Top Boy returns in 2019 with a sharper, more brutal version of itself. The Netflix revival picks up where the Channel 4 series left off, following Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane Robinson) as they try to hold their corner while a younger generation closes in. It is a crime drama about power, loyalty, and the cost of staying alive in a world that offers no safety net.
Trailer, via BFI.
The Setup
The series is set on the fictional Summerhouse estate in the London Borough of Hackney. Dushane and Sully are the veterans of the drug trade, men who have built empires on violence and trust. Their empire is now under threat from a young hustler named Jamie (Micheal Ward), a man who moves through the streets with a coldness that the older dealers never had.
The stakes are personal. Money and power mean nothing without survival. The show understands this instinctively, and it never lets the audience forget it.
The Cast
Walters and Robinson carry the weight of the story. Walters plays Dushane with a controlled menace, a man who has seen everything and still finds new ways to be surprised. Robinson’s Sully is his opposite, a man whose instincts are sharp but whose loyalties are fragile. Together they anchor a cast that includes rapper-turned-actor Scorcher as Kamale, Giggs and Sway in cameo roles, and newcomers like Malcolm Kamulete and Giacomo Mancini as Ra’Nell and Gem.
The series also brings back Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Lisa, Gem’s mother, and Benedict Wong as cannabis dealer Vincent. Letitia Wright appears as Chantelle, a member of the Summerhouse gang and Gem’s love interest. The ensemble holds together because the writing trusts each performer to find the human beneath the criminal.
The Soundtrack
The music is a character in its own right. Drake and his team serve as executive producers, and the show leans on UK rap and grime to capture the pulse of the streets. The soundtrack is not a collection of hits; it is a living document of the era, with songs that feel specific to the time and place.
“Two seasoned drug dealers return to the gritty street of London, but their pursuit of money and power is threatened by a young and ruthless hustler.”
The sound design matches the visual style. The show is shot with a documentary realism that makes every crackle of gunfire feel immediate.
The Story
The first two seasons of the original series were broadcast on Channel 4, airing over four consecutive nights in 2011 and 2013. After a proposal for a third series, Channel 4 dropped the show in 2014. It was revived in 2017 when Drake’s interest brought Netflix into the picture.
The 2019 revival presents the third and fourth series as the first two seasons of an original Netflix production. The previous two series were added to the service under the name Top Boy: Summerhouse. The fifth and final series was renewed on 31 March 2022 and aired on 7 September 2023.
| Season | Network | Premiere |
|---|---|---|
| First two series | Channel 4 | 2011, 2013 |
| Third and fourth series | Netflix | September 2019, March 2022 |
| Fifth series | Netflix | 7 September 2023 |
What Works
The show is at its best when it slows down. The scenes of Dushane and Sully planning their next move, or arguing with their lieutenants, have a tension that feels earned rather than staged. The violence is never gratuitous; it is always a consequence of a decision made earlier in the episode.
The series also handles the moral complexity of its characters with care. These are not heroes. They are men who have made bad choices and live with the results. The show refuses to soften them, and that refusal is what makes the drama land.
What Doesn’t Work
Some viewers will find the pace too slow. The show is not interested in quick cuts or spectacle. It takes its time, and that patience can be frustrating when the story needs to move faster.
There are also moments where the plot stretches thin. The middle episodes of the third series in particular rely on familiar beats, and the addition of new characters sometimes feels like padding rather than progress.
The Verdict
Top Boy is a confident, assured piece of television. It knows exactly what it wants to be, and it executes that vision with skill. The acting is strong, the writing is sharp, and the direction keeps the series grounded in its world.
It is not perfect. It drags in places, and some of the younger characters are less developed than the leads. But those flaws are minor compared to what the show gets right.
This is a series about men who have spent their lives making deals, and now find themselves outmatched by the future. It is a story about legacy, about what you leave behind when you stop moving forward. It is also a story about survival, and that is a story that never gets old.
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