading stars Robson Green and Jason Watkins - arrived on location in 2024 and filmed in both Vitoria and Bilbao.
Although the four-part series is actually set in the fictional UK town of Ripton (North of England), all of the episodes were filmed on location in the Basque Country.
Talking about filming there, Sunetra Sarker explained: "I loved it. I don't think I had ever thought of the Basque country. It has literally been the biggest surprise of anywhere I've been in Europe. I will absolutely return."
She went on to say: "I loved San Sebastian. I did a day trip on my own and it's like Paris by the sea. The food and the way that people live in the Basque country there is a real community spirit. It's almost like they are under the radar, and they know it and they like it.
"They are just happily living a great life. I've recommended it to a few people. I think Nadia Sawalha has booked a trip there on the back of my recommendation."
'Vitoria and Bilbao are both exceptional places'
Meanwhile, Jason Watkins laments the fact he did not have as much time as he would have liked to explore the filming locations.
He told us: "I suppose I've got to stop playing leading parts because you don't get to see enough of where you are filming... But the Basque country is an amazing place. We filmed in Vitoria and Bilbao, which are both exceptional places and very different."
He went on to explain: "Bilbao is a post-industrial modern European city with the Guggenheim of course and an amazing football team. It has an old town with huge cultural inheritance that they still very much keep alive and pride themselves on with the language. I spoke and learned as much Basque as I could, which the whole crew appreciated."
Jason even received a special gift at the end of the shoot, he added: "They gave me one of those red berets (a boina) that they wear, which I was completely poleaxed by. That was so sweet. I was an honorary Basque, which I know is not easily won."
In fact, it was not the first time McDonald & Dodds actor Jason had filmed in the Basque Country. Twenty-five years ago, in 2000, he appeared in the movie Sabotage! It was a cult film with Stephen Fry and Dominique Pinon.
Jason revealed: "So, having worked there before, I have a sentimental attachment to the place. Families are very much at the centre of their social lives and their culture of singing and storytelling and going out all night dancing. I was drawn into the dancing a couple of times, which I thoroughly enjoyed."
Robson Green filmed Channel 5's The Game on location in Spain
Grantchester star Robson Green also loved filming The Game on location in the Basque Country, Northern Spain.
He told is: "Oh my God, talk about a distinctive sense of place, identity, culture, history, and heritage that is still intact. It's there in the Basque Country.
"When I arrived in Bilbao, I went to the [art museum] Guggenheim straight away, then walked along the river and very quickly learnt about its identity and the language and what a proud people they are."
He went on to describe San Sebastian, a nearby city, saying: "San Sebastian is just a magical other worldly place where its history is so well preserved. This beautiful time capsule of a life lived and how it used to be. I did walks around San Sebastian beach. I ate a lot of seafood. Vitoria was gorgeous. I had time at the weekends to get out and about and learn a lot about the place. The food is exquisite. I came away with four kilos of their ham. It was a wonderful experience that I will treasure. I took a load of photographs."
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