Here's Everything We Know About 'Top Boy' Series 3 So Far

Drake is on-board, Skepta is helping out, it's definitely coming eventually...

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Top Boy is one of the greatest things to air on British TV in, like, well, forever. The Channel 4 crime drama won both critical acclaim and a cult fanbase over two series, and was praised as a rare accurate reflection of London’s gang culture. Yet in 2013, after only eight episodes and a second series that ended on a cliffhanger, the show appeared to be finished, destined to appear alongside the likes of Firefly and Arrested Development on lists of TV shows that never ran as long as they should have.

Only that’s not the end of the story. In the last few years rumours have started to bubble that the show might return. Thanks to streaming, it started to pick up fans across the world, including one particularly famous one (ahem, Drake), and stories came out what might be next. A continuation? A move to Netflix? A US remake? Now all the main players seem to be pretty certain it is happening, but there’s still be no official announcement. But here’s what we know so far.

The Story So Far...

The first series of Top Boy debuted on Channel 4 in 2011, consisting of four episodes. Starring Ashley Walters and Kano, it focused on drug dealers and gang crime in East London. It returned for another four episodes in 2013, which ended on a cliffhanger. Despite getting great reviews and a strong audience following, it appeared that was it for the show (which wasn’t actually that bad a run for a late-night Channel 4 drama in all fairness — there have been plenty of great TV shows that haven’t even got that).

In a May 2014 interview with Shortlist, Ashley Walters confirmed that it wasn’t returning, saying:


We had a third series in mind, which is why the second was left the way it was [on a cliffhanger], but it hasn’t been commissioned again. I was quite disappointed to be honest, but it’s just the nature of the beast sometimes.

But the story was far from over, and the fans wanted more.

The rumours begin...

January 2014: The Audience Network starts broadcasting the show on DirecTV in North America.

8 October 2014: Out of nowhere, Drake Instagrams a photo of Ashley Walters’ character in the show, with the caption “Real bod man #Dushane”. Walters later told us that the shout out came completely “out of the blue.” Instantly this brought attention back to Top Boy and introduced it to a lot of new fans, especially internationally.

Walters thens thanks Drake on Twitter, and they show each other some love.

The same day Drizzy also posts another ‘Gram with the words “Top boy getting waved with the man dem.”, the first signs of his much-documented love affair with London and the grime scene.

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30 September 2015: Ashley Walters appears on Not For The Radio, and reveals that Drake apparently offered to help fund a third series of his favourite show. Walters said:


Drake thought it was proper. This was via text. I was speaking to Future mainly, Drake’s manager. We were going back and forth. And we were like, ‘“Put a deal on the table”. Eventually they got in contact and asked, “What’s happening with series three?” I told them Channel 4 had cancelled it. They said, “That’s sad, but we’re going to do something about it.” Furthermore Drake was like, “You need to break America”. He wanted to help.

He also mentions for the first time that the show might return somewhere other than Channel 4, like Netflix or Amazon, and the there was also talk of a US remake of the show. But ultimately, he says a deal could not be made:


We were going into meetings. Top Boy is the sort of brand we knew would sell to Netflix, Amazon. The numbers speak for themselves. So we had that power and the production company still owned the rights. And Drake made an offer and they turned it down. I don’t know what is going on with it — but I heard they are talking about a Top Boy Chicago.

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31 January 2016: Kano is interviewed by boxing channel iFL TV at the George Groves / Andrea Di Luisa fight and says that he has been talking to Ashley Walters about series 3:


I’ve been hearing whispers, I speak to Ashley every now and then about it. There’s such popular demand for it, hopefully we can make the people happy and bring it back, but there’s only so much I can do as an actor. The decision lies with people above us.

4 February 2016: Drake takes to Instagram again, posting another still from the show and saying Top Boy will rise again.” No other comment is made.

24 March 2016: Complex UK does a big career-length interview with Ashley Walters (you should read it, it’s sick). He can’t can’t confirm anything yet, but he says that series 3 is going to happen at some point and things are going on behind the scenes:


What I can say is that, behind the scenes, there’s some serious work going on to make it happen, and between a lot of good people too. So it’s going to happen at some point, but I can’t really talk about it too much until the paper has been signed.

He also confirms Drake is on-board:


Drake is involved. He’s coming on board to help and try and push the situation forward. We’ll see what happens! I’ve gone through having empty promises, and I’ve always relied on myself. I take whatever anyone says with a pinch of salt, but hopefully it will work out

18 April 2016: Skepta is interviewed by Zane Lowe on Beats 1, and says that he is helping out with series 3:


We wanna do bigger things than just our crew. Even with the Top Boy series and Ashley Walters. Them two have been working closely and I’ve been making sure on the creative direction wave with Drake about the series, just making greatness with it. The whole style what’s going on in London, the sound. Everything about it is real, it’s an actual thing that actually happened and deserves to be on the turner. It’s time.

19 April 2016: Ashley Walters posts an Instagram video, to address the rumours, basically confirming that it is coming back. He signs off by saying “It’s coming real soon.”

28 April 2016: As VIEWS drops, it is Drake’s turn to be interviewed by Zane Lowe, and he gives a big hint that the new series might be happening in May, and he could be acting in it:


It’s kind of out there that I’m working on Top Boy. I got something nice coming up in May. I’d love to go back to acting. It’s all about the right decisions.

6 May 2016: Turns out Skepta isn't involved, at least not directly. He told Time Out:


No! Despite all the articles online, I am not working on bringing back “Top Boy”! They – Ashley Walters and Drake – are working on bringing it back. I’ve proper learned about the internet now. People say something and then everyone just believes it.


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