The fact-based ITV drama concluded on Thursday night.
“I’m so pleased to meet you.” Those are the words that DCI Colin Sutton (Martin Clunes) first utters when he lays eyes on Delroy Grant, otherwise known as The Night Stalker or Minstead Rapist, in ITV’s factual drama Manhunt: The Night Stalker.
In the end, it wasn’t Colin but Detective Inspector Nathan Eason (Broadchurch’s Matthew Gravelle) who oversaw Grant’s arrest, following a night time surveillance operation.
But after throwing his all into the investigation, Colin is only concerned with the fact that, after 17 years, the case of The Night Stalker can finally be closed.
On that fateful night, an exhausted Colin had been persuaded to take the night off for his own health, after attending late-night stakeouts.
In the drama’s series finale, which takes place in November 2009 and is based on the real Sutton’s second book, an evening surveillance team spotted the car that they believed to be The Night Stalker’s. After witnessing a man who fitted the suspect’s description entering the car, police tailed and eventually arrested Delroy Grant.
There’s some gallows humour when Sutton and Grant first meet, and the latter immediately strikes up a conversation about cricket. But his darker motives are apparent when he later tries to blame his adult son for the crimes he committed.
!["Manhunt"]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2021/09/Manhunt-season-2-Jude-Akuwudike-3965c66.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Manhunt")
The team also eventually learn that a DC on the investigating team had actually spoken to Delroy Grant ten years prior, but because of an administrative error, he’d evaded capture.
The episode ends on a bittersweet note, as the team reflect on the wider reasons why Grant remained at large for almost two decades. The elderly female victims were “invisible” to society, says Sutton.
If you want to find out more about, you can read the true story behind Manhunt: The Night Stalker and find out where Delroy Grant is now.
If you’re yet to catch up on the drama, you can read our Manhunt: The Night Stalker episode one recap.
You can order Colin Sutton’s Manhunt: The Night Stalker from Amazon. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide or visit our Drama hub for the latest news.