Top Boy’s third – and final – season will be heading to screens sooner than expected.
At its What’s Up Next event on Wednesday, Netflix announced that the acclaimed show would be airing in September 2023 – and released a teaser trailer alongside it.
Though it doesn’t reveal much, the trailer teases the return of gangsters Dushane and Sully (Ashley Walters and Kane Robinson) moving around crowded city spaces. They seem to be squaring up for a fight – and indeed, the trailer shows them pushing each other around.
“If we’re not monsters, we’re food,” Sully says. “And I can never be food.”
Top Boy has had quite a journey to the small screen. Written and created by Ronan Bennett, the show told the story of the gangsters and drug dealers vying for power on the fictional Summerhouse Estate in Hackney. It ran for two seasons from 2014 on Channel 4, but was then cancelled by the channel; however, in 2017, it was revived by Netflix with the backing of Canadian rapper Drake, who was one of the show’s executive producers.
Its protagonists, Dushane and Sully, were joined in the revived series by Jamie (Micheal Ward), a young drug dealer attempting to assert his dominance in the borough. Jamie was ultimately taken under Dushane’s wing, but (spoiler alert) was shot by Sully in the final moments of season two – setting the stage for an epic showdown between the two older gangsters.
Since its revival, the show has gone onto be nominated for several awards, including the Baftas for Best Mini-Series, and for Best Supporting Actress for Jasmine Jobson (who plays drug dealer Jaq). It also went onto win British Academy Television Craft Awards for best original music and best scripted casting.
Top Boy has also been credited with launching the careers of several of the show’s main cast – including Jobson, Walters and Ward, who recently starred in the film Empire of Light opposite Olivia Colman. With the exception of Ward (we assume – it didn’t look good), they should all be returning for the new series, as well as musician and actor Little Simz, who plays Shelley, Dushane’s love interest.
In 2022, rumours started to swirl that the last series of the show had been delayed due to creative differences, but in early 2023 Netflix confirmed that it would be going ahead.
“Producers Cowboy Films, Easter Partisan, and Netflix temporarily paused production on the final season of Top Boy to allow for further creative discussion,” a Netflix spokesperson said. “Production has now recommenced and the show will launch as planned in 2023.”
