The Game actor Jason Watkins brings grief over young daughter's tragic death to TV role

Acclaimed actor Jason Watkins has revealed that he automatically gravitates to parts he identifies with – even when they prove painful to play. A father of five, Jason tragically lost his two year-old daughter Maude when she died from sepsis on New Year’s Day 2011. His latest role sees him play a protective father in the chilling Channel 5 thriller The Game and Jason admits that he couldn’t help but bring his personal feelings and experiences to the part. Jason plays retired detective Huw Miller, who is trying to rebuild his life after being stabbed by a serial killer. But his fragile peace is disrupted when his frightened daughter Margot comes under threat. “The scripts are great, but it is what you bring to it as an actor – it is your life,” he says. "I do get drawn to parts. New playwrights often write their first plays about their lives. As actors we’re lucky that we can renew that if we’re brave enough to bring our own life experience into our work. “I have a daughter in The Game and the care of her just becomes more instinctively critical. You can’t work with material where you’re acting with a character who is your daughter and not feel as though you have a paternal instinct towards them, which includes the fact that your daughter has died. It’s inevitable. Perhaps subconsciously one does get drawn to those parts. “But you have to steel yourself, knowing that you may have a particular scene. The Catch (a 2023 Channel 5 drama) was very difficult where my character’s son drowns. You have to know that you’re only going to do it once and then you can move on, but you are going to have to go somewhere that is quite hurtful. “But then again, if you can do it accurately and with enough tenderness and care, it will chime with your viewers and if someone has had a similar tragedy or grief, it makes them realise that they are not alone. That’s really important. Because as well as entertaining audiences, there are also people out there who understand how you feel.” One of our most accomplished and versatile actors, Jason is best-known for his BAFTA award-winning role in The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies and his 2019 portrayal of former Prime Minister Harold Wilson in The Crown, which won him a Screen Actors Guild Award. He spent four years playing eccentric detective Dodds in the hit ITV series McDonald & Dodds and earlier this year starred in the acclaimed Channel 4 docudrama Dirty Business, which exposed the scandal of sewage-contaminated water. Now comes the much-awaited second series of The Game, which sees Jason starring alongside Robson Green. In the first series, in a twisted game of cat and mouse, Huw relentlessly and obsessively battled to prove that his neighbour Patrick Harbottle (Robson Green) was the serial killer he had tried and failed to catch for years. Now Patrick is behind bars, but he is not finished and when Huw’s daughter Margot (Indy Lewis) is stalked and Huw starts to receive letters from Patrick, he is pulled back into the twisted killer’s orbit, much to the worry of his wife Alice (Sunetra Sarker). “Patrick says that there’s somebody else he’s murdered, but he’ll only tell Huw about it, so he gets sucked back in. Huw’s weakness is that he wants to win and he can’t help being drawn in,” Jason says. He admits that his character’s obsessive nature is something that he identifies with. “I’m obsessed with street photography,” he says. “There could be worse things and I don’t think I get obsessed in a destructive way, but I can see myself there. “I’m now into swimming. I will swim every day for three weeks and then stop. Whereas other people are more consistent and rational, I’m not one of those. I’m all or nothing.” A few years ago, Jason was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). He says: “I know that I am susceptible to going down rabbit holes and having hyper-concentration - being inquisitive and not stopping until you’ve really gone into something in a deep way. And then other times I have no concentration at all. “I have those things that go on and I can be susceptible to being overwhelmed, but I think that’s also to do with having lost my daughter, so there’s a bit of a mix in those things that I have to be aware of. “But I like playing quirky characters. I find them more interesting and the family that I was raised in were deeply complex, so that’s my default. Nothing is perfect and there are all sorts of issues and colourful characters. You tend to draw on things that you know.” Jason grew up in Wolverhampton, with his metallurgist father and his teacher mother. He made his TV debut in 1987 in EastEnders as obnoxious city boy Gerry Fairweather. “It had just started really and got very big very quickly,” he recalls. “It was an adventure and I really enjoyed it, but I remember being quite terrified.” His character left after being punched in the face by none other than Angie Watts. “In front of about 17m people, that’s my claim to fame,” he smiles. Since then, Jason has appeared in literally dozens of shows, ranging from comedies such as W1A and Trollied, to dramas including Being Human, Des, Coma and Dear England. But the role he is still most recognised for is that of teacher Gordon Shakespeare in the hugely popular first three films in the Christmas Nativity series, from 2009 to 2014. Two of Jason’s children appeared alongside him. “Freddie and Bessie were in my class. There was no manager and nobody was paid, it was just nice to have them with me,” he smiles. “I remember one day Bessie fell asleep on set because she was so tired, so I can’t say that it was stress-free! But it was lovely to have them as part of it, because the films are a bit of an institution now. We’re very proud of them.” Jason, 63, who has two grown-up children Freddie and Pip, from his first marriage, lives in London with his second wife, jewellery and fashion designer Clara Francis. The couple are parents to teenagers Bessie and Gilbert. As busy as ever in his 60s, he is currently working on a new movie The Joy of Sex alongside Colin Firth and David Tennant. Meanwhile has just finished filming a new Channel 5 series The Last Resort with Caroline Quentin and John Hannah and the second series of the period crime drama Bookish. But fans will be disappointed to hear that there are no plans for any more episodes of McDonald & Dodds. The gentle drama, which combined comedy and crime, ran from 2020-24 and drew audiences of more than 6m before it was cancelled by ITV. “I’m recognised for that a lot, particularly abroad,” Jason reflects. “I really loved playing that character and I think it’s a shame that we weren’t able to continue, despite its good reviews and good numbers. But at the moment there are no plans. It’s a complicated picture. ITV is changing, put it that way.” Away from his busy life on screen, Jason is a patron of Child Bereavement UK and also works with the UK Sepsis Trust. He says: “There’s now a sepsis framework, so sepsis is being included in the main things to look for when someone is brought into A&E, as well as heart attacks and stroke. “There’s still a lot more work to be done, so it’s a constant ambition of mine and a continuing fight. But I hope I’m in a position where I can help people because of what I’ve been through and that’s a nice thing to come out of something so horrible.” *The Game S2 starts tonight 1 at 9pm. Watch | stream on 5