Get ready to head back to east London, team — Netflix has finally announced an air date for their revival of the gritty BAFTA winning television series Top Boy [1]. The British drama, which originally aired on Channel 4 between 2011 and 2013, was confirmed for a 10-episode run by the streaming service back in November 2017 after Drake purchased the rights, so it's been a long time coming. The revival is the second TV series that Drake has been involved with this year, and given the success of his first — HBO's Euphoria [2] — we're pretty excited for this one.
Keep on reading to find out everything we know so far about the Netflix revival of Top Boy
The Cast
Fans of the original series of Top Boy will be pleased to hear that Ashley Walters and Kane Robinson have reprised their roles as Dushane and Sully, and are joined by newcomer Micheal Ward, who plays their gang rival, Jamie. They aren't the only actors returning to the roles they played when the show aired in 2013, with Shone Romulus returning as Dris and Ashley Thomas (who was also in the 2011 version of Black Mirror) picking up their original role as Jermaine.
The first look also announced the surprise additions of British rappers Simbi Ajikawo and David Omoregie to the cast, who will play Little Simz and Dave respectively.
The Plot
Netflix's 10-episode revival of Top Boy picks up where it left off in the final episode of the show's Channel 4 run. Specifically, the first episode kicks off as Dushane returns from exile to his home in London to reclaim his throne in the highly lucrative drug market. He teams up with Sully, his "spiritual brother, partner, and sometime rival," who is also returning to the same streets after spending time in prison. However, their plans are stifled by the young and ruthless gang leader Jamie, whose ambitions leaves no room for Dushane and Sully.
The Production Team
The original series, which aired on Channel 4 from 2011 to 2013, was created and written by Ronan Bennett and is now available globally on Netflix. The good news is, the new instalment of the British drama has also been written by Bennett and executive produced by the original team — Charles Steel, Alasdair Flind, and Yann Demange.
Where it gets really interesting though is that the new series will also see Drake, his business partner Adel "Future" Nur, along with Maverick Carter and Jamal Henderson for SpringHill Entertainment (a company created by LeBron James and Maverick Carter) join the original production team. This is the second series involving Drake to air this year — his first being HBO's wildly successful Euphoria [3], which is available in the UK on Sky Atlantic and Now TV.
When Will Netflix's Top Boy Air In the UK?
Netflix [4] has announced that all 10 episodes of the Top Boy revival dropped onto the streaming platform on Friday Sept. 13, so mark your calendars.