«Top Boy» is a British television crime drama series, that is currently trending globally on Netflix’s Top 10 list.
Let’s find out more about the series!
- Top Boy is a British television crime drama series.
- It was created and written by Ronan Bennett.
- The series is set on the fictional Summerhouse estate in the London Borough of Hackney.
- The first series was broadcast on Channel 4 over four consecutive nights from 31 October to 3 November 2011.
- A DVD of the first series was issued on 22 July 2013.
- A second series began airing on Channel 4 on 20 August 2013.
- A DVD release of the second series followed on 16 September 2013.
- Although storylines for a third series were proposed, the series was dropped by Channel 4 in 2014.
- Following interest from Canadian rapper Drake, it was announced in November 2017 that Netflix would revive the series and order a new season of ten episodes, with both Ashley Walters and Kane Robinson reprising their roles.
- Series creator Bennett returned to script most episodes, along with the original creative team; Drake, Adel Nur, Maverick Carter, and Jamal Henderson all joined the series as executive producers.
- The new season premiered on Netflix on 13 September 2019 and was presented as the first season, whilst the original series was added to Netflix under the name Top Boy: Summerhouse.
- The second new season aired on Netflix on March 18, 2022, consisting of 8 episodes.
- The third new and final season was renewed on 31 March 2022 which will air at some point in the future.
- No official date or trailer for season three (or five) has been released as of yet but filming will begin this summer
- The Heygate Estate and Loughborough Estate, both in South London, were used as the Summerhouse estate during series 1 (2011) and 2 (2013).
- The production visited several locations in Kent for Series 3.
- Filming took place in Margate at Walpole Bay and Fulsam Rock Beach and nearby streets including Athelstan Road.
- The production also visited Ramsgate, where they filmed at Jacob’s Ladder, outside the Rose of England pub on the High Street, and Ramsgate Station.
- For series 3 (2019) and 4 (2022) the Samuda Estate on the Isle of Dogs, the De Beauvoir Estate in the London Borough of Hackney, and Gordon Place in Gravesend doubled as the fictional Summerhouse estate.
- With the series being set in Hackney much of the filming took place in the borough in areas including Dalston, Haggerston, and London Fields.
- Legal scenes in season 4 were filmed in the old Blackfriars Crown Court.
- When the third season of Top Boy was released on Netflix in 2019, it was released as “Season 1” to attract viewers, and the first two seasons from 2011 and 2013 were retroactively retitled “Top Boy: Summerhouse” to differentiate between the two.
- The show features many musicians from the UK in the main cast. For example Ashley Walters (Asher D), Kano (Kano), Little Simz (Little Simz), and David Omoregie (Dave).
- The original 2 series aired in a 2.35 aspect ratio and features music from Channel 4’s broad music license. The version Netflix provides is cropped to 16×9 and uses generic music.
- In the first two seasons, the show’s intro consists of a camera pan, showing a variety of buildings in London. Starting with season three, only the show’s name is shown.
