Everything you need to know about Top Boy for those just catching up-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Top Boy is sure to get plenty of new fans after its recent success (Picture: Netflix/PA)

Top Boy might have ended last year, but the Netflix show is the programme on everyone’s lips after a big night at the Bafta Television Awards 2024.

The British crime drama – which focused on two drug dealers, the characters that surrounded them, and gang violence across London – was set on the fictional Summerhouse estate in the London Borough of Hackney.

The show was a huge hit with fans after its more recent revival on the streaming service, which was realising after interest from Drake, and it’s had a massive impact on fans and its cast alike.

‘One day I went from working in a bar full time and acting part time to suddenly acting full time and now acting pays my bills,’ actress Jasmine Jobson said at the Baftas. ‘So Top Boy changed my life.’

There is sure to be a renewed sense of excitement over the show eight months after the final series hit Netflix…

So, here is everything you need to know before you start catching up.

What is Top Boy – and when did it first air?

Top Boy follows Dushane and Sully(Picture: Ali Painter/Netflix)

Top Boy first aired on Channel 4 for two series in 2011 and 2013, focusing on drug dealers Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane Robinson).

The action packed drama was created and written by Ronan Bennett, and saw Dushane and Sully ruthlessly struggle to become the dominant ‘Top Boys’ in the Summerhouse Estate.

After two seasons, the show was cancelled by C4, and Ashley told Shortlist at the time: ‘We had a third series in mind, which is why the second was left the way it was, but it hasn’t been commissioned again.

‘I was quite disappointed to be honest, but it’s just the nature of the beast sometimes.’

In 2019, Netflix revived the show thanks to rapper Drake’s love for the original series, and he has served as an executive producer on the new incarnation, which picked up five years after the second season ended.

How to watch Top Boy in the UK now

Top Boy is available to stream on Netflix (Picture: Ali Painter/Netflix)

Anyone wanting to catch up on Top Boy – or revisit if you’ve already watched it before – is in luck, with all seasons available to stream on Netflix in the UK.

The first two C4 series have been renamed Top Boy: Summerhouse, so be sure to watch those two first before delving into the three revival seasons.

Who is in the Top Boy cast?

Jasmine Jobson joined for the final three seasons (Picture: Chris Harris/Netflix)

Ashley Walters and Kane Robinson star as Dushane Hill and Gerard ‘Sully Sullivan’, and they were the only characters to appear on the entire run.

Early on, they were joined in the cast by the likes of Malcolm Kamulete (Ra’Neill Smith), Shone Romulus (Dris Wright) and Giacomo Mancini (Gemel ‘Gem’ Mastapha).

For the final three seasons, the likes of Jasmine Jobson (Jaq Lawrence), Simbi Ajikawo (Shelley), Araloyin Oshunremi (Stefan Tovell) and Saffron Hocking (Lauryn Lawrence) became mainstays.

What did Top Boy win at the BAFTA TV Awards 2024?

Jasmine Jobson won the bet support actress gong (Picture: EPA/Neil Hall)

Top Boy as a whole won in the Drama series category, while Jasmine – who played Jacqueline ‘Jaq’ Lawrence from season 3 onwards – took home the award for Best Supporting Actress.

The 29-year-old actress almost broke down in tears after finding out she had won, and once she was on stage she admitted she was ‘overwhelmed’.

‘I was not expecting this,’ she said. ‘I wanna thank God, I wouldn’t be here today without him. Cowboy Films, Top Boy, Netflix, I don’t know where I’d be without you. Oooh, this was not expected!

‘Thank you BAFTA, I love you all, you mean the world to me. I just do what I do to try and change a life and save a life, I wasn’t expecting this!’

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